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Allow communication — far away

Erase rivalries: national

Business - speed

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Idea occurred to Samuel Morse (The inventor) to communicate over distance

Idea occurred on a ship in Europe 1832

theorized —>possible to send coded messages over wire

Even with his theory —> he had little understanding with electricity

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Long before Samuel F. B. Morse electrically transmitted his famous message "What hath God wrought?" from Washington to Baltimore on May 24, 1844, there were signaling systems that enabled people to communicate over distances.

Earlier Signal Systems

Long before Samuel F. B. Morse electrically transmitted his famous message "What hath God wrought?" from Washington to Baltimore on May 24, 1844, there were signaling systems that enabled people to communicate over distances. Most were visual or "semaphore" systems using flags or lights. In the eighteenth century, such systems used an observer who would decipher a signal from a high tower on a distant hill and then send it on to the next station. The young American republic wanted just such a system along its entire Atlantic coast and offered a prize of $30,000 for a workable proposal. The framers of this legislation had no way of knowing that when they used the word "telegraph" to refer to this visual semaphore system, they would be offered an entirely new and revolutionary means of communication--electricity.

The Growth of an Idea

The laying of the cable---John and Jonathan joining hands, ca. 1858.
Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-5309

The idea of using electricity to communicate over distance is said to have occurred to Morse during a conversation aboard ship when he was returning from Europe in 1832. Michael Faraday's recently invented electromagnet was much discussed by the ship's passengers, and when Morse came to understand how it worked, he speculated that it might be possible to send a coded message over a wire. While a student at Yale College years before, he had written his parents a letter about how interesting he found the lectures on electricity. Despite what he had learned at Yale, Morse found when he began to develop his idea that he had little real understanding of the nature of electricity, and after sporadic attempts to work with batteries, magnets, and wires, he finally turned for help to a colleague at the University of the City of New York, Leonard D. Gale.

Gale was a professor of chemistry and familiar with the electrical work of Princeton's Joseph Henry, a true pioneer in the new field. Well before Morse had his shipboard idea about a telegraph, Henry rang a bell at a distance by opening and closing an electric circuit. In 1831, he had published an article, of which Morse was unaware, that contained details suggesting the idea of an electric telegraph. Gale's help and his knowledge of this article proved crucial to Morse's telegraph system because Gale not only pointed out flaws in the system but showed Morse how he could regularly boost the strength of a signal and overcome the distance problems he had encountered by using a relay system Henry had invented. Henry's experiments, Gale's assistance, and, soon after, hiring the young technician Alfred Vail were keys to Morse's success.

Obstacles and Opportunities

By December 1837, Morse had enough confidence in his new system to apply for the federal government's appropriation, and during the next year he conducted demonstrations of his telegraph both in New York and Washington.

[Letter from Samuel F.B. Morse to his brother, Sidney Edwards Morse, announcing the passing of the appropriation bill, 23 February 1843] Bound volume---20 June 1842-12 September 1843

However, when the economic disaster known as the Panic of 1837 took hold of the nation and caused a long depression, Morse was forced to wait for better times. It was during this period that Morse visited Europe again and tried not only to secure patent protection overseas but to examine competing telegraph systems in England. After meeting Charles Wheatstone, the inventor of one such electric telegraph system, Morse realized that although his main competitor had built an ingenious mechanism, his own system was far simpler, more efficient, and easier to use.

Morse felt very confident. His system used an automatic sender consisting of a plate with long and short metal bars representing the Morse code equivalent of the alphabet and numbers. The operator slid a pointer connected to a battery and the sending wire across the bars, and immediately the appropriate dots and dashes were sent over the line. The receiver used an electromagnet with a stylus (a pen-like instrument) on the end of an arm. When the magnet operated, the stylus made an impression or tiny dent in a paper tape which wound past a clockwork motor. The tape was then read by the operator.

By 1843, the country was beginning to recover economically, and Morse again asked Congress for the $30,000 that would allow him to build a telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore, forty miles away. The House of Representatives eventually passed the bill containing the Morse appropriation, and the Senate approved it in the final hours of that Congress's last session. With President Tyler's signature, Morse received the cash he needed and began to carry out plans for an underground telegraph line.

Realizing a Great Invention

[Drawing of telegraph poles, 25 June 1844] Bound volume---10 June-21 October 1844

Morse had hired the ingenious construction engineer Ezra Cornell to lay the pipe carrying the wire, and although Cornell did his job superbly, one of Morse's partners, Congressman F. O. J. Smith, had purchased wire with defective insulation. Too much time had been wasted laying bad wire, and with the project on a rigid deadline, something had to be done quickly. Cornell suggested that the fastest and cheapest way of connecting Washington and Baltimore was to string wires overhead on trees and poles. The desperate Morse gave the go-ahead, and the line was completed in time for the dramatic and spectacularly successful link between the Supreme Court chamber of the Capitol building and the railroad station in Baltimore.

Soon, as overhead wires connected cities up and down the Atlantic coast, the dots-and-dashes method that recorded messages on a long moving strip of paper was replaced by the operator's ability to interpret the code in real time (once the receiver was given two different types of "stop" pin that each made a different sound) and transcribe it into English letters as he heard it. Telegraph lines soon extended westward, and within Morse's own lifetime they connected the continents of Europe and America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Invention of the Telegraph | Articles and Essays | Samuel F. B. Morse Papers at the Library of Congress, 1793-1919 | Digital Collections | Library of Congress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Long before Samuel F. B. Morse electrically transmitted his famous message "What hath God wrought?" from Washington to Baltimore on May 24, 1844, there were signaling systems that enabled people to communicate over distances. Long before Samuel F. B. Morse electrically transmitted his famous message "What hath God wrought?"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Long before Samuel F. B. Morse electrically transmitted his famous message "What hath God wrought?" from Washington to Baltimore on May 24, 1844, there were signaling systems that enabled people to communicate over distances.

Earlier Signal Systems

Long before Samuel F. B. Morse electrically transmitted his famous message "What hath God wrought?" from Washington to Baltimore on May 24, 1844, there were signaling systems that enabled people to communicate over distances. Most were visual or "semaphore" systems using flags or lights. In the eighteenth century, such systems used an observer who would decipher a signal from a high tower on a distant hill and then send it on to the next station. The young American republic wanted just such a system along its entire Atlantic coast and offered a prize of $30,000 for a workable proposal. The framers of this legislation had no way of knowing that when they used the word "telegraph" to refer to this visual semaphore system, they would be offered an entirely new and revolutionary means of communication--electricity.

The Growth of an Idea

The laying of the cable---John and Jonathan joining hands, ca. 1858.
Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-5309

The idea of using electricity to communicate over distance is said to have occurred to Morse during a conversation aboard ship when he was returning from Europe in 1832. Michael Faraday's recently invented electromagnet was much discussed by the ship's passengers, and when Morse came to understand how it worked, he speculated that it might be possible to send a coded message over a wire. While a student at Yale College years before, he had written his parents a letter about how interesting he found the lectures on electricity. Despite what he had learned at Yale, Morse found when he began to develop his idea that he had little real understanding of the nature of electricity, and after sporadic attempts to work with batteries, magnets, and wires, he finally turned for help to a colleague at the University of the City of New York, Leonard D. Gale.

Gale was a professor of chemistry and familiar with the electrical work of Princeton's Joseph Henry, a true pioneer in the new field. Well before Morse had his shipboard idea about a telegraph, Henry rang a bell at a distance by opening and closing an electric circuit. In 1831, he had published an article, of which Morse was unaware, that contained details suggesting the idea of an electric telegraph. Gale's help and his knowledge of this article proved crucial to Morse's telegraph system because Gale not only pointed out flaws in the system but showed Morse how he could regularly boost the strength of a signal and overcome the distance problems he had encountered by using a relay system Henry had invented. Henry's experiments, Gale's assistance, and, soon after, hiring the young technician Alfred Vail were keys to Morse's success.

Obstacles and Opportunities

By December 1837, Morse had enough confidence in his new system to apply for the federal government's appropriation, and during the next year he conducted demonstrations of his telegraph both in New York and Washington.

[Letter from Samuel F.B. Morse to his brother, Sidney Edwards Morse, announcing the passing of the appropriation bill, 23 February 1843] Bound volume---20 June 1842-12 September 1843

However, when the economic disaster known as the Panic of 1837 took hold of the nation and caused a long depression, Morse was forced to wait for better times. It was during this period that Morse visited Europe again and tried not only to secure patent protection overseas but to examine competing telegraph systems in England. After meeting Charles Wheatstone, the inventor of one such electric telegraph system, Morse realized that although his main competitor had built an ingenious mechanism, his own system was far simpler, more efficient, and easier to use.

Morse felt very confident. His system used an automatic sender consisting of a plate with long and short metal bars representing the Morse code equivalent of the alphabet and numbers. The operator slid a pointer connected to a battery and the sending wire across the bars, and immediately the appropriate dots and dashes were sent over the line. The receiver used an electromagnet with a stylus (a pen-like instrument) on the end of an arm. When the magnet operated, the stylus made an impression or tiny dent in a paper tape which wound past a clockwork motor. The tape was then read by the operator.

By 1843, the country was beginning to recover economically, and Morse again asked Congress for the $30,000 that would allow him to build a telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore, forty miles away. The House of Representatives eventually passed the bill containing the Morse appropriation, and the Senate approved it in the final hours of that Congress's last session. With President Tyler's signature, Morse received the cash he needed and began to carry out plans for an underground telegraph line.

Realizing a Great Invention

[Drawing of telegraph poles, 25 June 1844] Bound volume---10 June-21 October 1844

Morse had hired the ingenious construction engineer Ezra Cornell to lay the pipe carrying the wire, and although Cornell did his job superbly, one of Morse's partners, Congressman F. O. J. Smith, had purchased wire with defective insulation. Too much time had been wasted laying bad wire, and with the project on a rigid deadline, something had to be done quickly. Cornell suggested that the fastest and cheapest way of connecting Washington and Baltimore was to string wires overhead on trees and poles. The desperate Morse gave the go-ahead, and the line was completed in time for the dramatic and spectacularly successful link between the Supreme Court chamber of the Capitol building and the railroad station in Baltimore.

Soon, as overhead wires connected cities up and down the Atlantic coast, the dots-and-dashes method that recorded messages on a long moving strip of paper was replaced by the operator's ability to interpret the code in real time (once the receiver was given two different types of "stop" pin that each made a different sound) and transcribe it into English letters as he heard it. Telegraph lines soon extended westward, and within Morse's own lifetime they connected the continents of Europe and America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Invention of the Telegraph | Articles and Essays | Samuel F. B. Morse Papers at the Library of Congress, 1793-1919 | Digital Collections | Library of Congress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Long before Samuel F. B. Morse electrically transmitted his famous message "What hath God wrought?" from Washington to Baltimore on May 24, 1844, there were signaling systems that enabled people to communicate over distances. Long before Samuel F. B. Morse electrically transmitted his famous message "What hath God wrought?"

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Simple facts about the Telegraph (1) - Dalia

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Simple facts about the Telegraph (1) - Dalia

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Made in 1792-Greek word “tele” (far) and “graphein” (to write)

Early forms of telegraphy —> smoke, fire, drum signals

300 BC - “alphabetic signaling” - made by Greeks

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I want them to learn how important the telegraph was when it was first created by Samuel Morse

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Make a song???

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We can create a model of the telegraph and explain how you can use it OR (Idea #4) we can create artwork that demonstrates people using it

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Little understanding —> turned to help: Leonard D. Gale

Gale: colleague at the «University of the City of New York» - Professor of chemistry - familiar with electricity work of « Princeton’s Joseph Henry »

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Welcome to Britannica School , a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Elementary, Middle, and High School.

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18th century —> optical telegraphs “Semaphores”

Thomas Edison —> four messages to travel at same time

19th century - many telegraph lines

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Morse code —> have trouble understanding it

Shipping —> easily read and understood

Wire lines: expensive

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Telegraph —> send and get messages (written)

Frederick G. Creed - British inventor - in 1890’s - made telegraph instrument

1924-1928: Teletype (Telephone & Telegraph)

1933: Teleprinters

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The Telegraph: The Civil War Text Machine

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Created by Samuel Morse (1791-1872)

(also created Morse code)

How it started —> heard conversation about electricity

Realized electrical pulses=carrying messages

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Changed…

Wars — how they were fought

Money — was sent

Newspapers — conducted business

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Changed personal benefits

Altered commercial relations

Political relations — changed between people

Things got across Atlantic

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Telegraph - created in 1849

First technology anywhere - allowed communicating from far away (w/ code)

Civil war + telegraph= conduct affairs from far away

War — 15,000 miles of telegraph wire — across country

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Time was running out: Many things gone wrong + laying bad wire

Connected Washington to Baltimore (By stringing wires on trees and poles)

The plan worked!

The supremes court was connected to the railroad station

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Wires were strung over towns

First Method grew old —> Expanded - new method

Instead of morse —> English interpretation

Method spread Westward - Then to other continents

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Most were visual / « semaphore » systems (flags & lights)

18th century: Used observer - deciphered messages - stood on tall towers on hills - once finished sent to next station

USA republic: offered $30,000 for a workable proposal

Soon methods were replaced by new communication method-electricity

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Deforestation

Habitat destruction

Couldn’t read Morse

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Book - Industrial Revolution Biographies

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Success of telegraph —> he got fame & wealth

Mayor of NYC - ran in 1836

3 years (until 1835): fix/get 1st model of telegraph

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Electromagnet (by Michael Faraday, 1791-1867) - gave him an idea

First model: canvas stretcher, homemade battery, pieces from clock

One purpose —> go from many wires to one

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#1 : Congress agreed to idea/helped with funds (paid $30,000 to string wire)

#2 : May 11, 1844- Morse sent first message - “What hath God wrought?”

#3 : 1840’s - telegraph was well known/loved

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Assistants - Alfred Vail and William Baxter

American physicist - Joseph Henry (1797-1878)

Louis Breguet of France —> (1804-1883)

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Fast communications from far away

Spread of railroads

Companies expanded market for products

Merchants - order goods from far away

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More things the Telegraph helped with - Dalia

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More things the Telegraph helped with - Dalia

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Helped in growth of manufacturing

Work of financial markets

Investors got access to… - stock prices, news, etc.

Raised a lot of capital money

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After the Telegraph/what Morse did - Dalia

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After the Telegraph/what Morse did - Dalia

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After - became a philanthropist

Honor - statue of Morse in Central Park (1871)

Died the following year

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What happened after the Telegraph was made/when it became well known - Dalia

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What happened after the Telegraph was made/when it became well known - Dalia

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Ten years after it was made - 23,000 miles of telegraph wire

1868 —> underwater cable between Europe and the United States

Millions of people used it

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Visited Europe: Attempted securing patent protection

Examined competing brands on the rise

Morse had confidence: applied for the federal government’s appropriation

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Artifact: artwork

We can make a picture of the Telegraph and label the parts/how to use it

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Printing press: Biggest innovation in communication (Before the telegraph)

Printing remained key communication use for many years

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Telegraph idea: Sending electric signals across wires

Originated: Early 1700s - 1798: rough system first created in France

Already 62 people thought of the same idea by 1838

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1843 - Successfully built first telegraph system - Washington, D.C. —> Baltimore, Maryland

First message: « What hath God wrought? »

Telegraph worked slowly - failed attempts to connect to entire country

Extended telegraph —> New York

Other companies: soon saw his inventions - expanded line westwards

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Was a portrait painter in NYC first

Telegraphy —> became interested in 1832

Morse code —> used when sending messages —> arranged dots and dashes —> translates to English words

1837 - showed telegraph to New York, Philadelphia & Washington

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Morse Code: « a set of sounds that corresponded to particular letters of the alphabet »

At first - telegraph transmissions transmitted by trained code users

1914 - new authentic method was developed

New method: made transmissions faster

20th century: heavily depends on telegraph (for long distance communications)

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1914: new method developed

Much faster transmissions made

20th century: telegraphs heavily depended on for long distance communications

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Main challenge : MIS-TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS

Messages - people could get confused/“garbled” (due to Morse code)

Message could travel to other places (EX. : message - Boston to St. Louis — goes to five different firms)

Garbled message —> better than no message at all

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1864: top telegraph company « Western Union » - operated on 44,000 miles of wire - valued at $10 million - next year valued at $21 million

Estimated company value (between 1857 - 1867) grew by 11,000 percent

1866: network included 100,000 miles of wire - Capital stock value: $40 million

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World Changes due to the telegraph - Miranda

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World Changes due to the telegraph - Miranda

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Before telegraph: Long distance communication took days - weeks - months

After telegraph made —> messages from NY to London took minutes

Prior to telegraph: politics & business constrained by geography

World divided into isolated regions - Limited information from other parts of world

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Morse on ship to Europe

Overhears conversation about electromagnetism

Realizes the possibility

Though knows little knowledge of electricity

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Did not suddenly pop up

Caused from scientific evolution

Took place since 18th century in field of electricity

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Samuel Morse drew sketches

Interested in possible electric telegraphy ideas

Later made system - dashes & dots - later named after himself - Morse Code

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Morse Code: Hard to learn/interpret

Many avoided using

Telegraph - required Morse Code

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Messages easily garbled

Morse code - many avoided using

Telegraph - lacked personal communication & quality

Telegraph - sent only 1 message at a time

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Telegraph cost much $

Morse: asked congress for $30,000

$30,000 for only 40 mile distance

Washington, d.c. —> Baltimore (ML)