What was it?- The telegraph was a machine that sends messages through wires in morse code. Made by Samuel F.B. Morse. It would send electrical charges through the wire. It wouldn't be like a typewriter. It was dashes and dots because it was Morse code So whenever you would use the telegraph It would be a short tap if it was a dot and a long tap if it was a dash.

What was its impact on Westward Expansion?- This is how people Communicated through the 1800s-1900s. People that were moving to the West communicated to the people still living in the East using the Morse code. This helped people who moved to the West to grow their business,  and catch up on the news that was happening in the east. 

How did it work? It would send morse code through wires. In morse code there are dots and dashes and say a certain combination of dots and dashes would be numbers, letters, and words. If you would want a dot you would click the button on the top but if you would want a dash you would hold down the button. The telegraph works kind of like a computer because a telegraph used morse code to send messages and a computer uses code to send messages.