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

Make a song???

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

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

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

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 »

18th century —> optical telegraphs “Semaphores”

Thomas Edison —> four messages to travel at same time

19th century - many telegraph lines

Telegraph —> send and get messages (written)

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

1924-1928: Teletype (Telephone & Telegraph)

1933: Teleprinters

Created by Samuel Morse (1791-1872)

(also created Morse code)

How it started —> heard conversation about electricity

Realized electrical pulses=carrying messages

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

Morse code —> have trouble understanding it

Shipping —> easily read and understood

Wire lines: expensive

Allow communication — far away

Erase rivalries: national

Business - speed

Deforestation

Habitat destruction

Couldn’t read Morse

Changed personal benefits

Altered commercial relations

Political relations — changed between people

Things got across Atlantic

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

Wires were strung over towns

First Method grew old —> Expanded - new method

Instead of morse —> English interpretation

Method spread Westward - Then to other continents

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

Success of telegraph —> he got fame & wealth

Mayor of NYC - ran in 1836

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

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

#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

Assistants - Alfred Vail and William Baxter

American physicist - Joseph Henry (1797-1878)

Louis Breguet of France —> (1804-1883)

Fast communications from far away

Spread of railroads

Companies expanded market for products

Merchants - order goods from far away

Helped in growth of manufacturing

Work of financial markets

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

Raised a lot of capital money

After - became a philanthropist

Honor - statue of Morse in Central Park (1871)

Died the following year

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

Visited Europe: Attempted securing patent protection

Examined competing brands on the rise

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

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

Printing remained key communication use for many years

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

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

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

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)

1914: new method developed

Much faster transmissions made

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

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

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

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

Morse on ship to Europe

Overhears conversation about electromagnetism

Realizes the possibility

Though knows little knowledge of electricity

Did not suddenly pop up

Caused from scientific evolution

Took place since 18th century in field of electricity

Samuel Morse drew sketches

Interested in possible electric telegraphy ideas

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

Morse Code: Hard to learn/interpret

Many avoided using

Telegraph - required Morse Code

Messages easily garbled

Morse code - many avoided using

Telegraph - lacked personal communication & quality

Telegraph - sent only 1 message at a time

Telegraph cost much $

Morse: asked congress for $30,000

$30,000 for only 40 mile distance

Washington, d.c. —> Baltimore (ML)