an essay on telegraph
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Essay on Telegraph
The significance of the telegraph was something Morse foresaw, and he knew how the technology would have to be handled to prevent misuse. He also earned great accolades from around the world for his invention.
Telegraph stations in the United States, the Canadas & Nova Scotia, 1853
This map reveals the status of the telegraph network as it existed in the U.S. in 1853, only nine years after the first message. By this time, only one state east of the Mississippi, Florida, was not connected by telegraph. The legend on the left offers the list of message rates from Pittsburgh. By 1861, telegraph lines crossed the American continent; by 1866, the transatlantic cable connected America and Europe. Credit: Chas. B. Barr, Pittsburgh, Pa. Wegner & Buechner lith., 1853. Col. map 59 x 85 cm. Scale ca. 1:4,200,000 Geography and Map Division
Memorandum from Morse to his assistant, Alfred Vail, 11 October 1844
With remarkable foresight, Morse, already keenly aware of the potential for misuse of the new communication medium, writes to his assistant in Washington. Only months after the telegraph has begun operation, Morse warns Vail to "be especially careful not to give a partisan character to any information you may transmit." Morse's instructions display his insights into the importance of objectivity and accuracy for both the messenger and the message.
Telegraph Broadside, undated
Once the potential suggested by Morse's 1844 success began to be realized, other rival systems soon would emerge, naturally claiming to provide better and faster communication. This poster advertises a forthcoming exhibition of one such telegraph. As with many other technological pioneers, Morse would have to endure many a challenge to his patent in court.
Decoration from the Sultan of Turkey, 1848
This decoration from the Sultan of Turkey was the first of numerous accolades bestowed on Morse for his invention of the electromagnetic telegraph. He also received recognition from the sovereigns of France, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Prussia, Austria, and Italy. Scientific organizations such as the Academy of Industry in Paris and the National Institute for the Promotion of Science in Washington, D.C., honored him. Both the Archaeological Society of Belgium and the American Philosophical Society granted Morse honorary membership and Yale conferred a degree of Doctor of Laws on him.
Atlantic Cable Sketch by Samuel F. B. Morse, 5 August 1854
In this stylized and simplified rendering of a transatlantic connection, Morse sketched the basics of what would be a three-thousand-mile version of his basic telegraph. Although Morse had written as early as 1843 that a telegraph cable might "be established across the Atlantic," it was not until 1854 that the American financier Cyrus W. Field wrote to the inventor of his idea to link Ireland and Newfoundland by telegraph cable. This prodigiously ambitious project stirred the imagination of millions on both sides of the Atlantic and, despite bitter disappointments and repeated failures, met with final success in 1866.
Invention of the Telegraph:-
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 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.