Ruhlandpedia

  The key to modern communication was discovered in Britain, in 1825 by William Sturgeon (About.com). Without Sturgeon’s invention, the electromagnet, the telegraph would not exist, nor would modern electricity or radio technology. However, the electromagnet was useless for any kind of singling system until the distance from its power supply was increased to one mile by Joseph Henry in 1830 (About.com). It was not until five years later that Samuel Morse used the new-found ability to attract metal on command from over a mile away to send the first message using a code of his creation, “Morse Code” (About.com).

  It had been know for over a century that electricity traveled at a tremendous speed. In France, in 1746, Jean-Antoine Nollet electrocuted a one kilometer wide circle of monks connected with iron wire (Wikipedia, Jean-Antoine Nollet). Not only did all of the monks react to the electricity, they all reacted at the same time, meaning that whatever was moving through them moved faster than the human eye could see (Wikipedia, Electrical telegraph). Over the next ninety eight years, technology was perfected and the first telegraph line, funded by the United States government was put into service. On May 1, 1844 the first telegraph message was sent forty miles, from Washington D.C. to Baltimore (About.com). It read that the Whig party national convention had nominated Henry Clay and twenty three days after that, at the official opening of the worlds first telegraph line, the famous message, “What hath Goad wrought?” was sent (About.com). The May first message was the fastest that any news had ever been sent and it marked the beginning of a new age of up-to-date information.

  Of course, America was quick to cash in on this new technology. In 1851, the Western Union company was founded (Wikipedia, Western Union). Ten years later they successfully wired the east cost of America to the west cost with the first transcontinental telegraph line (About.com). This was the age of telegrams, hand delivered messages payed for by the word and ending with “STOP”. The Western Union company held a monopoly over the American telegraph market well into the 1900’s.

  It is safe to say that the telegraph aided in the invention of many new technologies. In 1913, eight messages could be transmitted on a single wire at once which was increased to seventy two in 1936 (About.com). In 1925 the teleprinter was invented, allowing Morse Code messages to be automatically translated into English letters (About.com). It was not until 1877 that the power of the telegraph was surpassed (About.com) by a new invention. The telephone could not have been possible without the earlier telegraph, a telephone is really nothing more than a sensitive telegraph sending vibrations of sound instead of the dots and dashes of Morse Code. The Western Union company continued on to move onto the stock market, the world wide telephone system and to satellites and space based communication, a true legacy of inventive spirit (Wikipedia, Western Union).

  The world has changed due to the telegraph. We no longer live in isolated communities and small towns but in a connected world in which anyone can get news from around the planet. America and Europe were especially changed, average people were able to use the telegraph to communicate to distant family, business could take place at any time and important events could be relayed to the government and the press. The Western Union company was a giant of its day and set the example for future technological giants, wielding power not seen again until the likes of Standard Oil and Ma Bell.