Umair Gaines
The electric telegraph was one of the first telecommunications technologies of the industrial age, allowing messages to be sent and received anywhere in just minutes. The idea of sending signals from one distant place to another has been in use since ancient times, but the electric telegraph was a revolutionary leap forward. Many inventors contributed to the development of the electric telegraph, but it was Samuel Morse who is widely credited with its invention. Morse developed his version of the telegraph in the 1830s, creating a system that used dots and dashes to represent letters of the alphabet, now known as Morse Code. The first message sent using Morse's telegraph was What hath God wrought? on May 24, 1844. The telegraph superseded optical telegraph systems and became the standard way to send urgent messages, with most developed nations establishing commercial telegraph networks by the latter half of the 19th century.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name | Samuel F. B. Morse |
| Known for | Morse code, a set of sounds that correspond to particular letters of the alphabet |
| First began working on the telegraph | 1832 |
| First message sent | 24 May 1844 |
| Content of first message | "What hath God wrought?" |
| Other inventors | William Fothergill Cook, Charles Wheatstone, Pavel Schilling, Georges-Louis Le Sage, Samuel Thomas von Sömmering, Francisco Salva Campillo, Michael Faraday, Joseph Henry, Leonard D. Gale, Alexander Bain |
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What You'll Learn
Samuel Morse's electric telegraph
The electric telegraph was a groundbreaking invention that revolutionised communication by allowing instant message transmission over long distances. While Samuel Morse is often credited with its invention, he was not the first person to work on the idea of using electricity for communication. Early experiments in electrical telegraphy date back to the 1700s, with an anonymous writer in the Scots Magazine suggesting an electrostatic telegraph in 1753. In 1774, Georges-Louis Le Sage created an electric telegraph with a separate wire for each letter of the alphabet, but it only worked between two rooms in his home.
Samuel Morse, a former portrait painter with little training in electricity, turned to inventing to pursue fortune. He realised that pulses of electrical current could transmit information over wires. His interest in telegraphy began in 1832 when he was travelling from Europe to the United States and overheard a conversation about electromagnetism. Between 1832 and 1837, Morse developed a working model of an electric telegraph, using crude materials such as a homemade battery and old clockwork gears. He collaborated with Leonard Gale, a professor of science, and Alfred Vail, who contributed their expertise and resources to improve the design.
Morse's first telegraph device, unveiled in 1837, used a one-wire system that produced an EKG-like line on tickertape. However, decoding the dips in the line into letters and numbers was challenging. By 1838, Morse had developed an improved system—a dot-and-dash code that represented the letters of the English alphabet and digits. This code, later known as Morse code, enabled operators to ""sound read" the messages without needing to print or decode them manually.
In 1843, with financial support from Congress, Morse constructed a telegraph line from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore. On May 24, 1844, the first message, "What hath God wrought?" was successfully transmitted, marking a pivotal moment in the history of worldwide communication. The Morse system became the international standard in 1865, using a modified version of Morse code developed for German railways. Electrical telegraphs found practical applications in railway signalling and played a crucial role in minimising train collisions.
The impact of the electric telegraph extended beyond technology, as authors Charles F. Briggs and Augustus Maverick recognised in their 1858 book, "The Story of the Telegraph". They wrote, "The whole earth will be belted with the electric current, palpitating with human thoughts and emotions... It is impossible that old prejudices and hostilities should longer exist while such an instrument has been created for an exchange of thought between all the nations of the earth." The electric telegraph not only transformed communication but also contributed to the interconnectedness and understanding between nations.
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The Morse code
Morse code, named after Samuel Morse, is a telecommunications method that encodes text characters as standardised sequences of two distinct signal durations, known as dots and dashes, or dits and dahs. The code was developed for use with the electric telegraph, which was invented by Morse and other collaborators in 1838.
The idea behind the telegraph was to send electric signals across wires, and by 1798 a rudimentary system was in use in France. Morse, a New York University professor, began working on his version of the telegraph in 1832, and by 1835 he had developed Morse code. Morse's system for telegraphy was first used in about 1844 and was designed to make indentations on a paper tape when electric currents were received. The simple "on or off" nature of its signals meant that a method was needed to transmit natural language using only electrical pulses and the silence between them. Morse code was designed to increase the efficiency of transmission, with the duration of each symbol being approximately inverse to the frequency of occurrence of the character that it represents in English text. Thus, the most common letter in English, 'E', has the shortest code – a single dit.
Morse code can be memorised and sent in a form perceptible to the human senses, such as via sound waves or visible light, so that it can be directly interpreted by persons trained in the skill. It is usually transmitted by on-off keying of an information-carrying medium such as electric current, radio waves, visible light, or sound waves. The current or wave is present during the dit or dah and absent during the time between them. Each dit or dah within an encoded character is followed by a period of signal absence, called a space, equal to the dit duration. The letters of a word are separated by a space of duration equal to three dits, and words are separated by a space equal to seven dits.
The Morse system became the standard for international communication in 1865, using a modified form of Morse's code that had been developed for German railways. Electrical telegraphs were used by railway companies to provide signals for train control systems, reducing the risk of collisions.
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Telegraphy
The idea behind the telegraph – sending electric signals across wires – originated in the early 1700s, and by 1798 a rough system was used in France. The first extensive telegraph network was a visual one, developed in 1791 by Frenchman Claude Chappe. It consisted of a telescope, a clock, a codebook, and black and white panels and was used to send messages over a distance of ten miles. The Chappe telegraph was an optical telegraph that was put into widespread use in the late 18th century. The system was used extensively in France and European nations occupied by France during the Napoleonic era.
The electric telegraph started to replace the optical telegraph in the mid-19th century. It was first taken up in Britain in the form of the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, initially used mostly as an aid to railway signalling. The first commercial needle telegraph system and the most widely used of its type was the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, invented in 1837. Many inventors continued to tinker with the idea of the telegraph machine, indicating the tremendous potential of the device. In 1850, the Scotsman Alexander Bain invented a telegraph machine that could send and receive messages using perforated strips of paper.
The electric telegraph was invented in 1837 by William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone in England, with parallel innovations made by Samuel Morse in the United States. Morse developed Morse code, a set of sounds that corresponded to particular letters of the alphabet. The Morse system became the standard for international communication in 1865, using a modified form of Morse's code that had been developed for German railways. The heliograph is a telegraph system using reflected sunlight for signalling. It was mainly used in areas where the electrical telegraph had not been established and generally used the same code.
The telegraph could transmit information quickly over long distances, consolidating financial and commodity markets and reducing information costs within and between firms. It was used by shipping companies, allowing passengers at sea to contact friends and family on shore, and could also be used in times of distress. However, telegraph usage faded as radio became easy to use and popularised, and the telephone became the fastest way to communicate person-to-person.
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Submarine telegraph cables
The idea of a submarine telegraph cable captured the imagination of many during the 1840s and 1850s, with proponents such as Edward Thornton and Alonzo Jackman advocating for its construction across the Atlantic. Samuel F. B. Morse, the co-developer of Morse code, expressed his belief in the feasibility of a submarine line across the Atlantic as early as 1840. By 1850, a cable was successfully run between England and France, marking the beginning of a new era in international communication.
In 1855, Cyrus West Field, an American businessman and financier, embarked on a journey to consult with John Watkins Brett, the leading authority on submarine cables at the time. Brett's company had laid the first ocean cable across the English Channel in 1850 and continued to make significant strides in this field. Field's enthusiasm and drive accelerated the project, and he played a pivotal role in the formation of the Atlantic Telegraph Company in October 1856, serving as its vice president.
The first successful transatlantic cable was laid in August 1858, connecting the United States and Britain. Queen Victoria sent an inaugural message to President James Buchanan, celebrating their mutual achievement. However, the excitement was short-lived as the cable stopped working just weeks later. It would take another eight years before a reliable transatlantic cable was established, providing uninterrupted communication across the Atlantic.
The development of submarine telegraph cables faced challenges, including the need for repeaters to amplify signals and the debate over voltage and wire diameter. The mirror galvanometer, an instrument designed by Thomson, proved effective in detecting telegraph pulses on submarine cables. Despite these advancements, the early days of submarine telegraphy were marked by a mix of successes and setbacks, with cable breaks and technical limitations.
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The decline of the telegraph
The telegraph was a revolutionary invention that changed the way people communicated over long distances. However, its dominance started to decline in the early 20th century with the rise of new technologies such as the telephone, radio, and television.
The Rise of the Telephone
The invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 posed the first significant threat to the telegraph industry. Western Union, the leading telegraph company, declined to purchase Bell's patent, believing that the telephone was not a threat to their business. However, as telephone technology improved and long-distance calling became possible, the telephone began to erode the telegraph's market share. By 1900, the telegraph was in definite decline, with the telephone offering increased competition.
Regulatory and Competitive Pressures
The Mann-Elkins Act of 1910 granted the Interstate Commerce Commission regulatory oversight of telegraph rates, constraining Western Union's power. Additionally, the Communications Act of 1934 switched regulation of the telegraph industry to the newly created Federal Communications Commission. During World War II, the Federal Communications Commission forced Western Union to divest itself of its international cable network and consolidate with the Postal Telegraph Company, weakening its financial position.
Technological Advances and Changing Communication Methods
The development of automated transmission systems, such as teleprinters and punched tape transmission, led to new telegraph codes but could not compete with the speed and convenience of the telephone. The rise of radio, television, and the internet further diminished the impact of the telegraph. By the early 20th century, manual operation of telegraph machines was slowly replaced by teleprinter networks, and the use of telegraphy by the general public declined to greetings for special occasions.
Decline in Usage and Market Share
The number of messages sent by telegraph began to decline after 1930. Between 1945 and 1980, Western Union undertook modernization programs, including the development of analog facsimile technology and the construction of a microwave beam network, but these efforts failed to reverse the company's declining market share. By 1990, Western Union was defunct except for its money-transfer service.
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Frequently asked questions
The electric telegraph was invented in 1837 by William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone in England, with Samuel Morse simultaneously making parallel innovations in the United States. Morse was the first to gain political backing for his telegraph and develop a business model for it.
The Morse system, invented by Samuel Morse in 1838, uses a set of sounds that correspond to particular letters of the alphabet. The Morse system became the standard for international communication in 1865.
Repeatedly pressing down on Morse keys to send messages often resulted in a repetitive stress injury known as 'telegrapher's paralysis' or 'glass arm'. Additionally, due to the nature of Morse code, messages were sometimes incorrectly decoded, leading to confusion.
