The American Poe's Impact On Society

The telegraph is the invention that changed the world of communication; Samuel Morse was the man behind it. The invention of the telegraph would revolutionize the world. Although the life span of the telegraph was not as long as expected, it was the stepping stone for current technology. Samuel Morse helped pave the future of communication. Even with some initial problems, the invention of the telegraph and its benefits would change the lives of Americans and the way of business. Preacher’s son, Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born April 27, 1791 in Charlestown, Boston Massachusetts. He studied philosophy and mathematics at Yale University before turning his passion to art. Morse was an accomplished painter. In 1811 traveled to England
It is believed that the grief of his wife is what inspired Morse to set upon a new path, to improve long distance communication. After the death of his wife Samuel traveled back to Europe for three years where he visited art collections to study. In Lafayette Paris he paints in the Vatican galleries in Rome. During this time Samuel spent most of his time with his novelist friend James Cooper. During his travels home to New York, Morse has a chance encounter with another passenger Doctor Charles Thomas Jackson who was known for electromagnetism. They talked extensively about electromagnetism and this is when Morse first conceives the idea of the electromagnetic telegraph. Charles inspired Morse’s idea of transmitting messages over long distance. English scientist Charles Wheatstone and William Cooke were also experimenting with electrical telegraphy shortly after
and European economies (pg. 164). By 1940 there were 40 telegraph lines across the Atlantic. Western Union Telegraphy Company became the first nationwide telegraph company because they laid the first transcontinental line. Another great invention during this time was insulation for the telegraph wires; this was created by Ezra Cornell, who was also one of the founders of Western Union and Cornell University in New York. Problems with the early telegraph that occurred was the fact that only one message was able to be transmitted on a wire at a time, therefore more wires were needed or you had a wait time. Thomas Edison invented the Quadruplex system in 1872. This allowed four messages to transmit on the same wire at the same time. The lives of ordinary Americans were indirectly impacted by the invention of the telegraph. The early telegraph made very little direct impact on most people; it was mostly used for official business use. Most Americans were not able to learn Morse code immediately; specialists were trained to translate the