Telecommunication literally means communication over distance. Quick and accurate communication is very important in society and to the economy, as well as to the military. The invention of the telegraph and telephone made communication faster and easier. Without the telegraph and telephone, America would most certainly not be as technologically advanced as it is today. However, slow and faulty communication was an obstacle that America had to overcome in its infancy.
The means of communication before the telegraph and telephone were primitive by today's standards. Before an official postal service was established in the United States, people relied on word of mouth, whether it was person to person or through a messenger. The town crier read the community announcements until the newspaper came along. Word of mouth and newspapers were sufficient for small towns of that time, but for long distance communication, they were impractical. As a result, a slow and unreliable mail system evolved. People who sent letters and parcels wondered when or if what they sent got to the person they were sending it to. For example, if a man in New England wanted to mail a letter to a relative in England, he had to put the letter in a satchel that was picked up by the captain of a ship that sailed to England. Town drunks and thieves often helped themselves to the bags, which had money for postage in them (TCM 14). Also, the cost of sending letters was high because it was expensive to provide a postal system to a sparsely populated area (SHMS 69). Men on horseback often carried the mail, first in the eastern half of America, then on the western side. The mail was frequently lost or forgotten, and the ride to isolated settlements was dangerous (SHMS 68). The rider risked being attacked by Indians, being maimed by wild animals, or being robbed by outlaws. In 1806, the stagecoach, which was used between Maryland and Tennessee, took eleven days (SHMS 67).
When people migrated west, the need for transcontinental communication increased. Railroads, the Pony Express, and steamboats made it possible to send mail from New York to San Francisco (TCM 6). It cost a lot of money to maintain the Pony Express, however, and mail was once again frequently lost or unreliable (PE 121). It took eight days for a rider to get from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California (PE 53). To get from New York to San Francisco (sailing around Cape Horn) the mail took four months, and it took a stagecoach twenty-five days (Communication 717).
These mail delivery systems had devastating effects on merchants, the army and government, the media, and the community in general. Businesses relied on some form of contact between themselves and the customer. When the mail was lost, it made the business (or the sender) look bad. For example, if a customer in Georgia ordered a product and paid along with the order but never gets what he ordered, it makes the business look bad.
The military also needed a better communication system. For example, the War of 1812 might have been prevented had communication been faster. Instead, England had to rely on a ship to send its message across the ocean. The message said that England would no longer interfere with American shipping. The message was sent two days before the United States declared war on her. Of course, by the time the ship reached the United States with the message, fighting had already broken out (Communication 717).
The newspapers also needed a faster means of communication. As it was, the editors printed outdated news. Not drastically outdated, but nonetheless, outdated. If it was news about a political uprising or a skirmish breaking out somewhere, there is a good chance that by the time the newspaper had printed the news, it was either already over or new developments had been made.
The trouble with communication in business, military, government, and the media indicated that someone needed to find a better way to communicate. At the time, America was a rapidly growing nation. Its economy and population were expanding, and the means of communication would have to expand, too, if America was to prosper.
In 1832, artist Samuel Morse traveled to Europe and heard of electrical experimentation there. Morse began to look for a way to send messages electronically. As a result, he was able to contribute the Morse code and the telegraph to communication (TTM 47).
Other inventors began to build on Morse's telegraph. Soon there came the duplex telegraph, which could send more than one message in one direction at the same time (TTM 53). Transcontinental cables allowed cross-country communication, and transatlantic cables under the ocean allowed international communication.
The telegraph had many advantages. First, it allowed fast communication. Businesses used it to get in touch quickly and inexpensively with far away customers and salesmen (Telegraph 74). It created jobs, especially for women (WRBH 136). The media benefited from quick communication with reporters. In England, a man named John Tawell poisoned a woman. She screamed, and he ran off and jumped on a train. Someone saw him and described him to the telegraph operator, who telegraphed the police (EIH 338). The telegraph was also used during the Civil War for military communication (Telegraph 76).
The telegraph also had its disadvantages. It created a loss of jobs by putting the Pony Express and some postal workers out of business. Since there are two kinds of Morse codes, American and International, the United States often confused herself and the countries she tried to communicate with by using American Morse. Not only was American Morse impractical for transatlantic cables, the rest of the world used International Morse. The United States switched to International Morse for international communication, and used American Morse for transcontinental communication (WRBH 137). Another disadvantage was that only a trained user could send and receive telegraph messages (TTM 37). Also, a message could only be sent where there were cables. But given these disadvantages, people were satisfied with the telegraph. A magazine once stated, "The function of the telegraph in our highly organized commercial and social life has come to be as general and as important as that of the mail. In some respects it is even more of a necessity...." (RIA 114).
Despite the public's complacency with the telegraph, inventors now looked for a way to transmit sound over a distance. Philipp Reis, Elisha Gray, and Alexander Graham Bell were among the pioneers of the discovery of the telephone. In 1860, Reis invented a machine that would transmit sound over distance (EH 117). His native country, Germany, scoffed at such a machine and paid little attention to it. About fifteen years later, Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell were both working on the telephone independently in America. In 1876, while Bell was working, he spilled acid on his clothes. He called his assistant, who was on another floor of the building. His assistant heard him via the telephone. Bell applied for his patent about one hour before Gray, which is why he is credited with the invention of the telephone (EH 118).
Early telephone systems were probably more trouble than they were worth. Each community was like one big party line. Each household was assigned a specific ringing pattern. When a person wanted to make a call, he had to use the specific ringing pattern of the person that he wanted to call. Everyone's phone rang, and there were always eavesdroppers. With the invention of the switchboard, this problem was solved. Another problem was that long distance calls could not be made because there was not enough amplification. With the development of amplifiers, long distance communication via the telephone became possible (TTM 57).
With these adjustments the telephone became suitable for public use. First, anyone could use a telephone. Unlike the telegraph, the user did not have to know Morse code or go to the nearest telegraph office to send or receive a message. Everyone could own a telephone in his home, providing there were sufficient cables nearby. Families on the east coast could call relatives on the west coast. Businesses prospered using the telephone. Like the telegraph, it provided a quick, inexpensive way to reach salesmen and customers. Salesmen worked with their clients one on one. Since information was passed through fewer people, there were fewer chances of it being incorrect. Reporters were able to communicate quickly, so news also traveled quickly. Farmers could get quick, accurate information on what the prices were for a particular type of crop. The military benefited by being able to keep close tabs on the enemy. Spies used both the telephone and the telegraph to make reports. A company with which America is very familiar with today, AT&T, stemmed from the invention of the telephone and telegraph. (The name AT&T stands for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company). AT&T and other companies like it have helped make jobs for many people (RIA 120)
The Telecommunications Revolution helped America's economy, and the telegraph and the telephone were a big part of it. America would be handicapped without them. Society, business, and the military would all suffer if America were still using methods such as the Pony Express and steamboats to communicate. The telegraph and telephone changed the way people communicated and the speed with which they were able to communicate, and America is all the better for it.
