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Samuel Morse Codes Research Paper

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Imagine a time where communication wasn’t instantaneous. In today’s world, we can all communicate with each other with the press of a couple buttons, but how did we communicate before the modern day technology? Samuel Morse, an inventor from the 1800’s, created something that changed communication forever. Along with other inventors, he created the telegraph. The telegraph was significant to early American history in many different ways. Before the telegraph, long distance communication wasn’t nearly as reliable. “Ancient civilizations such as those in China, Egypt and Greece used drumbeats or smoke signals to exchange information between far-flung points.” Although these methods worked most of the time, there were still some obstacles they …show more content…

The definition of Morse code is “a code developed by Samuel Morse used for transmitting messages in which letters of the alphabet and numbers are represented by various sequences of written dots and dashes, or short and long signals such as electric tones or voltages.” Soon after operators got familiar with Morse code, they realized that they were able to understand the code by listening to the clicking of the receiver. Paper was thereby replaced by a receiver that created a louder and clearer beeping sound. On May 24, 1844 Samuel Morse sent the first telegraphic message. “From Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, the message said: What hath God wrought?” , meaning the new form of communication was a big success - the start of a new and more reliable way of transmitting messages over great distances. America quickly saw a great use for this new technology. This immediately altered how war was fought. “During the Civil War, 15,000 miles of telegraph cable was laid purely for military purposes.” David Hochfelder said “The military telegraph network proved its value in coordinating broad strategy almost immediately and continued to do so throughout the war.” Not only did the telegraph help us fight wars, it also helped keep everyone back home informed on all that was going on in the

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