Nineteenth Century America

by Ruby Hawk in History, July 25, 2010

Nineteenth Century America was a slow moving agriculture country until Samuel F.C. Morse invented the telegraph. As strange as it might seem, the invention of the telegraph was as dramatic in Nineteenth Century America as the Internet today. With the telegraph came communications that enhanced trade and allowed farmers to compare prices, get credit and with the coming of railroads, ship their products to distant parts of the country. The political parties were Whigs and Democrats and were as volatile as today.

The United States during the 19th century witnessed a communications revolution every bit as big our own revolution with the Internet. In 1844 Samuel F.C. Morse demonstrated his new electric telegraph by transmitting along a wire for 40 miles a quotation from the Book of Numbers: “What hath God wrought.” Instant long distance messages was now a reality. Before the event of the telegraph, messages were limited by how fast a man, ship or horse could travel to deliver the message. The coming of the telegraph in 1844 had long range consequences for the economy and politics. It fostered investing decisions, stimulated mass marketing and enhanced the women’s rights movement by informing mass audiences.

Image by Cornell University Library via Flickr

Improved communications allowed Americans farmers to get news of distant prices and credit. Canals and steamboats plus railroads helped them ship their crops to distant markets. Cotton was “king” and the South provided the raw material for the factories in Great Britain and New England. The United States partly paid it’s way with corn and wheat grown on family farms, but mostly with cotton and tobacco grown on cotton and tobacco plantations with slave labor.

The politicians of the day were the Whigs and the Jacksonian Democrats. Like today, they balanced each other in strength about evenly. They debated banking, tariffs,highway building and education. Pretty much like today’s politics. Americans were a religious people. Many voted with religious convictions. Religious tolerance though highly touted, was not fully practiced. Another similarity to today. Catholic and Protestant disagreements often led to violence. Jews were too few to cause much hostility but Mormons experienced active prosecution. Organized religion had more influence in American culture than it does now. Public schools were created to teach Bible as much as anything else.