I. The Telegraph and Abraham Lincoln The urgency of communication was never much felt until the beginning and use of telegraphy. It was much easier to transmit and receive messages over long distances that no longer needed physical transport of letters. As such, Abraham Lincoln made use of this medium described in an unprecedented manner that revolutionized and secured the status and dealings of his national leadership. When Lincoln arrived for the 1861 inaugural, there were no existing telegraph line to the War Department and even the White House itself. This did not stay for long when rapid changes were implemented. Wires were installed in the War Department and other similar key installations almost immediately (Wheeler, 2006). The telegraph room for Lincoln was considered one of the sacred places in the War Department. It was surprising that the White House had no telegraph office that is why Lincoln made daily visits thereto (Wheeler, 2006). According to the writer Benjamin, he spent a good deal of soul searching in the cipher room where the quiet seclusion made it a favorite place for both rest and work that requires undivided attention and undisturbed thoughts on the brewing Civil War (1997). In the telegraph room, Lincoln turned over with precise exactness and anxious expectations the files that come in for important news and messages. Lincoln patiently awaited every translation of ciphers that gave forecasts and promising information about the dragging war, the acceptance of the telegraph as a new mode of communication, the unexpected defeats and countless lives lost, the story of victory in battles coupled with the drama of betrayal and treason among others. With the influx of messages from the telegraphs, Lincoln absorbed and pondered every vital information to find answers for both political and military problems that needed considerations for the public good. The telegraph became a tool to win the war and also they symbol of that will lead to the proclamation of emancipation (Benjamin, 1997). II. Importance of the Telegraph Communication The installation and use of telegraph communication was indispensable during the American Civil War. In spite of the growing interest for the new technology at that time, the telegraph' potential was received with skepticism and was likewise unduly underappreciated. The beginning of the work was not easy because it had to gather personnel to attend to its use and enforcement. Nevertheless, Lincoln made use of this advantage by tapping and capitalizing on electric communications. This is considered as something remarkable because it is utilized without precedence and it was use in a time where war was waged in America during the Civil War.
Unlike today, there was no fast communication methods. The tensions between the "free" and "slave" states was already apparent, thus, inflamed passions now began to result regularly in violence. Under those circumstances, any proposition which restoration of peace and abandoned slavery, were slow to coming. The issue of slavery was no longer a matter which could be argued. President Lincoln and Seward, made some mistakes, by the time of Seward 's famous speech, “irrepressible conflict. " The southern states started to isolate themselves and by the time the Southern States seceded from the Union, the U.S. had virtually become two separate nations and when Lincoln became president, that was the last straw. Because the Southern states felt that President Lincoln 's election was viewed by Southerners as a blow to their well-being and honor. So, some of the wording in the speech sounded like thing were already coming at the end. Therefore, talks were no longer an option, this issues were “irrepressible conflict." war were inevitable. But that 's not absolute, the speech could have been a final call to action, to work together to resolve and complete “the unfinished
Abraham Lincoln’s original views on slavery were formed through the way he was raised and the American customs of the period. Throughout Lincoln’s influential years, slavery was a recognized and a legal institution in the United States of America. Even though Lincoln began his career by declaring that he was “anti-slavery,” he was not likely to agree to instant emancipation. However, although Lincoln did not begin as a radical anti-slavery Republican, he eventually issued his Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves and in his last speech, even recommended extending voting to blacks. Although Lincoln’s feeling about blacks and slavery was quite constant over time, the evidence found between his debate with Stephen A. Douglas and his Gettysburg Address, proves that his political position and actions towards slavery have changed profoundly.
Wheeler, Tom. "How the Telegraph Helped Lincoln Win the Civil War." History News Network. George Mason University, 2006. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
leading up to and surrounding President Abraham Lincoln’s death. The purpose of this book is to
Thomas DiLorenzo’s purpose in writing The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War is to portray the idea of a different side of one of America’s greatest presidents. Abraham Lincoln is indeed one of the most written about “American political figure[s]” (1). However, The Real Lincoln is devoted to revealing the true mindset and agenda of Abraham Lincoln during his time of presidency. DiLorenzo, in one single book, undermines the political choices and strategies of Abraham Lincoln. He challenges the decisions Lincoln made; specifically stating that Lincoln “could have ended slavery just as dozens of other countries in the world did” (4).
Book Title: The American Civil War: A Handbook of Literature and Research. Contributors: Robin Higham - editor, Steven E. Woodworth - editor. Publisher: Greenwood Press. Place of Publication: Westport, CT. Publication Year: 1996
Lincoln had numerous purposes for his Gettysburg Address. Firstly, it was to be used to dedicate the land where the Battle of Gettysburg had taken place as a cemetery for the fallen Union troops, the most obvious and main reason for his address. His second purpose for the address was to change the war on states’ rights to a war on slavery and upholding the ideals that the founders had created in the Declaration of Independence. By doing this, Lincoln was capable to manipulate countries, such as England and France who had not been fond of slavery for decades, in making them loath the Confederacy and make sure other nations would not recognize the Confederacy as a nation.
My research project is about the new technology that was used during the Civil War. There was new weapons used during the war and also other technologies that helped with the war. These helped change the way people lived and made life easier for them.
Abraham Lincoln wrote one of the greatest speeches in American history known as the Gettysburg Address. It was not only used as a dedication to the fallen troops of the North and South, but as a speech to give the Union a reason to fight and attempt to unite the divided nation. The sixteenth president’s handling of his speech at Gettysburg demonstrated how the effectiveness of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism, could bring unity to a nation deeply divided on beliefs. His speech touched the hearts of many and indirectly put an end to the Civil War. Lincoln may have been considered a tyrant at the time but he was a great leader of a nation, a war, and a democracy.
Transmitting codes has been around for nearly two centuries, First using a code called Morse code when they needed to transmit vital messages from Washington D.C up to Baltimore within short periods of time. They would transmit these messages from a device called the telegraph during the Civil War period. The reason why it’s called Morse CODE is because only a few people in the whole world knew how to translate the message from a few dots and dashes to whole sentences and send a message back. The reason for this is because morse came up with a unique form of his own language using a designated code of dots and dashes.
Abraham Lincoln, an autodidactic early American, grew up amidst the unlikely setting of the American frontier to an impoverished and undistinguished family (Donald n.p.). Lincoln built himself up in a world built to bring him down, and rose “from [these] humble origins in Kentucky, to prominent positions in legal and political circles of Illinois, and then to the pinnacle of presidency” (Donald n.p.). Within two months of gaining presidency, in contempt of Lincoln’s noble efforts, the American Civil War broke out amongst the country, and Abraham Lincoln, undeterred by the considerable amount of stress he was under, managed to keep together and ultimately strengthen the broken nation (Gienapp). Lincoln boldly proceeded to denounce and even completely abolish slavery in America when he instituted the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War, and adeptly convinced the Senate to pass the Thirteenth Amendment (Hamilton). Abraham Lincoln, America’s sixteenth president, left a significant impact on the country when he left an admirable legacy for future Americans to appreciate despite his difficult upbringing and personal life, when he consolidated the Union despite a civil war, and when he led the revolutionary movement to abolish slavery despite the controversy.
Telegraph - The telegraph brought the end to the Pony Express when the East and West coast of the US were connected in 1861, just in time for a major role in the Civil War. The military Signal Corps was first established in both the Union and the Confederacy as a tactical and strategic communication method for the armies.
Often times, historical writings were a way for people to display contrasting viewpoints of how to preserve liberty. For example, Abraham Lincoln’s letter to William H. Herndon. At this point in time, Lincoln was just a railroad lawyer who believed a railroad would help unite the states together in union. The first thing that it is important to understand when reading this letter is to understand that they are talking about the past, the Mexican-American war had already ended.
Continuing on, Lincoln was unobtrusive. Despite what might be expected, he was wildly yearning and strived to increase open office. The object of his desire was never to win praise for himself or to appreciate the trappings of office. It has been just to advance people positively, as well as can be
34,000 people gathered around the nation’s capital to hear Abraham Lincoln give his “Second Inaugural Address”. Lincoln expressed in his address that he made his speech short because there is no time for a long one, considering the circumstances of the Civil War that they were in. His speech was only 703 words long, making it one of the shortest addresses ever (Ronald). In the “Second Inaugural Address”, Abraham Lincoln believes freedom is the ability to live life out from under the dictation of others and make choices for themselves and to do this the war had to be won and ended by the North, thus ending slavery.