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The Telegraph in the Civil War

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About the inquiry

This inquiry provides students with an opportunity to examine the role that the telegraph played in the Civil War. The telegraph system used in the Civil War emerged over two decades in the 1830s and 1840s as inventors and businessmen worked to find a way to send electronic messages over wires. Samuel Morse cracked the code, so to speak, when he and his partners Leonard Gale and Alfred Vail transmitted their famous message “What hath God wrought?” from Washington to Baltimore on May 24, 1844

Compelling Question

Did the telegraph make a difference in the Civil War?

Staging Question

Discuss ways in which communication technologies (e.g., phone, email, texting, social media) have changed how we interact with each other.

1
Supporting Question

When and why was the telegraph first used in the Civil War?

Formative Tasks

Develop a storyline depicting events that occurred when the telegraph was first used during the Civil War.

Sources

Source A: Bates (1907) Lincoln in the Telegraph Office - excerpt on organization
Source B: Bates (1907) Lincoln in the Telegraph Office, excerpt on Bull Run

2
Supporting Question

How did the United States War Department’s Telegraph Office function?

Formative Tasks

Draw and annotate a graphic illustrating the operation of the U.S. Military Telegraph Office.

Sources

Source A: Bates (1907) Lincoln in the Telegraph Office, excerpt on operation
Source B: Bates (1907) Lincoln in the Telegraph Office, excerpt on Lincoln

3
Supporting Question

How did Lincoln use the telegraph during the war?

Formative Tasks

Make a claim about how President Lincoln used the telegraph during the Civil War.

Sources

Source A: Telegram from Lincoln to Thomas H. Hicks, April 20, 1861
Source B: Telegram from Lincoln to Gen. D. N. Couch, June 24, 1863
Source C: Telegram from Abraham Lincoln to Mary Todd Lincoln, April 28, 1864
Source D: Telegram from Lincoln to Sherman, July 18, 1864
Source E: Telegram from Lincoln to Stanton March 27, 1865 along with annotation

Summative Performance Task

Argument: Write an argument responding to the compelling question, "Did the telegraph change the Civil War?" Your argument should include specific claims with supporting evidence.

Extension: Use the argument to write a speech that might have been delivered in the United States Senate arguing in favor of or against funding an expanded telegraph operation in the first year of the Civil War.

Taking Informed Action

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