Preview

Technology And Communication During The Nineteenth Century

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
776 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Technology And Communication During The Nineteenth Century
The nineteenth century was a time full of significant innovations. During this period, technology made huge strides in both transportation and communication. With the beginnings of the post office and the technological advancements in printing, trains, and more, it is safe to say a communication revolution occurred. Many people place heavy credit on the improvements in printing technology causing this revolution, but I think it is much more than that. Although some credit is definitely deserved, there were a number of “revolutionary” inventions and advancements that blended together to create this rapid change in the way we communicated. Understanding the progression of human communication helps to appreciate what humans are capable today. I think when you boil down the definition of communication, it is simply transferring information. This can be verbal, written, or visual and any advancement in those three areas will change the way humans transfer information. This means that advancements in transportation affect communication, since faster transportation results in a faster transfer of information. Written communications, newspapers and letters namely, were extremely popular at that time. This rapid change in distribution of written information …show more content…
Letters were essential in that warfare process in order for generals to communicate with each other and Congress. The Second Continental Congress decided to make a committee to build a postal system. After the committee had the structure completed, it was approved and Ben Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general. This was the beginnings of the postal services in the US. Soon after, post offices, post roads, and the resulting post routes came to light as the operation grew, mostly with horse drawn carriages. With an organized and growing operation to deliver mail, books and newspapers filled with information could be dispersed to nearly
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Usps Business Practices
    • 1533 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Usps Business Practices

    The Post Office Leaders had to set goals. “Company leaders establish goals and objectives on at least three levels: (a) strategic goals, (b) tactical goals, and (c) operational goals.” (Reilly, 2011) The main focus was to deliver the mail to the citizens of the United States, effectively, and efficiently. That goal was tough, but achievable. The growing of the business in the early days wasn’t as complex, as the Post Office was the only game in town. As the technology age dawned the Post Office found itself in a bad position. Due to the amount of communication via other sources, mail volumes plummeted and sent the Post Office reeling.…

    • 1533 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Usps Synthesis Paper
    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Usps Synthesis Paper

    If I were the current CEO for the United States Postal Service, I would be gravely concerned about the future of my business, as it has recently taken a steep plummet from its success and popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries. The USPS is now faced with the decision to renovate itself due to the extreme loss of business as technology takes over the 21st Century. Some say that the USPS should be entirely reconstructed because the business is only headed further downhill, while others say that paper mail is still very practical, more so than e-mail, and we must each write more letters to do our part in reviving the business to profitability again. Because the USPS has been such a vital part of our country through its contribution to communication and employment, the organization needs to stay afloat by cutting back on delivery days, strategically rebranching throughout the country, and recapturing the importance of itself through advertising, in order to adapt to the new technology-based era.…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Benjamin Franklin: The World's Most Influential Inventor
    • 1744 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Benjamin Franklin: The World's Most Influential Inventor

    The postal service would be nothing if not for Benjamin Franklin. He was appointed head Postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737 and Postmaster General for the United Colonies in 1775.2 Under Franklin’s guidance the time for mail service between major cities in the Colonies was cut in half. He did this by establishing and improving multiple components to the postal service to reach this admiral achievement.…

    • 1744 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Advance of Communication and Transportation in the Late Nineteenth Century
    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Advance of Communication and Transportation in the Late Nineteenth Century

    In the time of the late nineteenth century, the telecommunication revolution, or globalization, was beginning to make its start in American history. Communication and transportation was becoming faster with the new advances in the technological world. This made large businesses grow, creating large fortunes from the new railroad business However, the farmers if America took a hard hit ti these advances. Food prices were decreasing, and farmers were producing more crops than the economy could consume. Because if the changes in economy, the farmers had grown in discontent with the government, and the fingers were being pointed at the large scale business leaders. In the late nineteenth century, the farmers had a valid reason that big businesses were decreasing away the profits of their work, and into the railroad companies and that banks were taking advantage of the farmers, causing the great agrarian discontent.…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Post Office Dbq
    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Post Office Dbq

    [D1: Position] The USPS not only mails birthday cards and thank-you notes, they also support local businesses, “Both the Postal Service and the Direct Marketing Association say direct mail is a key source of customers for small businesses,” (Source E). [E1: Quote] Local businesses need to use direct-marketing mail because they do not have the IT structure and the money that considerable bigger businesses have. [D2: Rephrase] According to the graph in Source B, there are more than 600,000 USPS employees to recognize and support for delivering mail and packages to people's houses. [E2: Information from Charts] While writing a letter may not be an action like cooking a meal, the concept is the same; going out of your way to let someone know you are thinking about them. That time taken to write a letter could have be used to complete a task, such as vacuuming, washing the dishes or mowing the grass, but instead that letter shows intention and ambition to lighten the receiver's day. [E3: Imagery] The United States Postal Service should not cut back on delivery days, but alternatively be reconstructed to meet the needs of Americans.[D3:…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Technological Changes In The 1920's
    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Technological Changes In The 1920's

    Before World War I the country remained culturally and psychologically rooted in the past, but in the 1920s America seemed to breakaway from these attachments and usher in the birth of modern America This dramatic break between America's past and future was shaped by the evolution of technology, sports, entertainment, and women's roles. Many of the trends that converged to make the twenties distinct had been building for years.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Synthesis Essay On Post Office
    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Synthesis Essay On Post Office

    Since the world has become technology based, less snail mail is being delivered. In 2009, there was twenty-six billion less pieces of mail delivered than in the previous year. This suggests that if the United States Postal Service does not adapt to the new electronic age, they could eventually go bankrupt. Source C reinforces this claim by arguing that changes are necessary after “the Postal Service experienced a 13 percent drop in mail volume last fiscal year, more than double any previous decline, and lost $3.8 billion.” Eliminating saturday deliveries and merging post offices together will help save some of this money…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Marco Polo Research Paper
    • 1384 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Marco Polo Research Paper

    or riders was possible for the delivery of very urgent messages. There was also a small postal…

    • 1384 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Has The Printing Press Changed Over Time
    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How Has The Printing Press Changed Over Time

    With printing came newspapers, magazines, ads, brochures, and pamphlets. These were the media of the day and they had an impact on society. For example, newspapers linked communities and allowed people to feel connected outside of their immediate area. Another thing that changed was that suddenly people with resources could have a mass influence on others by printing their views and propaganda. Among others, politicians used this to their advantage by spreading the word through printed pamphlets.…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    level3 diploma for children and young peoples workforce
    • 1494 Words
    • 5 Pages

    level3 diploma for children and young peoples workforce

    Communications make up a major part of our daily active life; and are a social requirement to mingle via communication. It is a social activity to verbally communicate, correspond by reading writing or even body language! Communication is the giving and receiving of information.…

    • 1494 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rome: The Use Of Road Construction In Ancient Rome
    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Rome: The Use Of Road Construction In Ancient Rome

    Amongst this information flow, Rome incorporated its first use of a postal system along the different roads allowing for faster travel news across the great empire. Rome started by adding a network of postal stations along the road along with the utilization of carts and horses to allow for a speedy deliverance of correspondence to longer distant locations spanning across the empire. For the first time in history there was an actual way to receive mail in Rome which was one of the great developments started in Rome that we still use today. Military couriers transported letters between senators, commanders, and the emperor while civilian mail service was beginning to become a big business opportunity through the empire as well (Roman Roads: UNRV,…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Media in the 1800's
    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Media in the 1800's

    A key element that contributed to the sudden increase of newspapers in the early 1800’s was the post office and congress’ involvement in postal communication. Revolutionary leader Benjamin Rush argued, “knowledge of every kind had to be circulated through every part of the United States in order to adapt the principals, morals, and manners of our citizens to our republican form of government.”1 In order for the people to be current and well informed about their government, it was important that congress extended the postal service making newspapers available to the growing population. In the early 1800’s congress had control of postal routes, which contributed to the expansion and power of the media. From 1792 to 1828, congress established 2476 new postal routes. This expansion meant that mail delivery was not just limited to certain states, but also to the less populated eastern states. Creating a broader network was essential at this time because, as a new democratic nation, congress needed the people to be well informed about political issues. Having a news network made it possible for the people to be involved and make more educated decisions while voting for political leaders. The expansion of the postal service and the more people…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Understand Why Effective Communication Is Important In The Work Setting
    • 4889 Words
    • 20 Pages

    Understand Why Effective Communication Is Important In The Work Setting

    Communication is ability to pass and receive messages to and from other people. Since the very beginning people were trying to communicate and improving ways to communicate to each other in order to be understood.…

    • 4889 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Technologies Impact
    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Technologies Impact

    With the new technology how we communicate has been affected the most I feel. Before modern technology you communicated using pen and paper and were delivered by horseback, then the telegraph came along and it sped everything up. Alison Gopnik explained this in her article “Diagnosing the Digital Revolution” when she said, “Information had always traveled at the speed of a fast horse; suddenly it traveled at the speed of electricity, from 10 miles an hour to millions”. The telegraph, although it was a great technological innovation seems prehistoric compared to how society is able to communicate nowadays. With this new emergence in computer technology communication has become mobile, with the innovation of the cell phone.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    USPS
    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages

    USPS

    The United States Postal Service was an independent government agency of the United States, but has since been converter into a private entity. USPS was officially formed 45 years ago, on July 1st 1971, but its roots can be traced back to 17th. In the early years, there were many attempts to start a postal office, but most of them were on a small scale. There was a growing demand for families to send letters back home to England. The first postal organization started around 1691, when British government offered the North American colonies grant to start a postal service. The first post office department was created in 1775 and Benjamin Franklin was named the first Postmasters. A postmaster is the official head of a post office and is appointed by congress. In the beginning the postal system mainly delivered letters between Congress and the armies. Over the next couple years, the postal…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics