Communications Revolution: The Telegraph and The Telephone
Science and technology have always played a major role in the development of the United States. The birth of the nation nearly coincided with the first stirrings of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Industrial Revolution helped to transform the United States from a nation of farms and small towns to an industrial power and an urbanized society. Today, technological change is transforming the country again as jobs move away from traditional industries like manufacturing to service industries. People are so used to technology as a fact of everyday life that it can be hard to appreciate how sweeping the changes have been in the United States in a relatively short time.
Throughout most of human history, most messages could travel from place to place only as fast as they could be carried on horseback, by ship, or, by the 19th century, by rail. Then, in the 1830s,
Over the next several decades, Bell’s 'toy' became a necessity of both business and personal life. By 1930, the United States had one telephone for every six residents. Today virtually every home and business in the country has at least one telephone. It would be difficult to overstate the impact of the telephone. Information - personal, business, scientific, and technical - could now be transmitted over long distances faster and more easily than ever before. This speed in communication accelerated the rate of scientific and technological change as well as of economic growth. In personal life, telephones allowed people to stay in closer touch with friends and family members. Ironically, the telephone contributed to the breakup of multigenerational homes, as it made it easier for family members to live alone without being isolated from one another and from help in times of emergencies.
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