19th February 2007

From telegraph to email: Insights into the mind of President Lincoln

posted in history |

In the grand scheme of things, the telegraph was invented yesterday. On this Presidents’ holiday in the United States, I found the Washington Post article from last week, “Lincoln Online: The Telegraph as a Window Into the Mind of the 16th President” to be both insightful about President Lincoln as well as thought provoking when it comes to communication technologies.

Have you ever engaged in, or observed others you know engage in “an email war?” Have you ever clicked the “send” button and later regretted it? President Lincoln dealt with similar issues when using the latest technology of the day, the telegraph, when communicating with his commanding generals during the U.S. Civil War. According to this article by Tom Wheeler:

Before handing the message to the clerk for transmission, however, Lincoln reconsidered the outburst that put McClellan in his place and scratched through it. The marks reveal the struggle between the president’s great frustration and his better judgment as to when and how to deliver such a rebuke.

For more on this, check out the NPR report from February 12th as well as the website of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois. The US National Archive’s site, “Teaching With Documents: Letters, Telegrams, and Photographs Illustrating Factors that Affected the Civil War” is also a great related resource, including multiple telegraphs written by President Lincoln in his own cursive script.

This Washington Post article also references a telegram response to his wife which revealed Lincoln’s wit:

Consider this glimpse into how Lincoln dealt with the war’s grinding pressures. The peripatetic Mary Todd Lincoln had wired from New York seeking cash. Her note’s perfunctory “Hope you are well” was followed with instructions on where to send a check. Then she tacked on without punctuation a last-second message from their son, “Tad says are the goats well.”

The president promptly responded that the check would go in the mail, then seized on the query about the White House pets to comment on his own well-being: “Tell Tad the goats and father are very well — especially the goats.” The few words speak volumes about Lincoln’s spirits and the refuge he found in wit.

This original handwritten telegram is also available from the National Archives.

There’s never been a better day than TODAY to teach about history with primary sources! :-) If you’re interested in obtaining more resources for your library, school or classroom relating to American History and the value of teaching with primary resources, consider applying for the Teaching American History grant program from the U.S. Dept of Education. The deadline for 2007 grants is March 9th.

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There are currently 5 responses to “From telegraph to email: Insights into the mind of President Lincoln”

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  1. 1 On February 19th, 2007, Eric Langhorst said:

    Wes

    Please check out a great indepth look at Lincoln’s use of t-mails to win the Civil War - the book “Mr. Lincoln’s T-Mails - The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win The War” by Tom Wheeler - http://www.mrlincolnstmails.com/index.php

    I just finished it about a month ago and it is a great read. I am planning to do a podcast about the book soon. Very interesting to see how Lincoln was an early adopter. The web site for the book also has some great links to video and audio about the subject.

    Eric Langhorst
    http://www.speakingofhistory.blogspot.com

  2. 2 On February 19th, 2007, Wesley Fryer said:

    Excellent, thanks for that link Eric! I wondered if a history related post would catch your attention, thanks for adding to the resource links. I’m looking forward to meeting you at METC here in a few weeks! :-)

  3. 3 On February 19th, 2007, pete reilly said:

    Wes,
    Please see my post Telegraphy and the Phonogram from this weekend. It offers some perspective on our currrent technology.
    pete

  4. 4 On February 20th, 2007, Jim Beeghley said:

    Wesley,

    Wanted to take a moment to say that I enjoyed this post and for pointing me to the Tom Wheeler article.

    Feel free to check out my blog on Teaching the Civil War with Technology at http://www.littlestregular.com/blog/blog.html

  5. 5 On February 23rd, 2007, Rob Darrow said:

    For those interested in writing Teaching American History grants should see the list of past TAH grant websites at: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/tahgrants/. You’ll find a lot of great audio, video and primary source resources to use.