The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another

Chapter 3 posits a connection between the invention of the telegraph and the development of American English. In 1825, Samuel F. B. Morse received news that his wife died of a heart attack days earlier while he was in Washington DC. Upset at the loss of his wife and the slowness at which the news reached him, Morse sought to improve the speed of long-distance communication. Years later, a Boston doctor discovered that electricity could travel easily and swiftly across space. This discovery paved the way for the invention of the telegraph, which conveys information via iron or copper wires and electricity. Morse built a prototype using an old clock, a wooden frame, and a pencil. This early model resembled playground equipment—specifically, a swing and a seesaw. The swing included a pencil that typed a series of Vs on a piece of paper. The bottom of a V symbolized a dot, while a stretched line between Vs was a dash. These dots and dashes were made by an electrical signal emitted from the transmitter (the seesaw). The formations of dots and lines corresponded to numbers, which in turn formed words. Morse created a more advanced version of the telegraph in collaboration with a former student. He then introduced the machine to President Martin Van Buren in 1838, sending a ten-word message within a minute. An act of Congress financed the installation of telegraph lines across the country.

The telegraph—which used iron and, later, copper wires—shaped language within a decade of its invention. It quickly became the medium by which news agencies rapidly shared information. Messages had to be simple and brief—and could only be sent one at a time. Consequently, news conformed to telegraph capabilities: Short, simple reports became standard in newswriting. In 1881, for example, The New York Times ran the following headline announcing the attempt on President James A. Garfield’s life: “President Garfield Shot by an Assassin” (72). Short news bulletins chronicling the president’s recovery followed: “Crowds learned that President Garfield was cheerful (July 7, 1881); had eaten ‘solid food’ (July 17); was ‘comfortable and cheerful’ (July 29); and had a pleasant nap (July 31)” (73). These reports continued until the president’s death on September 19.

This concise writing style impacted literature, such as the works of American novelist Ernest Hemingway, who in his youth wrote for the newspaper Kansas City Star. During this time, he gained access to the Star Copy Style sheet, which laid out the following rules: “Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative […] Eliminate every superfluous word. Avoid the use of adjectives. Watch out for trite phrases” (78). Indeed, Hemingway referred to the Kansas City Star as the place where he honed his craft. Hemingway’s popular literary works—which, like telegraph communications and news reporting, avoid superfluous words—in turn influenced other writers and affected spoken and written English in the US, which is typically more concise than British English.