Learn about the impact of the telegraph on the Gettysburg Address.
AIR DATE 11/19/13
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln proved himself a master of a new frontier — not on the battlefields of the Civil War, but in his high-tech command center: the War Department Telegraph Office. The internet of the 19th century, the telegraph gave Lincoln new powers to reshape leadership and wield personal control across distant battlefields. It also connected him to the country in new ways, as information poured in, and allowed him to feel the pulse of the country faster than before. The results of Lincoln’s pioneering experiment in communication led to the rebirth of America on the fields of Gettysburg.