Transatlantic Communications Cable

 

Transatlantic Communications Cable

In the modern-day world, if you would like to communicate with someone in another country you are able to text, call, or use apps such as WhatsApp. But how would you communicate with someone in another country in the 1800's? The simple answer, is that you had to send a letter. But, how could great nations such as Europe and the United States by-pass this long and tedious process? The answer came from Cyrus Field, Samuel Morse, Fredric Gisborne, and Charles Tilston Bright. Each of these men plus numerous scientists worked together to create the Transatlantic Communications Cable. Cyrus Field, an American investor and owner of the British company, Atlantic Telegraph Company is given most of this credit behind the success of the project. 

What sparked the invention of the Transatlantic Communications Cable?

Samuel Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, dreamed of connecting individuals beyond the confines of the United States. In 1844, the first telegraph line was successfully laid from Washington D.C to Baltimore, MA. This was only possible due to Congress granting $30,000 in funding to him. This is where Cyrus Field comes in with the creation of the Transatlantic Communications Cable because he was able to provide funding, along with the US and UK. 

The second reason that prompted the connection between the UK and the US has to do with the War of 1812 and The Treaty of Ghent. On December 14, 1814, US and UK diplomats came to an agreement and signed The Treaty of Ghent to end the war. Unfortunately for troops, this information would not make it to them for another two weeks due to the lack of efficient communication methods; this resulted in over 2000 deaths of British troops on the 8th of January 1815. 

The Cable Itself   

The need for a more effective way to connect countries and various innovators laying the groundwork eventually led to the invention of the Transatlantic Communications Cable. The cable itself had to cover over 3,000 kilometers, withstand the marine environment, and somehow be transported to its respective place. Due to how massive and heavy the cables were, they had to be transported by two different ships: the UK Agamemnon and the US Niagra. It would not be until August 16, 1858 that the cable would officially be laid.

Positives and Negatives 

The most obvious positive success from the Transatlantic Communications Cable is that it is the first example of a successful communication (apart from snail mail) between countries. The downside to this success is that the cable would only be operational for two months. 

Although the cable is no longer operational, recent studies have shown that massive pieces of equipment, such as this one are a threat to oceanic life. Things such as heat and disturbance to the environment may shock sea creatures, resulting in the death of many. 

Trial and Error 

Although the desire to build the Transatlantic Communications Cable was there, the technical errors caused plenty of issues. Ultimately, this resulted in 5 attempts before the cable was successfully laid. 

Attempt #1: The cable snapped 

Attempt #2: The ships were caught in a storm

Attempt #3: The cable snapped 

Attempt #4: The cable snapped 

Attempt #5: Successful for 2 months 

In all of these attempts, the cables eventually snapped, mostly due to things outside of their control. However, each time the crew learned from their mistakes, so that the Transatlantic Communications Cable would become operational. 

U.K and U.S 

Eventually, the first message was sent: "Europe and America are united by telegraphic communication. Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill to men." 

Eight Values of Free Expression

 

 The Eight Values of Free Expression

There are different forms in which we as humans express ourselves underneath the First Amendment. The eight being the marketplace of ideas, participation in self-government, stable change, individual self-fulfillment, checks on governmental power, promotion of tolerance, promotion of innovation, and the protection of dissent. This blog post doesn't focus on providing definitions for the above stated expressions, instead it focuses on identifying the ones that are most important to me. If you are interested in learning more about the above terms, I encourage you to take a look at Professor Smith's Speech Theories blog. 

Generally speaking, each of these values work together to create what we know as freedom of expression. However, I find that three of these speak more to me than the other five, and I believe that will be the case for many of you reading this as well. The three being: participation in self-government, individual self-fulfillment, and protection of dissent. 

Participation in self-government is very important to me with the current 2024 election. False claims have been made on both parties sides -which is shown in debates and through social media posts. However, the information being allowed to circulate enables me to make my own informed choices based on my beliefs and policies that I agree with.

Individual self-fulfillment is equally important as the participation of self-government to me. Individual self-fulfillment allows me to appreciate others creativity as well as my own. This is especially important to me because Banksy is one of my favorite artists, and overtime he has incurred tons of controversy. Take for instance Banksy's Sales End portrait which mocks wide-spread consumerism that takes place in western civilizations. Although Banksy is not centralized in the United States, the first amendment protects the right for Americans to view the anonymous artist's art and spread their own personal feelings about him. Without individual self-fulfillment, artists such as Banksy would not be able to spread their creativity -which is a huge part of what makes us human, and what I value so much as an American. 

As the child of two parents who served in the United States military and as someone who is employed on a military base, the protection of dissent is very important to me. Like many others, I hate the idea of war and my heart yearns for those who have been impacted by a war personally. The protection of dissent allows for me to voice my displeasure with the current deployments of United States troops. The protection of dissent also allows me to voice my thoughts -no matter the unpopularity of them. 

Although, values such as the free market-place of ideas has allowed important progressions such as remedies to illnesses and technological advances, one being the iPhone. These values do not speak as much to me in my day-to-day life. Granted, it would be quite difficult to imagine life without these values, citizens of other countries do not have the above values that protect their freedom of expression. 

The Supreme Court

 

Powerful but Humane: An Analysis of The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land and I would argue that the everyday American citizen does not know much about it. In recent years, the Supreme Court has received a large amount of backlash for the decision to overturn Roe v Wade in 2022. Since this landmark Supreme Court case's overturning, I have become more interested in learning what it is that the Supreme Court actually does. York Associates Television created a 20 minute long video that looks into the lives of Supreme Court Justices and is quite informative. 

The earlier mentioned video taught me key things as an American that I am honestly embarrassed to admit that I didn't even know. Firstly, I think it is important to note that I walked away more appreciative of the decisions that Supreme Court Justices have to make weekly. Prior to this video, I believed that they only convened once every couple of months and that it was the easiest job to have. Newsflash! It's not, and I for one could not imagine sitting in their seats and only being able to select a few hundred cases a year to review. 

One of the most important takeaways I have and that I believe is important for every citizen of the United States to understand, is that the Supreme Court does not go out looking for ways to make our lives difficult or ways to make the most unpopular decisions. Instead, they make decisions on cases that are brought before them -which I think is very important to note because we go to them for their judgements. It is not the other way around in which they force their judgments onto us. 

The video is also great to watch because it humanizes the judges as well. Usually when I picture a Justice, I picture a grumpy older white man with no regards to anyone else's thoughts. However, they're more grounded in decisions they make in comparison to many of us in our day to day life. At the start of each meeting, they shake one another's hand. It is so shocking that individuals with this much power can take the time to ground themselves before speaking, and it's something that I urge everyone to do before discussing heavy topics. 

I for one, now realize how important The Supreme Court is and why it is such of a powerful but humane position. Powerful because they're the highest court in the land, tasked with upholding the Constitution, but yet realizing when change needs to happen. Humane because like us, they're human too and show compassion for one another before speaking. 

My Top Five News Sources

 

My Top Five News Sources

News sources are far and wide to choose from and this poses the question, "where should I get my information from and why?" Times have changed since the 1900's in which news sources had to handle topics in a delicate and conservative manner. With so many options to get your news from, news sources are able to publish articles that are oftentimes biased and misleading. What does this change mean for you? It means that you have to carefully fact check each piece of information and form your own personal beliefs about the information you read. I encourage you to take a look at my top five news sources.

The Pour Over Website

#5: The Pour Over: The Pour Over is a politically-neutral Christain based news-source that covers controversial topics happening in real-time. This source is refreshing and a breath of fresh air for those who don't enjoy the political drama that follows most news sources. The Pour Over is sent directly to your email every few days and provides food-for-thought without the name-calling, profanity, and headaches that most news sources bring. Best part about The Pour Over? It looks to scripture for answers and focuses on guiding readers to answers instead of looking for what's right and what's wrong. Downside to The Pour Over? Not widely recognized and doesn't provide in-depth information -think of it as the Cliff Note version of the news world. 

TikTok Emblem

#4: TikTok: The tried and true source for many young Americans to receive their news. TikTok encourages young Americans to take a role in their government and to become politically and economically aware. The one issue? It is as if you're playing telephone with information. TikTokers create videos with false information and it spreads like a wildfire. Countless individuals have been doxxed, "cancelled", or simply run around spreading information that would not even pass the giggle test. Yet individuals rely on half-truths and commenters for updates. As a whole, the platform relies on influencing gullible individuals to purchase less than decent quality items, participate in cancel culture, and to blindly trust anyone on the internet. However, when used properly TikTok videos inform viewers of information they might not know and encourages them to do further research. 

First Edition of the New Yorker Cover

#3: The New Yorker: The New Yorker is visually appealing and has articles on anything you could ever imagine. The one downside is that it leans pretty far to the left. A good way to see which way your news source leans is by checking the All Sides Media Bias Chart. The website ranks news articles by political content in one of five categories: Left, Lean Left, Center, Right, and Right Lean. This is not to say that The New Yorker does not contain accurate information or that it is a bad site to obtain information from. In fact, it's a very popular choice for its artistic and simplistic approach in discussing events occurring. My hugest issue? The need for a subscription to read a full article. The New Yorker offers a free plan capping users at 6 articles per month and a variety of paid plans: 4-Week Digital ($10/4 Weeks), Annual Digital ($130 annually), and Annual Print + Digital ($169 annually). With the rising costs of living and the abundance of sources to take in your news from it's difficult to justify spending money when you can easily access the same information for free. What gives it the number 3 spot? Well, that's easy! I love their magazine covers and would own every one if possible. 

The Free People Logo

#2: The Free Press: The Free Press leans a bit to the right according to the All Sides Media Bias Chart, but it prides itself on encouraging Americans to think for themselves. The Free Press offers a vintage newspaper style in an online format and allows for users to directly comment on articles. Unlike other media platform, there's not an instantaneous push to subscribe or donate money to their cause. The subscription is around the cost for a Starbucks coffee, at $8 a month -which adds up to $96 annually. However, most of their content is free and still $34 cheaper than The New Yorker's cheapest subscription option. 

#1: The Guardian: The Guardian allows you to read up-to-date, interesting articles, at no cost! The Guardian believes that "democracy shouldn't require a paywall". Truthfully, the source that you choose as your favorite depends on your political views, the information you're looking for, and how aesthetically pleasing you want your information to look like. The Guardian takes a more generic website approach compared to the other options listed above. But unlike most big-name news sources it's run by a trust instead of by a large corporation or an advertiser. According to the All Sides Media Bias Chart, The Guardian leans a little bit to the right, but I even this out by taking in a variety of sources -which I encourage you to do as well.