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__NOTOC__[[File:Landing_of_the_Atlantic_Cable_of_1866,_Heart's_Content,_Newfoundland.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px|The Landing of the Transatlantic cable in Newfoundland in 1866]]
The development of [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AQFJFWI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00AQFJFWI&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=a4c4bc8ce983a7d39eabf65c43406a44 the electric telegraph] greatly changed the way diplomacy was conducted in the 19th century. Until that time information was exchanged at the speed of a sailing ship or a galloping horse. During the 1830s and 1840s, inventors working independently in several countries developed workable electric telegraphs, and these devices quickly superseded other technologies with the same name.
====Telegraphs centralized power in the State Department====
[[File:The_first_telegram.jpg|left|275px|thumbnail|Professor Morse sending the first telegram which said "What hath God Wrought" on May 24, 1844]]
Telegraphy increased the centralization of foreign ministries. When ambassadors were months away from their political superiors, they were often forced to take pressing and important decisions before they could receive their instructions. In such circumstances, they exercised enormous power, sometimes even acting as policymakers in their own right. In contrast, telegraphy circumscribed the independence of diplomats. It reduced the pressure of difficult decisions, which diplomats had previously faced without ready access to advice from their superiors.
