Starts and Stalls:
Creating a Successful Transatlantic Cable

Chromolithograph, "The Great Eastern on the Stocks during Construction, Stern View," 1857

Print (Visual work)

The SS Great Eastern is shown under construction in this print. It was the largest passenger ship ever built at the time of its launch in 1858. In 1866, the Great Eastern was converted to lay the second--and first successful--transatlantic cable. During its career, this ship laid multiple submarine communication cables totaling over 32,000 miles.

Chromolithograph, "The Great Eastern on the Stocks as Seen From the River," 1857

Print (Visual work)

The SS Great Eastern is shown under construction in this print. It was the largest passenger ship ever built at the time of its launch in 1858. In 1866, the Great Eastern was converted to lay the second--and first successful--transatlantic cable. During its career, this ship laid multiple submarine communication cables totaling over 32,000 miles.

Chromolithograph, "The Great Eastern Afloat," 1857

Print (Visual work)

The Great Eastern was the largest passenger ship ever built at the time of its launch in 1858. In 1866, it was converted to lay the second--and first successful--transatlantic cable. During its career, this ship laid multiple submarine communication cables totaling over 32,000 miles.

Section of the First Transatlantic Cable, 1858

Transatlantic cable

Telegraphs could be sent wherever wires could be hung in the 1850s, but hardwiring signals between transoceanic continents required a feat of engineering. In 1858, a team laid underwater cable across the Atlantic and sent a successful telegram. Though the cable soon failed, pieces were sold as souvenirs in Charles Tiffany's renowned jewelry store as symbols of speed and progress.

Section of the First Transatlantic Cable, 1858

Transatlantic cable

Telegraphs could be sent wherever wires could be hung in the 1850s, but hardwiring signals between transoceanic continents required a feat of engineering. In 1858, a team laid underwater cable across the Atlantic and sent a successful telegram. Though the cable soon failed, pieces were sold as souvenirs in Charles Tiffany's renowned jewelry store as symbols of speed and progress.

Music Sheet, "Ocean Telegraph March," 1858

Sheet music

This sheet music celebrates the first transatlantic cable. The ships depicted are the USS Niagara and HMS Agamemnon. These vessels met in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, spliced their cable payloads together, and set off to separate shores in Ireland and Canada. The man at center is likely Cyrus W. Field, financier of the first and second transatlantic cables.

Galvanometer Used to Receive Queen Victoria's Message to President James Buchanan Over the First Transatlantic Cable, 1858

Galvanometer

A galvanometer is an instrument that detects and measures electric current. On August 16, 1858, this device was used by President James Buchanan to receive the first public message sent across the transatlantic cable. The message was sent by Queen Victoria to celebrate "a link between nations." It was 98 words long--and took 16.5 hours to transmit.

Bound Periodical, Harper's Weekly, 1858

Magazine (Periodical)

This periodical shows a fire at New York City Hall on August 18, 1858. To celebrate the successful transmission of messages over the transatlantic cable September 1 was declared as an "International Cable Jubilee" day. New York City began its commemorations early, setting off a display of fireworks. Sparks ignited the dome of City Hall, destroying part of the building.

Portrait of James Buchanan, circa 1859

Carte-de-visite (Card photograph)

Democrats chose James Buchanan to head their presidential ticket in 1856. The long-serving politician seemed perfect to calm the sectional strife that gripped the nation. Buchanan hailed from non-slaveholding Pennsylvania but supported the rights of states and territories to decide whether slavery should exist within their own borders. He was elected, but divisions worsened. By the end of his presidency the country was splitting in two.

Section of the First Transatlantic Cable with Certificate, 1858

Transatlantic cable

Machine Used to Strand Transatlantic Cable, 1860-1865

Cable strander

Laying telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean in the 1860s was a huge undertaking. This massive cable stranding machine was used in Greenwich, England, to wind together the different elements of the cable: iron for strength, copper for conductivity, gutta-percha rubber for insulation, and tarred hemp for durability. Following several failed attempts, the heavy, flexible cable was laid successfully by the SS Great Eastern in 1866.

Harper's Weekly, Bound Volume of Issues from 1865

Magazine (Periodical)

This periodical illustrates the loading and coiling of the second transatlantic cable onto the Great Eastern ship. Over several months, 2600 miles of cable were produced onshore and ferried out in sections to the Great Eastern. It was then carefully coiled in the holding tank. Once installed in 1866, this cable became the foundation for a global communications network.

Section of the Second Transatlantic Cable, 1865-1866

Transatlantic cable

Celebrations surrounding the installation of the 1858 transatlantic telegraph cable were short-lived. Three weeks after it was laid, it succeeded, faltered--and then failed. In 1866, a second cable was installed by the SS Great Eastern. This cable was more durable and able to send messages eighty times faster than the original.

Trade Card for Imperial Plows, Bucher & Gibbs Plow Co., 1887-1901

Trade card

In the last third of the nineteenth century, an unprecedented variety of consumer goods and services flooded the American market. Advertisers, armed with new methods of color printing, bombarded potential customers with trade cards. Americans enjoyed and often saved the vibrant little advertisements found in product packages or distributed by local merchants. Many survive as historical records of commercialism in the United States.

Transatlantic Cable Strander in Henry Ford Museum during Building Construction, July 1932

Photographic print

This cable machine helped to "wire the world." It was used in Greenwich, England in 1865 to prepare the second transatlantic cable. A core of iron and copper was protected from abrasion on the ocean floor with layers of steel, gutta-percha, and jute. These submarine cables--like modern-day fiber-optic cables that carry the signals of Internet traffic--connected cultures and communities.