The telegraph represented a key piece of technology, one with revolutionary effect. Its economic implications were profound.

For one thing, there are the large-scale implications regarding business and manufacturing. Consider that the telegraph allowed operations to be coordinated across far-flung distances. Whether we're discussing production, transportation, sales, or the coordination of all these various operations, the telegraph greatly increased the scale by which businesses could operate while retaining levels of efficiency that would have been impossible in an earlier age.

At the same time, this revolution in communications had powerful effects on specific industries. Consider the expansion of the railroads, for example: an industry that, by its very nature, demands rapid communications and intricate coordination in order to effectively function across large distances. Thus, the telegraph and the railroad synergized greatly with one another, and in this respect, the telegraph also contributed greatly to the extraordinary growth and success of the railroad (itself one of the critical industries of the nineteenth century, with a revolutionary impact all on its own). In addition, one can point towards the telegraph's transformative impact on the newspaper industry, which could now (more than ever before) quickly report on stories of national and even international scope. These are just two examples regarding ways by which the telegraph impacted specific industries to powerful effect.

The telegraph impacted the American economy. The telegraph allowed for faster communication, which allowed businesses to grow. Before the telegraph, orders for products came by mail, which could take days or weeks to arrive. With the telegraph, businesses could receive orders and fill them quickly. As a result, businesses had the ability to expand their operations.

The telegraph also allowed business owners to communicate faster with people throughout the country and eventually throughout the world. This helped business owners implement policies more quickly and become aware of activities and trends in faraway places that might impact their business. As business owners established more coordinated activities, they were able to meet consumer demand and create jobs, which helped the economy to grow. A business owner in New York could operate his or her business more efficiently throughout the country because the information needed to run the business could be quickly sent to branch locations. Improved communications changed the business landscape, as business owners were able to control various industries and establish monopolies; distance became less of an impediment to operating in many locations.

In 1844, the first telegraph message was sent, and by 1853, the only state east of the Mississippi that didn't have telegraph communications was Florida. By 1861, the entire country was connected through telegraph. By making long-distance communication faster and less expensive, the telegraph increased the efficiency and size of markets, facilitating the Industrial Revolution and accelerating the growth of the American economy.

In addition, the telegraph helped corporations develop the ability to coordinate multiple functions at the same time, leading to monopolies with vertically integrated businesses. Vertically integrated firms were able to control the entire supply chain along a business's production process; for example, Carnegie steel was one of the first vertically integrated firms, and the company not only controlled the manufacturing of steel but also owned the mines that produced the iron and the ships that transported the steel to markets. The telegraph facilitated communications among the different divisions of the business, leading to larger companies that were able to control many aspects of a product's production process.