JOUR404.604.1001-India: The Telegraph Act and the Internet--UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO, FALL 2023

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JOUR 404--

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 JOUR 404.604.1001 

 James L’Angelle University of Nevada, Reno 

 Dr. Paromita Pain, Professor 

 Fall 2023 

 FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL 

 India: The Telegraph Act and the Internet. 

     No communication system or network developed in a vacuum; nor did it exist in a bubble devoid of regulation. No nation existed in a vacuum before the world wide web changed the way its citizens communicated, India was no exception. 

     Under British rule from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, the first extensive effort to link the communication distance across the far flung empire was the telegraph. With it came infrastructure difficulties initially considered unimportant. 

      The East India Company, in de facto control of India, already had a functional telegraph system in place, running adjacent to its railway lines. An effort to augment this system through an independent government backbone infrastructure met with numerous dismal failures due to the weather, uninsulated wire lines atop bamboo poles that would collapse when a cyclone rolled across the country, renegade natives who stole the copper wire to make jewelry, insufficient battery power to relay messages, and signals that were interrupted and broken along the way. 

      In 1857, the Sepoy Rebellion forced the East India Company out of power; it was replaced by the Crown itself. (1) The quality of the government telegraph service didn’t necessarily improve for many years. Faced with most of the same issues, the new British administration reformed not just the infrastructure itself, but brought in Westerners to assist in message trafficking. (2)

     With it also came the Telegraph Act of 1885; a seemingly innocuous piece of historical legislation paving the way for what came next: censorship, and in the 21st century, the internet. Throughout the years, much of the difficulty rose from the government of India’s refusal to accept commercial development of the enterprise, maintaining a monopoly where possible.      

     Today, it’s easy to “Google” the extent of the internet across the nation, which creates an oversimplified picture of the prevalence of the infrastructure. It overlooks the dialup, the incredibly slow download speeds, the crashes, the cost, and rules that prevented, and prevent, access. Somewhere in all of this, the government, possibly falling back on its failure during the telegraph era to keep the system up and running and the laws that governed it, still uses the Telegraph Act to justify shutting down the internet to prevent access by organized protesters, disillusioned provincial politicians out to demand reforms from the national government, and under-the-radar groups using the resources for criminal activity. 

      What is unclear is where the national government stands in implementing the Telegraph Act and its amended, more modern, regulations to cover up the flaws in the system. The purpose of this research will be to ferret out not just the intentional security shutdowns of the modern internet, but other, perhaps, less justified reasons based on infrastructure failure that might be passed off as security concerns. The coverup would be based on a strategy to fend off criticism, embarrassment and getting tossed into the social media doghouse over an inept official response. 

      The presentation will draw on a number of sources which show similar strategies were employed during the telegraph era, how legislation and regulation offset the setbacks and failures of the system, and how they are employed today, beyond actual genuine security concerns, also to be addressed. 

(Image credit: Phone/cable lines dangle in a Gordian knot from a building and telephone pole in Amritsar, India; typical of the wiring problem that exists with the introduction of overlapping communications systems into an urban environment. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/amritsar/open-house-what-can-be-done-to-address-the-issue-of-dangling-electricity-and-cable-wires-across-city-522344) 

(Image credit: Breakdown of the Airtel "-G" networks, Imphal, Manipur State, India, https://www.nperf.com/en/map/IN/1269771.Imphal/1991549.Airtel-Mobile/signal/)

Resources:  

1.) Indian Mutiny, Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/event/Indian-Mutiny

2.)  CC Adley, The Story of the Telegraph in India., Bucklersbury, London 1866, https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Story_of_the_Telegraph_in_India/N_lNzCHQkS4C?hl=en&gbpv=1

image

https://auction.universityarchives.com/auction-lot/east-india-telegraph-co.-stock-signed-by-company_55548D98D2

 Note: Dr. Paromita Pain, University of Nevada, Reynolds School of Journalism, Reno, Nevada, USA--has given the "Go ahead" on this final presentation project.

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UNR Fall 2023

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HIST406D.1001-- Salsman: Soldier Trauma 1860-90--U OF NEVADA, SPRING 2020

HIST406D.1001
James L’Angelle
University of Nevada, Reno
Prof. C Strang
11 March 2020

Review: The Evolution and Understanding of Soldier Trauma 1860-1890, by Eric Salsman
Stress and adaptation to it, on and off the battlefield, during and following the Civil War, is
the theme of this research paper. Salsman breaks down his argument into several categories,
desertion, psychology, physical impairment and post war treatment of veterans, to name a few.
From inadequacy of knowledge when the wounded were brought in from the fight to dealing
with recurrent themes of soldier responses and options to their predicaments, it is thoroughly
investigated using numerous sources related to the topics. Sources include John Letterman, Army
of the Potomac medical director; Austrian physician Leopold Auenbrugger who cited American
Revolution trauma; Johannes Hofer’s take on nostalgia in 1688; Paul Broca’s work on
neuropsychology; and others with reports on physical damage related to the stress of field
operations.
Salsman alludes to a famous frontiersman, George Rogers Clark, setting the record straight
for man in the wilderness’ ability to cope with atrocity as witnessed through numerous
murderous engagements with Native Americans. He admits a disproportionate advance in
modern weaponry that caught the Civil War soldier unprepared. Salsman wrapped up the project
with the lack of care and compassion veterans received for their services when they returned
home, citing in particular the lack of a pension system that ignored Confederate soldiers
completely. The post war recounting of those forgotten veterans is presented in detail comparing
“loss of honor” as a deeper insult than the physical and psychological trauma of the war itself.

Peer Review: Though very well written, the research paper attempts to cover too broad a topic.
In some places, the stretch of the boundaries is apparent and can be seen by paragraph transition.
Expecting to read on one topic, for instance, the train of thought moves on to another. It’s
understandable because of the many different aspects of trauma that were war related. So it
would be better to focus on just one or two. One might, for instance, argue that suicide post war
was greater than during the actual conflict due to a “lost cause” post delayed stress syndrome,
caused by public indifference to the plight of the veteran, especially the losers.
Note also is the desertion discussion related to North Carolina and the letter to the governor
from Martha Coletrane. (4) In fact, the situation concerning desertions was far more complicated
due to the conflict between the Confederate states and the prevailing government in Richmond,
whereby the executive found itself in the crossfire of the local judicial system and the war
department. A more detailed explanation is in order to justify the trauma draftees faced in efforts
to evade combat as opposed to being on the front line itself. In other words, stress wasn’t always
directly related to physical and psychological wounds and it would be beneficial to compare the
two.
The observations by Whitman, although useful, leave the reader grasping at solutions to the
many complex issues raised throughout the essay such as suicide, disfiguration both physical and
mental, nightmares, inability to readapt to civilian life, or loss of friends and the shattering of
lives. Narrowing down the topic is the road to a better understanding of the actual trauma with
respect to a particular group; whether it be the amputees, those affected with recurring
nightmares, or the forgotten GIs on the homefront, to recommend a few. From that, an intuitive
understanding of the effects of the war on the soldier overall might better be achieved.
The usual grammar, punctuation and spelling errors are expected in the rough draft, the
bibliography is strong and the references in the text refer directly to them. Note also the title does
hint at a rather broad topic.

Source:
Salsman, E., The Evolution and Understanding of Soldier Trauma 1860-1890