Answer:
The telegraph was not the first system for transmitting information remotely. Several peoples had developed communication methods allowing information to be transmitted over long distances using smoke signals or torches placed on high points. These systems were however limited in their possibilities of expression; the telegraph is distinguished by the use of an alphabet or linguistic code making it possible to transmit any type of message, without being limited to a set of predefined messages.
With the passage of time, communication by mail was developed, but in this case it took a great cost of time, since letters could take weeks to reach their destination, thus removing the usefulness and effectiveness of the communication.
The telegraph, then, came to solve this problem by providing an effective means of communication, both in terms of the immediacy of the transmission of the message and the distance between which two people could communicate.