______ HOW HAS SPEED OF COMMUNICATION CHANGED THE WORLD
102. ______
How has speed of communication changed the world? To many people, the world has become smaller. Of
course, this does not mean that the world is physically smaller. Two hundred years ago, communication between the
continents took a long time. All news was carried on ships that took weeks or even months to cross the oceans. In the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it took six weeks for news from Europe to reach the Americas. This time
difference influenced people's actions. For example, one battle in the war of 1812 between the English and the United
States armies could have been avoided if the warring sides had known that a peace agreement had already been
signed. Peace was made in England, but the news of peace took six weeks to reach America. During those six weeks,
the large and serious Battle of New Orleans was fought and many lives were lost.