The telegraph dismantled centralized political party control anchored in the post office.

Evidence

The telegraph and the fast press in the metropolitan areas des- troyed the power of party based on the post office, the exchange system, and state capitals. Instability weakened the position of a central authority after 1840. Power shifted from Washington and issues were no longer settled in Congress. The metropolitan press destroyed a centrally directed government. — Harold Innis, The Bias of Communication, 1009

Categorization

• XREF: XREF connects to Innis’s core thesis on communication monopolies; SEED explores how new transmission speed dissolves old institutional control centers.
• SEED: SEED article angle on how communications infrastructure decentralizes political authority.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Harold Innis, The Bias of Communication, 1009