Hobsbaum Grape Vine

Hobsbaum article shows how the idea of communication came in the "grape vine telegraph." The telegraph was a way slaves would get their news. Normally one slave would be sent to the post office to retrieve mail, and he would return with the news he just heard by the local white men at the post office. Ultimately slaves knew about the defeat of the South before anyone else knew. The "grape vine telegraph" was kept busy night and day. The news of great events were swiftly carried from one plantation to another. Today the concept of hearing the news from off the streets is more common than actually reading or watching about it.