Editing Samuel Morse (section)

===Foreign recognition===
[[File:Samuel Morse.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of Samuel F. B. Morse taken by Mathew Brady, in 1866. Medals worn (from wearer's right to left, top row): [[Order of Glory (Ottoman Empire)|Nichan Iftikhar]] (Ottoman); [[Order of the Tower and Sword]] (Portugal); [[Order of the Dannebrog]] (Denmark); cross of the [[Order of Isabella the Catholic]] (Spain); [[Legion of Honour]] (France); [[Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]] (Italy). Bottom row: Grand cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain)]]

Assisted by the [[U.S. Ambassador to France|American ambassador]] in Paris, the governments of Europe were approached about their long neglect of Morse while their countries were using his invention. There was a widespread recognition that something must be done, and in 1858 Morse was awarded the sum of 400,000 [[French franc]]s (equivalent to about $80,000 at the time) by the governments of France, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, [[Piedmont]], Russia, Sweden, [[Tuscany]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]], each of which contributed a share according to the number of Morse instruments in use in each country.{{sfn|Standage|1998|p=174}} In 1858, he was also elected a foreign member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]].