The Great Link Between Minds: The United States Postal Service
by Theresa DeCicco
Museum Services & Events Associate Theresa DeCicco delves into the origins of what Alexis de Toqueville described as “the great link between minds:” the United States Postal Service.
The United States Postal Service, or USPS, is a uniquely American institution. The American postal system’s beginnings are confounding, dating to a series of both formal and informal colonial postal routes and services. Amid the War for American Independence, the Second Continental Congress realized the need to bind people together through secure correspondence, away from prying British officials.
Predating the Declaration of Independence and the nation’s birth, Congress officially created the American postal system in 1775. From the postal service’s founding, a democratic thoroughfare emerged. The postal service’s expansion and reach linked the East Coast with the West’s hinterland through winding post roads. Centralized postal delivery allowed the nation to communicate and exchange ideas and opinions with neighbors miles away. Today, with the country’s nearly 42,000 zip codes, the USPS is responsible for 48% of the world’s mail volume. From perplexing origins, the American postal system has transformed into one of the country’s most utilized and democratizing services.
“To enter into a close correspondency with each other”
This 1729 map from Herman Moll’s Atlas Minor shows the Old Boston Post Road from New York to Boston. The map’s legend writes, “An account of ye Post of ye Continent of Nth America.”. Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. "New England, New York, New Jersey and Pensilvania" New York Public Library Digital Collections.
Many who lived within the North American colonies depended on local travelers, merchants, and Native Americans to relay their written messages throughout the Eastern Seaboard. Yet, messages between the colonies were few, as most correspondences mainly ran between the colonists and Europe. The increasing volume of trans-Atlantic mail led to the first official colonial mail service in Boston around 1639. Following the British takeover of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (later named New York City) in 1664, King Charles II ordered a highway to unite and allow communication throughout the British colonies.
Under the King’s orders, Governor Francis Lovelace of New York set out to create a postal route between New York and Boston. In a letter to Connecticut Governor John Winthrop the Younger, Lovelace wrote, “to the commands laid upon us by his sacred majestie, who strictly enjoins all his American subjects to enter into close correspondency with each other…” In 1673, Lovelace officially set up a postal service between the two cities. The route became known as the “King’s Highway,” or the Old Boston Post Road, currently U.S. Route 1 and U.S. Route 20.
Depiction of a colonial post rider. National Postal Museum.
A two-week journey between New York and Boston, the Old Boston Post Route was divided into three sections: the Upper, Middle, and Lower Roads. Mail riders left New York once a week during the summer months and once every two weeks in the winter. Postal riders typically followed a section of a route and exchanged mailbags at a meeting point with a Boston rider.
The idea of central postal service came to the colonies in 1692. Co-reigning monarchs William and Mary awarded Thomas Neale a contract to establish a private postal system throughout the colonies. Neale never stepped foot in America, and appointed New Jersey governor Andrew Hamilton to run the service. The system ultimately failed, and the Crown assumed control of the postal service in the colonies.
B. Free Franklin
The Crown Post’s primary role within the American colonies was to facilitate communication and correspondences between British officials, making the empire’s running possible. Mailing a letter through the post office was expensive. According to historian Joseph Adelman, “a letter cost one shilling per sheet of paper between New York and Boston, and two and a half shilling from Boston to Charleston, more than a week’s wages for an ordinary laborer.” Additionally, the receiver would have to pay the postage, leading to many unclaimed letters at post offices. Local newspapers would often print a list of unclaimed letters to alleviate the issue.
Colonists often used loopholes in postal laws and services to avoid high costs. Many relied on traveling friends, ship captains, and servants to transport letters. A post rider named Benjamin Mumford delivered mail under the Crown and through personal service. Mumford’s business was popular, generating more revenue through cheaper fares.
When surveying and assessing postal routes in 1773-74, surveyor Hugh Finlay discovered two competing postal systems. Finlay’s report states, “There’s two Post offices in New Port, the King’s and Mumford’s, and the revenue of the last is the greatest.” In another report by Finlay, he noted colonists took advantage of more reasonable parcels rates. Colonists simply attached letters to packages that contain no more than a few pieces of straw or old paper.
The printing and mercantile trades utilized the Crown Post the most. Merchants, being able to afford the service, used the post to conduct intercolonial and trans-Atlantic affairs. Printers viewed the postal service as a valuable source to obtain the latest news, circulate their newspapers, and exclude rivals from receiving the mail. They often vied for postmaster position within their respective cities, Benjamin Franklin being the most ardent example.
Note the B. Free Franklin frank on the bottom left corner. Cover of a letter from Benjamin Franklin to Mrs. Hopkinson, 1766. National Postal Museum.
Appointed Postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737, Franklin used his position to grow his printing business. Franklin’s predecessor and former mentor, Andrew Bradford, felt the brunt of his new role. When Bradford fell out of favor, the British promptly asked Postmaster Franklin to stop circulating his newspaper, the Weekly Mercury, due to his accruing debt. Franklin starkly wrote in his autobiography, “He suffered greatly from his neglect in due accounting. And I mention it as a lesson to those young men who may be employed in managing affairs for others, that they should always render accounts, and make remittances, with great clearness and punctuality.” Being Postmaster also granted Franklin franking privileges, which allowed him to send and receive letters for free. As Postmaster General for both the Crown and the United States, Franklin would often sign his letters as B. Free Franklin.
In 1753, Franklin was named joint Postmaster General for the American colonies, alongside William Hunter. Together they conducted surveys of postal roads and offices, improving delivery between cities. The Postmaster Generals shortened the travel time between Boston and Philadelphia from six weeks to three. Moreover, Franklin traveled along the Boston Post Road to calculate new postal rates based on distance. He ordered stone markers to be placed by mile points for both travelers and riders along the route, few of which are still visible today. Due to Franklin’s effort, the Crown Post made its first North American profit in 1760. Despite his improvements, Franklin’s patriotic sympathies ousted him from the position in 1774. His replacement was Hugh Finaly, the loyalist postal surveyor.
The Constitutional Post and the beginnings of the US Postal Service
Shortly after Franklin’s dismissal, printer and former postmaster William Goddard established the Constitutional Post. Under British command, the Crown Post was allowed to infiltrate and read the colonists’ private letters. Amid rising tensions, the Constitutional Post’s objective was to provide an alternative intercolonial delivery system under secure means. The service required postmasters to hire reputable riders, and each had to swear to secure the mail under lock and key. Goddard’s operation was a success; by 1775, 30 post offices operated between New Hampshire and Virginia.
The Franklin Court Printing Office in Philadelphia. The site, operated by the National Park Service, is a recreation of Benjamin Franklin’s original Print Shop. The Print Shop still functions as a US Post Office. Visitors can mail postcards and letters from the site today. Picture via Architectural Digest.
In May 1775, the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. The war had begun a month earlier at Lexington and Concord, and the discussion of transporting intelligence and correspondence took on a new urgency. Congress formed a committee, chaired by Franklin, to develop a formal postal service.
By June 1775, the committee had agreed to convert the Constitutional Post into the official American post office. Congress appointed Franklin as Postmaster General, with Goddard in the position of surveyor. The new American postal office was headquartered in Philadelphia and extended its reach from Georgia to Maine. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence’s ratification led to the formation of the United States, making Franklin the first American Postmaster General. However, he shortly departed for France to serve as the American ambassador to the court of King Louis XVI. Franklin appointed his son-in-law Richard Bache as his replacement.
The American post office served as a means of communication between Congress and the Continental Army. Postmasters and riders were exempt from the military to ensure constant delivery. Despite this, the ravages of war continuously led to poor communication between General George Washington and Congress.
The American Revolution and the Early Republic
In August 1776, General Washington wrote to John Hancock, “The irregularity of the Post prevents your receiving the early and constant intelligence it is my wish to communicate.”. During the war, the upkeep and running of the postal service was challenging. Postmaster of New York City from 1775 to 1777, Ebenezer Hazard wrote:
“I shall only observe, that the word ‘incidents’ used in our quarterly accounts … certainly can mean nothing more than those incidents which are usual in time of peace; such as office rent, firewood, sealing-wax, etc., and cannot justly be construed to include the extraordinary expenses occasioned by the present war.”
Hazard followed Washington in dangerous conditions during the New York and New Jersey Campaign of 1776-77. In his 1776 letter to Congressman John Witherspoon, Hazard further recounted his experiences to petition Congress for higher pay. The Postmaster writes of following Washington on foot and having “ submitted to this indignity, and the fatigue consequent upon it, although it was not my business, as a Postmaster, to follow the Army like a sutler [peddler].”
The war concluded in 1783, following the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress appointed Hazard as Postmaster General in 1782. Hazard worked to improve the inland and west-east postal routes; he also reestablished delivery between the United States and Europe. During the Constitutional Convention, Hazard decided to halt publishers from exchanging and distributing newspapers through the mail. The Postmaster’s move lost Washington’s favor. In a subsequent letter to John Jay, Washington wrote, "inducing a belief that the suppression of intelligence at that critical juncture was a wicked trick of policy.”
Upon the ratification of the Constitution, an act passed on September 22, 1789, continued the Post Office’s operations and made the position of Postmaster General subject to the President’s approval. President Washington appointed Samuel Osgood as the first Postmaster General under the Constitution. The February 1792 Act allowed the United States Post Office Department to establish postal roads, admit newspapers through the mail, and prohibited postal workers from reading private correspondence. In March 1794, the US Post Office was to continue indefinitely.
In continuously establishing the US Post Office, Washington’s administration helped create a nationwide dialogue. The 1792 Act allowed the Post Office to mail newspapers at discounted rates. With newspapers now widely accessible, discussion about the nation’s politics allowed for an informed citizenry. As the country expanded westward, postal routes continued communications, while ensuring the privacy so desperately sought during the Revolution.
However, the US Post Office is not without fault. In 1802, Postmaster General Gideon Granger urged Congress to pass a law prohibiting Black Americans, free and enslaved, from being employed by the federal department. It would take the Civil War over 50 years later to reverse the law. The early patchwork of colonial routes transformed the early United States into a connected democracy of exchanged ideas and opinions. When visiting the country in 1831, French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville marveled at the US Postal System as “the great link between minds.”
Bibliography
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