Long before Amazon Prime two-day delivery, the United States Post Office guaranteed mail delivery through all weather conditions. The modern organization got its start on February 20, 1792, when President George Washington signed the Post Office Act into law. into law.
The history of what is now the USPS dates to 1775, as the American Revolution loomed. In that year, the Second Continental Congress awarded Benjamin Franklin a $1,000 salary to serve as its first postmaster. Franklin had spent the last two decades overseeing the colonial mail service, introducing a courier system that essentially connected the 13 colonies. In 1775 the Second Continental Congress gave Franklin his new title and declared the mail system to be the official post office of the United States. ffice of the United States.
Over the course of the Revolutionary War, the post office proved its importance. It played a critical role in facilitating communication between the Continental Congress and the Continental Army, and its breakout from the colonial mail system also marked one of the first independent systems of what would become the U.S. federal government. federal government.
Early public officials quickly threw their support behind the post, and this fledgling post office gained even more significance in 1787, when the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the power to create official post offices and post roads.
On February 20, 1792, Washington made sure the post office would remain part of the federal government, establishing the postmaster role first held by Franklin as the head of a permanent cabinet department, the Post Office Department. The Post Office Act laid the groundwork for modern mail freedoms, including protecting the privacy of personal correspondence.
Following up on the Bill of Rights, it also furthered freedom of the press by allowing newspapers to be sent at low rates. The idea was that Congress would ensure newspapers were accessible, recognizing the importance they played in keeping the American people informed.
From there, the Post Office Department continued to transform into the organization it is today. In just 100 years, between 1792 to 1892, it introduced the first postage stamps, launched the Pony Express, set uniform postage rates and created postcards. Congress maintained its role in governing postage rates and ensuring the nation had the necessary infrastructure for deliveries.
The Post Office Act continued as the framework for the federal mail system until 1970, when the Postal Reorganization Act established the United States Postal Service (USPS) n 1971. The motto of the Postal Service—quoting an ancient history of the Greco-Persian Wars—declares “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
Thanks to the ethos behind that motto, the following 50 years brought incredible change and innovation to the U.S. mail, which is still characterized by swift deliveries despite a nation that’s substantially larger than the one served by the first post office. Private couriers have also emerged to complement the USPS, fueling what is now a $1.6 trillion industry
