DOCUMENT RESUME ED 281 820 SO 018 202 TITLE We Deliver: The Story of the U.S. Postal Service. INSTITUTION Postal Service, Washington, DC. PUB DATE 80 NOTE 25p.; Illustrations will not reproduce clearly. PUB TYPE Historical Materials (060) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Government Employees; Government Role; *Public Agencies;_ United States History IDENTIFIERS *PoStal Service ABSTRACT This eight-chapter illustrated booklet chronicles the history of the U.S. Post Office from its establishment by the Continental Congress in 1775 to the present. Chapter 1, "The Colonists," describes the postal service before the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Franklin's appointment as the first Postmaster General of the U.S. and his many contributions to the postal serviceare covered in Chapter 2, "Father of the U.S. Postal Service." Chapter 3, "The Revolution and After," portrays the huge increase that occurred in the U.S. population from the time of Andrew Jackson to the Civil War, the resulting huge increase in mail volume that occurred, and the actions the postal system took to overcome the problems. In Chapter 4, "The Pony Express," the 18-month life span of the pony express is chronicled as are the reasons for its demise. Two Postmaster Generals, Montgomery Blair and John Wanamaker, are portrayed in Chapter 5, "Two Postal Titans." These two men provided leadership which resulted in improved employee attitudes and new services to customers, such as free rural delivery and pneumatic tubes. Chapter 6, "Postal Stamps," tells the history of the postage stamp, and how a stamp is developed. Chapter 7, "Moving the Mail," presents a history of the mail service and the different modes of transportation on which it depends. Chapter 8, "Postal Reforms," identifies reforms which have been taken to alleviate problems and improve postal service. A list of significant dates in postal service history and of Postmaster Generals concludes the document. (APG) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Y.L1FIO ' il""1111I'',110,111i, 111,,III, I r _ 111, 4 10 V , t3 ar,: 11 Introduction Postal history is really a study ofAmerican history; one cannot be separated from the other. The developmentand growth of the post office in America mirrorthe develop= ment and growth of the Republic. The_Continental Congress recognized theimportance of the_postal system to the new nation by givinghigh _priority to its establishment. When _the General PostOffice WaS created by the Continental Congresson July 26, _1775; it was the second executive office established by thiS body. The first was Indian Affairs. Over the years, however, thepost office has been more than an organization to collect anddeliver letters and packages. It has been the mainagent_ of written com- munication in the United States andone of the major instruments in uniting the Americancommunity. During the Revolutionary War,itenabled Congress tocorn= municate with the army. Later, it spurredcommerce as _the new nation expanded westward._ Even inan era marked by men on the moon and sophisticatedelectronic means of communication, the mail remainsindispensable. The post office has beenan integral part of every Ameri- can's life, and perhaps the inscriptionon the old Washing- ton, D.C., post office best summarizeswhat the system means to all of _us: Messenger of Sympathy and Love Servant of Parted Friends Consoler of the Lonely Bond of the Scattered Family Enlarger of the Common Life Carrier of News and Knowledge Instrument of Trade and Industry Promoter of Mutual Acquaintance Of Peace and Good Will Among Men and Nations. The Postal Service wishes to acknowledge the guidanceof the Smithsonian Institution in preparing this publication. Allof the photosexcept for the stamp reproductionsare from thefiles of the Smithsonian. 1 The Coloniss ore than aninch of ram fell during the day. But by atdy, and I was satisfy'd without retaliating hiS refutal, 10 o'clock the night of April 18, 1775, the weather while po§tmaster, to permit my y;apers being carried by the had become fair, and there were -only scattered (post) riders." clouds in the Sky. The temperaturewas in the mid-30's For Franklin, like other newspaper publishers of his The colonists' fear that the British would attack Concord, time, the position of postmaster was indeed a Windfall. The MassachusettS, and destroy the cache ofarms in the city laws did not contain provision for the introduction of was confirmed. The British were also going to move on to news- Leitington and arrest two of the _patriot's leaders; papers into the mails; consequently, no rate§ of postage John were established for th iThus, a postmaster could charge Hancock and John Adams. Paul Reverewas among the whatever he wanted, and some uSed this office to help put riderS diSpatched to warn Hancock and Adams andthe rival publishers out of business. It is to Franklin's credit, populace that the British were coming bysea. however; that he admitted all neW§pdperS to the mails at Legend has it that Revere, a silversmith by trade,was reasonable postage rates. delivering the mail while sounding the alarm. The patriot He did other things, too, to make his postaltenure dur- had been a dispatch bearer for at least a couple ofyears. He had dehvered special letters and in particular pamphlets ing the Colonial period memorableand ir,Tease his pub- lishing fortune§ at the Same time. He lai6 outnew post and leaflets for the Boston Committee of Safety,a colonial roads that extended the circulation of his newspaper. He organization. When that group began sending secretnotes also helped eApand mail service from Canada to New York to other centers of rebellion in the Colonies, Revere carried and instituted overnight delivery between Philadelphia and them. After the Boston Tea Party, for instance, he rodeto New Yorkmore than 200 miles awaywith the Ne York City, a distance of 90 miles. Asa result of these news and and_other improvements, the Colbnial poSt Office ShOweda suggestions on how to sabotage British commerce. profit in 1761 for the first time. The surplus was sent off But the night of his famous ride; Revere was not deliv- to England. ering the Maii. By 1774, however, Franklin's efforts on behalf of the The alarm, howe_ver, that he sounded was one of theral- patriotshe was, for inStance, director of the Committee lying trie§ of the Revolution which had been threatening on Secret Correspondencehad become a nuisance to tlie to explode for a number of years: Crown, and he Wag dismissed from office. Only 10 days after his ride, the Committee of Safety met By that time, too, the British post office in Americawas and recommended establishment of a poStal system, in7 coming into general diSfavor among the colonists. Many depemient of the British post Office, to gnable the Colonies of them linked its activities and the postage rates it charged to communicate among one ariothei. There was_ no tele- to the cry "no takation without representation." And while graph, no radio, no television. The post was the fastestway the Stamp Act; which led to the BostOn Tea Party, had to pass the words that Would help the colonists in their fight nothing to do _With the post office (stamps for postalpur- for freedom from the Mother Country. poses not yet having been invented), British postal policies A month after the Committee'S action, the Continental Were irritants. In fact, the Sons of Liberty called the British Congress appointed a committee headed by Benjamin postaL service in America "a grievous instrument of tax- Franklin ro set up an independent postal system. ation." The selection of Franklin was not a chance one. He had A few months after Franklin'S elevation as the fledgling earlier played a vital role in Strengthening the Britishpost nation's first Postmaster General, the British post office in in the Colonies. the Colonies went out of business. It closed its doors in New Franklin'S poStal career began in 1737 when hewas ap- York City on Christmas Day 1775. pointed deputy postmaster at Philadelphia by Alexander SpotsWood, then the Crown's Postmaster General in Amer- Advertisement ica, For LONDON;in The Essex YearS later, Franklin wrote in his autobiography: The Brigantine Thames_, Gazette. Salem, "I accepted it (the position) readily, and found it of JOHN DERBY, Mater,M assachusetts, great advantage; for, the the salary was small; it facilitated Saila_frorn Mry-by tbe !aftMay 14, 1771: of May, Inffant.For PafDie, the correspondence that 'mprov'd my newspaper, increas'd Only tri raid Derby at New- the number demanded, as well _as the advertisements to be buty-Pott;For Conieniencof Levers, faid inserted; so that it came to afford me a consi,....Table in- Mafter has a Th the Poli-OfSee in SALEMil come. My old competitor's newspaper declin'd proportion- and likewife one at NzYnniktv-PoRT. 2 Father of the U.S. s George Washington was "father 0f his country," se Benjaniin Franklin was "father of the U.S. Postal Service." He was the first Postmaster General of the United States, appointed to that post by the Continental Congress in 1775. His postal achievements, however, were but a small part of the eontributions this man made to hiSera, and hiS accomplishments as a printer, publisher, philosopher, phi- lanthropist and statesman made him a legend eVen in his own time. _Historian Henry Steele Commager Wrote of Franklin: "He was our first major scientist; and his sciencewm utili- tallan. He was our first literary figure, and his mediumwas journalism. He was one of the architects ofour political system, and his thief tontribution was the practice of com- promise and conciliation." Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts; on January 17; 1706.