According to an 1894 researched report, the earliest effort to create any sort of post
office in the colonies was in 1639 by the Massachusetts General Court when a tavern
in Boston owned by Richard Fairbanks was designated to be the first post office.
This was in keeping with the European tradition of coffee houses and taverns being mailing
centers.
The first post messenger may have started in 1672 or 1673 with instructions to "behave
civilly" and to mark trees so other travelers would know where they are going.
Around that same time, a monthly mail route was set up between New York and Boston.
It became known as the Old Boston Post Road, which is still part of today's US Route
1.
It was two decades later when the King and Queen of England granted Thomas Neal – a
man who lived in England and had never been to the colonies – a 21-year grant to establish
offices that received and dispatched letters and to set postal rates.
This created a centralized postal organization that helped foster a more efficient means
of correspondence between colonies and to encourage trade and commerce.
In 1707, the British crown bought out the grant and brought the system under their control.
By the 1730s, the colonies' postal system was pretty well-established.
Mail carriers from Maine to Georgia (in the South, often slaves) trudge across the rapidly
expanding American land to deliver letters, correspondence and contracts.
The position of postmaster had become a posh, but important one.
They were in charge of the postal rates, the exact routes taken by carriers and the locations
of post offices.
In addition, each city had its own postmaster, which carried out many of the same responsibilities
as the postmaster general but on a regional basis.
In 1737, a young 31-year old publisher, printer and well-known civic leader was appointed
to be the postmaster of Philadelphia, then one of the most populous cities in the colonies.
His name was Benjamin Franklin.
For 16 years, Franklin used his influence and power as the city's postmaster general
to increase the circulation of his Pennsylvania Gazette by decreasing newspaper mailing rates.
While this certainly does seem like a conflict of interest, this practice was actually encouraged.
In 1753, when the postmaster died from a long-standing illness, Franklin was promoted to be the joint
postmaster general – along with William Hunter from Williamsburg – for all the colonies.
In that position, Franklin helped modernized the post office.
His first order of business was to set out on a long tour in order to inspect the post
offices and survey the routes used.
He concluded that more efficient routes needed to be taken, so he oversaw the marking and
laying out of these new roads.
Next, he put in place night service between Philadelphia and New York to improve the speed
of mail delivery.
Then, he installed a standardized system of postal rates based on weight and distance
of delivery.
He also created a regular schedule for mail by boat from the colonies to the homeland
of England.
By 1760, and for the first time in over a century of operating, the colonies' post
office turned a profit for the British crown.
However, as the clouds of revolution approached, it became clear where Franklin's allegiances
laid – with the colonies.
Despite Franklin's considerable and notable work for England, he was dismissed in 1774
as postmaster general for being a colonial sympathizer.
Franklin's career being in charge of mail wasn't over, however.
Within weeks of the Battles of Lexington and Concord setting off the American Revolution,
the Second Continental Congress met and Pennsylvania's representative was Franklin.
At the time, William Goddard was running the Constitutional Post, a mail service financed
by newspaper subscribers.
The main purpose was to disseminate information about the rebellion and to connect Congress
to the armies.
Because of this, mail carriers had to swear to secure their missives under lock and key
in case the British attempted to take them.
In July 1775, citing his experience, Franklin was named the Postmaster General of the Constitutional
Post.
Since he was in that position when the Declaration of Independence was written, he earns the
distinction of being the first Postmaster General in US history.
However, he would resign in November of that year in order to become a delegate to Paris
to gain their support for the war.
Six years later, the Articles of Confederation gave the federal government the right to establish
and regulate post offices.
Revisions and ordinances continued to add shape to the post office's duties, restrictions
and rules, including one that said the federal government had a monopoly on delivering the
mail.
The Constitution – officially ratified in June 1788 – gave many of the same powers
to the post office that the AOC did.
By 1790, a United States population of almost four million was served by 75 Post Offices
and approximately 2,400 miles of post roads.
Two years later, in 1792, America's first president signed the Postal Service Act, creating
the modern United States Postal Service.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
For more infomation >> US Soldiers Have Incredible Reaction When Trump Walks Onstage in Iraq - Duration: 2:00. 
For more infomation >> United States presidential election in Alabama, 2008 | Wikipedia audio article - Duration: 11:11. 
For more infomation >> United States presidential election in Alabama, 1980 | Wikipedia audio article - Duration: 2:13. 
For more infomation >> United States presidential election in Alabama, 2016 | Wikipedia audio article - Duration: 6:03. 
For more infomation >> United States presidential election in Alabama, 1972 | Wikipedia audio article - Duration: 1:08. 
For more infomation >> United States Space Camp | Wikipedia audio article - Duration: 38:10. 
For more infomation >> 2012 United States presidential election in Alabama | Wikipedia audio article - Duration: 4:23. 
For more infomation >> List of U.S. chemical weapons topics | Wikipedia audio article - Duration: 12:19. 
For more infomation >> Science and technology in the United States | Wikipedia audio article - Duration: 33:38. 
For more infomation >> United States chemical weapons program | Wikipedia audio article - Duration: 19:53. 
For more infomation >> U.S. Route 78 in Alabama | Wikipedia audio article - Duration: 11:28. 
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét