The History of the United States Postal Service

 

The History of the 

United States Postal Service

Today millions of people rely on the postal service to deliver their letters and packages in an efficient and timely manner. But did you know that the postal service began as a ploy to discuss treason among those wishing to separate from Britain? From 1753-1774 Benjamin Franklin oversaw Britain's mail service to America. It was during these years that underground networks were already in motion. The Committees of Correspondence, a group of institutions that communicated through underground networks to debate and discuss withdrawal from the British Parliament, had already found a means to secretly negotiate. On July 26, 1775, the Continental Congress formed the first postal service under the leadership of Benjamin Franklin. 

It was James Madison who saw the real opportunity that the postal service could bring to the new nation. Using subsidized funds from higher priced postage to fund newspapers with political agendas, was a valuable resource for the young nations citizens to speak and hear the opinions of others. Citizens were part of that information process and communication capabilities grew as did the political voice of the people. The founding fathers knew that having an effective means of communication was crucial in structuring the new independent nation.  The idea of connecting people and their ideas and opinions was necessary in bringing a nation of people together.  

The postal service is one of the oldest federal agencies that still exists today. Through the decades, mail has been delivered in a variety of ways. In the beginning, the use of horses that traveled along federal routes allowed the mail to be delivered to post offices. People would often wait in long lines for their mail. The first postal map included routes between the 13 post offices in 1729. 

Post Route Map 1729

In the beginning years of the postal service, it was mainly used for communications between Congress and the nations armies. It was these communications that allowed and assisted the colonies in their cause for liberty. As America grew and territories expanded further west, there was a dramatic increase in the nations population. As more and more states joined, the postal service also grew. The need for more and more post offices and faster service became a necessity. By the year 1822, it took 11 days to deliver mail from Washington, DC to Nashville, TN. What had once taken weeks, was now down to just a few days.   

Mail Delivery 1921

The railrway system was yet another way the postal service delivered mail.  By 1832, and with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, the postal service was delivering mail all across the country. Known as the Railway Mail System (RMS), 93% of all non local mail  was sorted and distributed via the railway system.

US Mail Steamboat Adriatic 1850's

Waterways were the main source of travel in the 19th century. Steamboat companies were a huge resource in moving goods up and down the east coast and along the Mississippi River. Letters were first carried unofficially by passengers or crew members until the Postmaster General made it possible for steamboat captains to move the mail. The government set about chartering steamboats to move the mail. From 1845 to 1855, the distance the mail traveled by steamboat doubled. 

The Pony Express

Using a variety of delivery formats over the decades, the postal service began operation using horseback that covered 2400 miles. The postal service served a country with an ever growing population and demand. The Pony Express was established to help bridge the gap in the areas the railway couldn't reach. By 1860, the Pony Express could move mail in a mere ten days from the east coast to the west coast.

US Mail Vehicle 1910

With the invention of both steam and gas powered vehicles, came a more efficient delivery system for the mail. In 1899, it was an electric automobile that was able to collect mail from 40 mailboxes in 1.5 hours making that collection half the time it took horseback. It was around 1913 that the use of postal automobiles were used to deliver letters and packages. 

First Mail Delivery 1911

Next came the use of motorcycles to deliver the mail to more rural areas during the early 1900's. Used for just a brief time in history, these were eventually replaced by four wheeled vehicles. Airmail began in 1918 when pilot planes were borrowed from the army and were used to deliver the mail. It was Charles Lindbergh who piloted an airmail plane and flew between Chicago and St. Louis in 1926. A transcontinental flight to deliver the mail took one day, ten hours, and twenty minutes! 

Microfilmed V-Mails 1943

Instead of airmail, Victory Mail (V-Mail) was something that was used during World War II. Used as a way of communicating with loved ones, V-Mail was a process and technique that had been previously used to develop bank records. Special stationary was used to write on and then that stationary was processed by copying to film, then printed. The postal service would open the letters and microfilm them and after doing so, the film was sent to military bases where they were developed and printed for the soldiers. This saved millions of pounds of mail from having to be delivered.

The impact of the development of the postal service has had both positive and negative impacts. With primary interests in separating from Britain, the postal service allowed colonists to discuss and plan such efforts. Passing information and strategy was a positive impact because it allowed a new nation to form and succeed in their cause for liberty. Another positive impact is that the postal system helped link the east coast to the west coast. Beforehand, communicating with people on the other side of the country was nearly impossible. With the development of roads by the federal government, came faster and more efficient mail delivery even into rural areas. The railway industry owes much of its development to the postal service. When the postal service started a partnership with the railway, both people and the mail began to move more quickly. What used to take months was reduced to weeks. The same was true of the steamboat industry. Because the postal service used the resources and outsourced mail delivery through sea channels, making water travel more popular. 

At the same time, the impact of the development of the postal service has had several negative impacts. One such negative was the expense and lack of profitability of the postal service. Operating in a self-sufficient manner, the postal service only has revenues it generates making profitability challenging.  Additionally, it can be very expensive when sending weighted items. In countries that are more remote, the postal service has been slow in development. The postal service requires high maintenance and lacks production at times of high volumes. When there are labor disputes and postal employees go on strike, work stoppages occur causing delays in mail delivery. Finally, natural disasters can affect mail delivery. In times of earthquakes, hurricanes, and other disasters, the postal service is more vulnerable.  

Current Logo US Postal Service

The postal service changed how we communicate. Developed for nation building, the postal service has been responsible for several functions like development of postal roads, mail delivery to urban and remote areas, and a form of communication for print material like newspapers and advertising. The postal service was a key factor to the development and growth of our nation.

 The Eight Values of Free Expression

There are two main values of free expression that resonate deeply with me. The first is Individual Self-Fulfillment (aka Self-Actualization) presented by C.Edwin Baker. This theory focuses on human dignity, human agency, and autonomy. Baker argued, "the primary justification for freedom of expression rests on protecting individual human liberty (the liberty theory) rather than the traditional marketplace of ideas rationale." An individual's ability to express themself and express their own identity is a right afforded to all Americans. This idea is of great importance to me because I believe we are given one life to live and maximizing our potential in a self-fulfilling way is a freedom afforded to me as a citizen of the United States.

So what is self-fulfillment? To me, self-fulfillment is my ability to pursue and achieve my goals and ambitions and to feel good about my efforts.  I am not hampered by my race, gender, age, education, or wealth. I am afforded the right to do so because I live in a country where that opportunity exists for every person. 

As an athlete who is very passionate about the sport I love so dearly, (rowing), I believe wholeheartedly that individuals should have the ability to pursue their dreams. Hoping to make the US Rowing National team one day, but some may discount my ability to make this happen. Because of my freedom and ability to self-fulfill, I am afforded the right to try, to set goals, and to pursue my dream. I simply cannot imagine living in a country where I could not look to the future with great anticipation and opportunity.

The ability to reflect and evaluate is one element within the self-fulfillment idea. Instilling values in children, and encouraging and modeling the importance of character, integrity, and responsibility is key to the process of self-fulfillment. When our government no longer models those standards for the people whom they lead, it is no wonder how those key values are lost. We should not be surprised by increased incidents of violence and how phenomena like cancel culture come to be. I believe intolerance promotes censorship, discrimination, lack of respect, lack of morals, and promotes rejection of people and ideas that are different than your own. Certainly not the principles our country was founded on. I believe many of the twisted ideas we see today are not the norm and are instead the ideas of a small group of individuals who have overstepped and trampled on the very freedoms we are guaranteed.

Interestingly, a research survey was conducted by Pew Research a few years back that measured what Americans thought made their lives fulfilling. One portion of the survey asked open-ended questions about what makes their life satisfying and the other asked closed-ended questions about the same topic which respondents chose from a set of 15 possible answers. The survey titled, Where Americans Find Meaning in Life, found that across both surveys family ranked the highest when asked what makes life meaningful. This supports the idea that Americans do place great importance and value on the family which is a component of being self-fulfilled. 

Where Americans Find Meaning

Other themes like career and friendship also ranked high on the survey.  This reinforces the idea that we are a people who desire those traditional values. We need self-expression, human liberty, and autonomy. When the vast majority of Americans rank family as a meaningful expression in their life, it is not hard to conclude that we are thinking, feeling, and reflective people who desire self-fulfillment. Our country was founded on the principle of independence where people shape their destinies and identities. Our freedom to believe in a dream and to pursue those ambitions are part of our American ethos founded in the idea of The American Dream. We are not a nation of intolerant people but in recent times, the media has divided us because it fits their agenda. 

The second value of free expression that resonates with me is the Promote Tolerance as seen in Lee Bollinger, 

The Tolerant Society: Freedom of Speech and Extremist Speech. The first amendment protects our freedom of speech and that includes hate speech. As difficult as that may be to accept, hate speech is just as important as free speech. In today's society of cancel culture where people can be censored, removed, shunned, or worse simply because they voiced a differing opinion is ridiculous. Today, there have been numerous accounts of celebrities, like Kanye West, Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, and many more who have been canceled. In addition, companies and brands have fallen victim to being boycotted. Among these are Dr. Seuss and the Disney classic, Dumbo. Often done via social media, a person or group can stop their support of a person, a company, or brand due to real or even perceived wrongdoing. As a society, we should be very alarmed by the reality that this very thing could happen to anyone. This current phenomenon of cancel culture tramples our rights and freedoms and does so by evoking fear and doubt. 

A recent study by Pew Research showed Americans are deeply divided in their views of what cancel culture is. Respondents were polled about what they believe cancel culture represents. The findings were divided in that some saw it as censorship and others saw it as a call for accountability. As an American, I do not believe you can reap the benefits of free speech while simultaneously condemning hate speech. You may disagree with other people and not support their actions and even discount their beliefs, but they do have rights and freedoms and one of those rights is the freedom to voice their opinion. This is exactly what our forefathers wanted when constructing our nation of self-government. Making sure that the government did not overstep and that the citizens were free to speak their minds. Our first amendment ensures we are free to express and that includes both free speech and hate speech. 

Anything other than total freedom of expression goes against the very rights that are afforded to you and me. I may disagree with you completely and I may not like the words you say, but that does not give me the right to censor you or worse, take away your freedom to express yourself. I believe in the first amendment and specifically protecting our right to free speech. I think the confusion comes in when people today cannot tolerate a differing opinion from their own. You can see this played out nightly on the news between the left and the right. I do not promote hate speech that leads to violence and I do believe that behavior with the intent to incite should be condemned. There are lessons to be learned when we listen to both sides, hear differing opinions, and are reflective on that information. I believe it is our differences that help promote a nation of people who are more tolerant and well informed and when we take away that right, we are left with a nation of people who are silenced. 

 

    

 The History and Workings of the Supreme Court

After watching the Supreme Court films, the most striking thing I uncovered was that the Supreme Court is not required to reach a unanimous decision. I thought a unanimous decision was necessary in the cases the Justices review and decide upon. There are two court systems in the United States: the federal and state courts.  Federal cases require a unanimous verdict so that jurors are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. If all members of the jury are unanimous in their verdict, then our courts can ensure that standard is met. State court verdicts are a little different where in some states, only a majority vote is required and in others (based on the type of case) the majority is required.  The Supreme Court does not require a unanimous vote and instead looks to the majority.

 

The most important take-away point about the Supreme Court is that it is the upmost prestigious and respected office that is tasked with safeguarding our Constitution. It is the voice of the people, making decisions that are not always popular, and an office that must be trusted by the people.  Bound by the laws of our nation, the American people accept their authority, expertise, and fairness in upholding the job of the Supreme Court, which is to safeguard the Constitution, preserve the union, and uphold the rule of law. Can you even imagine a country where we the people have no legal protections and no governing body overseeing our freedoms and rights? How important it is to have the Supreme Court who can review appeals where lower courts could have made mistakes. This type of checks and balances is afforded to every single person regardless of race, wealth, education, and even those previously convicted of a crime. 

 

The most surprising thing I learned is the sheer number of petitions that arrive each year. Arriving by the hundreds each week, new cases arrive on the desks of the Justices. With a team of clerks and assistants, the Justices are responsible for deciding which cases that the court will accept. It is through thoughtful, educated discussions that the Justices reach an opinion and ultimately a decision regarding a case. If those cases are heard by the Supreme Court, it becomes the job of each Justice to ask the hard questions. Through these conversations, the court gathers information needed. It is more than just the attorney making the argument, it is the Justices investigative questioning that guides them to a decision that upholds the rule of law and defends the Constitution.

 

After watching the video, I am less convinced that politics are as prevalent in decisions made by the Justices on the Supreme Court. The Justice's interviewed were of different backgrounds, had different philosophies and were of different party affiliations however, the amount of respect for the office they held was impressive. Rising above party lines and placing great importance on the decisions they made and adhering to the requirements of their job, I do believe they do so with honor and integrity in upholding the laws of our nation and the Constitution of the United States. 

Having limited knowledge and understanding about the inner workings of the court, I have only the knowledge that the President in office can nominate a candidate to become a Justice and the Congress confirms or denies that nomination. Both the President and the Congress have their own agendas which clearly play out during the confirmation process. Tune into the last couple of Justice confirmation hearings and it becomes evident that it is a jockeying to get their nominee confirmed for what they believe will be political backing. Specifically, after watching Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, that was the first time I ever remember feeling disappointed by the process and antics of my own government. Our nation's political offices do not always paint a pretty picture so it was refreshing to realize that although games are played in the political realm, the Justice's seem to be able to separate themselves and focus on the job at hand. Although I do agree the confirmation process should be stringent and thorough, I do not appreciate how politicians let their own agendas cloud what should be responsible considerations, but instead become full on attacks to a candidate who is under consideration for the highest seat on the court in our nation.