U.S. Postal System Established by Continental Congress

Context

By the spring of 1775, fighting had erupted at Lexington and Concord, and the colonies faced the challenge of coordinating military movements and political decisions across hundreds of miles of rudimentary roads. The existing mail routes operated under British oversight, raising fears that patriot letters could be intercepted or delayed by loyalist postmasters.

Meeting in Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania State House, the Second Continental Congress moved quickly to address this vulnerability. Delegates understood that reliable communication was essential not only for military orders but also for circulating news, resolutions, and intelligence among the thirteen colonies.

What Happened

On July 26, 1775, the Congress resolved to establish a postal system under its own authority and named Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania its first Postmaster General. Franklin brought decades of relevant experience: he had served as postmaster of Philadelphia since 1737 and as joint Deputy Postmaster General for the colonies from 1753 until his dismissal in 1774.

Franklin received an annual salary of one thousand dollars and authority to hire postmasters and riders along routes stretching from Falmouth in Massachusetts (now Portland, Maine) to Savannah, Georgia. He promptly appointed his son-in-law Richard Bache as deputy and, on August 7, named printer William Goddard as surveyor of the new system.

Aftermath

The new service, sometimes referred to as the Constitutional Post, began operating within weeks and quickly displaced much of the royal mail network. It carried military dispatches, congressional correspondence, and newspapers that helped sustain morale and unity during the first year of the war.

Franklin remained in the post until November 1776, when he departed for France on a diplomatic mission; Bache succeeded him as Postmaster General.

Legacy

The 1775 postal establishment created the institutional foundation for what became the United States Post Office Department and, later, the United States Postal Service. Its emphasis on centralized management, regular routes, and public accountability shaped American communications infrastructure for generations.

Historians view the decision as an early assertion of national sovereignty, demonstrating the Congress’s willingness to assume governmental functions even before independence was declared.