On September 22, 1789, the First Congress passed legislation temporarily continuing the Post Office under the new federal government and authorizing a Postmaster General appointed under presidential direction. Rather than building a postal system from scratch, Congress carried forward and federalized a network that had operated under the Articles of Confederation.
Four days later, on September 26, President George Washington appointed Samuel Osgood of Massachusetts (shown) as the first Postmaster General under the United States Constitution. Osgood took responsibility for a growing communications network of roughly 75 post offices and about 2,400 miles of post roads, serving a population of nearly four million people.
The early postal service did more than carry private letters. It linked merchants, public officials, newspapers, and communities across the new republic’s expansive territory. By making the regular exchange of news, political information, and commercial correspondence more practical, the postal network helped turn the idea of a united nation into an everyday reality.
Image via New York Public Library Digital Collections
