Jessica Johnson

Timeline entries

1775 - Continental Congress establishes a postal system

The United States Postal System is a learning technology. By this learning technology timeline, we are trying to identify new ideas and inventions that both guide and initiate the spread of information and, ultimately, knowledge.

In 1775, a Continental Congress was organized at Philadelphia to establish an independent government. One of the first questions before the delegates was how to distribute and deliver the mail. They found their answer in Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was appointed the first Postmaster General in July of 1775. The organization he established later became the United States Postal Service.

Article IX of the Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1781, gave Congress "The sole and exclusive right and power . . . establishing and regulating post offices from one State to another . . . and exacting such postage on papers passing through the same as may be requisite to defray the expenses of the said office . . . ." The first three postmasters reported directly to Congress.

Initial government initiation and regulation allowed the post office to reach its potential quickly and efficiently. After the Act of February 20, 1792, the post office became a permanent American institution and a permanent means of communication between and within states (or colonies).

United States Postal History

2775 - Reinstitution of the Postal Service

After the complete annihilation of the United States Postal Service in 2110 - due to the lack of need caused by electronic transfers and travel, the USPS has been reinstated as the primary means of communication. This revitalized government program will replace all electronic transfers and will be completely safe from the hackers and cybercriminals who have spent the last five hundred years pilaging the Earth.

page last updated: 02/08/03