American Mail Born: Goddard Creates the Postal System

William Goddard was a printer and publisher who realized in the 1770s that the British-controlled colonial postal system was intercepting patriot correspondence. He organized an independent 'Constitutional Post' that ran parallel to the royal mail, connecting the colonies from Maine to Georgia with riders who delivered letters outside British surveillance. Benjamin Franklin, already famous for his earlier role as deputy postmaster general of the British system, was appointed to lead the new colonial post office in 1775. The system funded itself through postage fees and operated at a loss for its first years, but it provided the critical communication infrastructure that held the revolutionary coalition together. After independence, the Post Office became one of the first federal institutions, and the postmaster general held cabinet rank. Goddard's postal revolution demonstrated that controlling information flow was as important to revolution as controlling military force.