When was usps created

President George Washington appointed Samuel Osgood, a former Massachusetts congressman, as the first postmaster general of the American nation under the new U.

At the time, there were approximately 75 post offices in the country. Today, the United States has over 40, post offices and the postal service delivers more than billion pieces of mail each year to over million homes and businesses in the United States, Puerto Rico , Guam, the American Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

The postal service is a not-for-profit, self-supporting agency that covers the majority of its expenses through postage stamp use in the United States started in and related products. The postal service gets the mail delivered, rain or shine, using everything from planes to mules. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! President Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order —ending discrimination in the military—on July 26, African Americans had been serving in the United On July 26, , President George H.

Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act ADA , the most sweeping affirmation of rights for the disabled in American history at the time, into law.

Finch of the Department of Justice. One year later, the Office of the Chief For the next 87 years, it remained The Republic of Liberia, formerly a colony of the American Colonization Society, declares its independence. Under pressure from Britain, the United States hesitantly accepted Liberian sovereignty, making the West African nation the first democratic republic in African history. It was the first general election held in Britain in more than a decade. The same day, Clement Attlee, the Labour leader, Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox.

And the Constitution made sure that these crucial services were preserved. In , that meant 75 Post Offices and about 2, miles of post roads. But it was the Postal Act of that established the foundation of a modern Postal Service. Congress granted the Postmaster General broader powers. And the act addressed issues related to commerce and privacy. In the South, private messengers, usually slaves, relayed mail between plantations. A more centralized postal organization came about in , when the British Crown gave Thomas Neale a year grant for a North American postal service.

In , the British government bought the rights to the North American postal service and appointed local deputy postmasters general. This continued until , when the colonists' dislike for British control led to the establishment of a constitutional postal service for intercolonial mail. The people paid for this service, and all revenues went into its improvement.

The Boston riots in led to the creation of the Continental Congress and the beginnings of an independent government. In , the Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general, in charge of the newly created Post Office Department. Franklin had proven his abilities when he was appointed postmaster general in Philadelphia in and had brought new organization, speed and reliability to the service. Between and , the number of post offices increased from just 75 to 24, Carriers initially transported the mail by foot and on horseback, then moving to stagecoaches, rail, cars and trucks — and ultimately to airplanes.

Those early days of mail delivery resulted in huge improvements to the country's system of roads.