Before telephonic and other forms of electronic communication, the USPS was the major highway of correspondence between people of the American public. While it started off slowly, the postal system gained much more widespread use as the nineteenth century went on. Reforms in pricing laws resulted in lower rates for letters, going from five cents for 300 miles to three cents for anywhere in the continental USA. The postal system gave people the means to communicate with their friends and relatives over great distances in a relatively short time period, as most letters had a turn around of a few weeks at most. As transportation technologies and roads improved, the service became more rapid and efficient. Members of all societal classes were soon writing letters to peers all over the country, which was once something reserved only for the wealthy. The introduction of the stamp was a landmark event, as it was the first form of currency to have a set value across the country. In some areas during the Civil War, stamps were used as currency when the federal money had depreciated.
The postal system was an incredible achievement in communication, and not just for its tangible value. By providing people with a way to keep in contact with their friends and family from so far away, it helped to build an entirely new world in people's minds as they no longer felt isolated. This system gave people hope and comfort, and provoked the idea of correspondence, socializing, political debate, academic discussion, and anything else you can manage to scrawl onto a sheet of paper.
The Postal Service gave American citizens the ability to keep correspondence with people, even over great distances. How do you think this altered their perception of daily life and the world around them? Further, if the service had been a failure, would there still be a mindset of isolationism through the nineteenth century?
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