How Successful Was The Mailing Process In The 1700s

615 Words2 Pages

Why would mailing something be so difficult? It is relatively easy to mail something in this day of age. Nevertheless, it has not always been this way. One must know of the hardships of the colonial time. There were many different challenges that prevented the mailing process from being so easy.
In the 1700s, the British Parliamentary Post was the main mailing service throughout the colonies. It produced a variety of problems for the colonists. One main issue of concern was the violation of their privacy, as the postmaster had the right to read their mail. Another common problem that occurred was the lengthy delivery process, if they were lucky enough to receive their mail at all. These are just some of the reasons the colonists decided …show more content…

To get out of debt, they decided to pass the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act made the American colonists have to pay taxes on every piece of printed paper they used. The colonists were extremely mad about this. They felt like it was another form of taxation without their consent.
One way to not support this newfound British taxation idea, the colonists came up with different ways to send and receive their mail. They would send their mail by private courier. It was cheaper and this would avoid the payment of postage in the British-run system. There were also stagecoaches that got paid on the side to transport mail between towns. They would carry and hide the mail on them, making the mail undetectable.
Another way that colonists sent mail was by favor. They would ask travelers that they knew that were already going that direction to deliver the mail along the way. They would even go as far as not sealing the mail, keeping it open to avoid having to pay postage.
As an alternative to the British-run Parliament Post, the American Constitutional Post was developed. It was developed by an ex-postmaster of the British Post named William Goddard. He developed this post because the British Post was not private and he didn’t agree with the taxation of the Stamp Act without the consents of the

Open Document