Existing comment:
From Crown to Revolution:
Benjamin Franklin was named postmaster of Philadelphia by the British Crown in 1737. The colonial post still carried mostly official and commercial correspondence, and most communications were transatlantic. Few residents of one colony needed to contact residents of another. But over the next three decades, a sense of common destiny began to unite the colonies in opposition to British rule.
In 1753, Franklin was the Crown's joint postmaster general for the colonies. After a 1,600-mile inspection of post offices, he organized a weekly mail wagon between Philadelphia and Boston. Using lanterns to light their way, post riders traveled day and night in relays. This cut mail delivery time between the cities in half and made the colonial post efficient for colonists and profitable for the Crown. |