Existing comment:
Creating an Independent Post:
William Giles Goddard, a printer and newspaper publisher, experienced the abuses of British authority firsthand. Goddard moved to Philadelphia in 1765 and formed a partnership with Benjamin Franklin to publish the Pennsylvania Chronicle, a paper sympathetic to the revolutionary cause. The local Crown postmaster failed to deliver out-of-town newspapers to Goddard depriving him of important information for his own newspaper. The Chronicle was forced out of business when the Crown post refused to deliver it through the mail.
Goddard retaliated by designing a distinctly American postal system in opposition to the Crown's post. Goddard's plan stressed the constitutional principles of open communication, freedom from government interference, and the free exchange of ideas. An elected committee would select the Postmaster General for this "Constitutional Post" and have the authority to fix rates and establish post routes. Goddard's vision of a free post provided the foundation for the future United States postal system. |