Postal Administration

The centralized organization and management of a national postal system is essential to a nation's success. In colonial America, postal systems varied among colonies until the British Crown gave Thomas Neale a grant for North American postal service in 1691 and Neale appointed New Jersey’s governor, Andrew Hamilton, his deputy. When the national postal system came under the control of the Continental Congress in 1775, the British post failed. Whether known as the General Post Office (1792-1828), Post Office Department (1829-1970), or U.S. Postal Service (1971-present), the administration of the system has been centralized under a postmaster general.

Learn more