Creation of the Post Office Department

Creation of the Post Office Department

Creation of the Post Office Department
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 5 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	8.24

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		completion, comptroller, unofficial, various, colonial, traveler, westward, country, travelers, postal, planes, better, gloom, running, collection, postage
	content words:		United States, New England, North America, Benjamin Franklin, New York, Continental Congress, Pony Express

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Creation of the Post Office Department
By Sharon Fabian

¹     In a big country like the United States, communications has always been an issue. American inventors keep coming up with newer, better, and faster ways to deliver our messages. Today, we can call a friend on a video cell phone, send an instant message over the Internet, or mail a letter.

²     In colonial times, it wasn't so easy to send a message. You could write a letter with your quill pen and ink, but then you had to wait for a traveler who was going in the right direction to deliver it. Early on, well before the United States became an independent country, people recognized the need for a postal service.

³     The first postal services in the United States were not really official mail services at all. Gathering places such as taverns became the unofficial collection points for mail. Then, when travelers were leaving on a trip, they would stop at the tavern, pick up the mail, and take it along. As early as 1639, Richard Fairbank's Tavern in New England was handling mail service for the colonists.

Paragraphs 4 to 9:
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