How and When the U.S. Postal Service Started

The United States Postal Service (USPS), which is generally referred as "the post office" is responsible for providing postal service in the United States as an agency of the United States government.

The U.S. Postal Service was organized under Benjamin Franklin on July 26, 1775 by decree of the Second Continental Congress. Based on a clause in the United States Constitution empowering Congress "To establish Post Offices and post Roads," it became the Post Office Department in 1792. In 1971, the department was reorganized as a quasi-independent agency of the federal government and acquired its present name.

Did you know that the U.S. Postal Service is the third-largest employer in the United States after the United States Department of Defense and Wal-Mart?

US Postal Service Delivery TruckThe U.S. Postal Service operates the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world, with an estimated 170,000 vehicles, the majority of which are the easily identified "mail trucks," as shown in the pictures to the left. Some rural mail carriers use personal vehicles.

Competition from e-mail and private operations such as United Parcel Service, FedEx, and DHL has forced USPS to adjust its business strategy and to modernize its products and services. The Department of Defense and the USPS jointly operate a postal system to deliver mail for the military known as the Army Post Office (for Army and USAF postal facilities) and Fleet Post Office (for Navy, USMC and USCG postal facilities).