Signed Act of Congress Permanently Establishing U.S. Postal Service & Implementing Death Penalty for Robbing the Mails

“there shall be established at the seat of the government of the United States, a general post-office; and there shall be one Postmaster General…”

Congress uses one of its powers specifically enumerated in the Constitution to continue postal service indefinitely.

EDMUND RANDOLPH. Printed Document Signed as Secretary of State, An Act to Establish the Post-Office and Post-Roads Within the United States. Philadelphia [Childs and Swaine], May 8, 1794. Signed in type by George Washington as President and John Adams as Vice President. 11 pp., 8.125 x 13.75" Untrimmed. #26139. Stab-sewn into original blue wrapper, rear wrapper docketed “Acts of 3rd Congress”; foxed and soiled, some marginal fraying and loss

Excerpt:

“An ACT to establish the Post-Office and Post-Roads within the United States.

Sec. 1. … the following be established as post-roads, namely: From Passamaquoddy, in the district of Maine, to Saint Mary’s in Georgia, by the following route, to wit: From Passamaquoddy, through Machias, Gouldsborough, Sullivan Trenton, Bluehill, Penobscott... Portsmouth, Newburyport, Ipswich, Salem, Boston, Worcester....From Newport, by East Greenwich, to Providence.—From Newport, by Westerly and Stonington point, to New London....From Springfield, by Stockbridge, to Kinderhook....

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That there shall be established at the seat of the government of the United States, a general post-office; and there shall be one Postmaster General, who shall have authority to appoint an assistant, and deputy-post-masters at all such places, as he shall find necessary:”

Sec. 17. And be it further enacted, That if any person or persons shall rob any carrier of the mail of the United States of such mail, or any part thereof, such offender or offenders shall, on conviction thereof, suffer death

Historical Background:

The postal service is one of a handful of federal functions specifically enumerated in the U.S. Constitution. A 1789 act of Congress put the Postmaster General under the presidentÂ’s charge and Washington named Samuel Osgood to the position. Separate acts in 1790, 1791, and 1792 extended the postal service and added newspaper delivery, routes, security, and organization. This 1794 act extended the Post Office indefinitely.

In 1673, New York Governor Francis Lovelace established a monthly message service between New York City and Boston. A decade later, William Penn set up Pennsylvania’s first post office, and in 1691, the British government gave Thomas Neale a 21-year grant on North American postal service. By 1707, the British had reclaimed the rights to service and appointed a series of Crown Postmasters General. In 1730, former Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood became Deputy Postmaster General for America, and in 1737 named a young Benjamin Franklin postmaster of Philadelphia. Franklin restructured the postal service and laid out new routes, mile markers, and nighttime riders between Philadelphia and New York, all of which shortened travel time by nearly half. Franklin built an efficient operation that reported a surplus—a first—in 1760. Mail service under Franklin’s administration became regular throughout the colonies and even on transatlantic routes.

Franklin was dismissed from Royal service in 1774, but the Continental Congress named him the first U.S. Postmaster General the following year. Efficient mail service was critical to the RevolutionÂ’s success. His system, changed from Confederation to Constitutional government, has continued to evolve ever since.

A 1789 Act of Congress required the Secretary of State to sign two copies of any law, order, vote, or resolution of Congress for distribution to the executive of every state. Here, Edmund Randolph, WashingtonÂ’s second Secretary of State, followed the practice for the fifteen states (Vermont and Kentucky had joined by 1794). (A single copy was also distributed to each U.S. senator and representative, printed on much smaller paper and not having the SecretaryÂ’s signature). Jefferson and Randolph were the only two secretaries of state who signed original Acts of Congress, as the practice was abolished by the Third Congress.

Evans 27849.

[short bio] Edmund Randolph (1753-1813) joined the war effort as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington. After the war, he was a delegate to the Continental Congress, Governor of Virginia from 1786-1788, a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, U.S. attorney general from 1789–1794, and Secretary of State from 1794–1795.

[long bio] Edmund Randolph (1753-1813) was a Revolutionary War aide-de-camp to General George Washington. In 1779, he was a selected by Virginia as a delegate to the Continental Congress, serving through 1782. He maintained his legal practice, handling a number of issues for Washington. He also trained John Marshall, and when Randolph was elected governor of Virginia, Marshall took over his law practice. Randolph served as governor from 1786-1788. He was a delegate to the Annapolis Convention and the Constitutional Convention. He favored prohibition of slave importation, and wanted three chief executives from various parts of the country. His Virginia Plan proposed two houses, each with delegates based on state population. RandolphÂ’s proposal for a national judiciary was adopted without dissent. However, at the end of the Convention he was one of three members who refused to sign, fearing insufficient checks and balances, a Congress that could become too strong, as well as a federal judiciary that could overrule state courts. At the Virginia Ratifying Convention, Randolph argued for amendments before the Constitution was adopted. After June 2 when eight other states had already ratified, many only with the promise of adding a Bill of Rights, Randolph changed his position and convinced enough other delegates to do so as well, insuring passage by a narrow margin.

President Washington appointed Randolph as the first U.S. Attorney General in September 1789. He was a useful neutral voice in disputes between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. When Jefferson resigned as Secretary of State, Randolph succeeded him. The major diplomatic initiative of his term was the 1794 JayÂ’s Treaty with Britain; Hamilton had managed those negotiations, and though Randolph had to sign, he opposed the treaty, pushing additional negotiations for what became Pinckney's Treaty. In 1795, the British Navy intercepted correspondence from Joseph Fauchet, French minister, to the U.S. The letters, which Britain turned over to Washington, showed Randolph exposing cabinet debates to the French. Washington affirmed his support for JaysÂ’ Treaty, and with the entire cabinet gathered, demanded that Randolph explain the scandalous letters. Randolph immediately resigned. (Ron Chernow concluded in his Washington biography that RandolphÂ’s action was due to a lapse of judgment rather than bribery or other ill motives). Randolph returned to Virginia to practice law. In 1807, in John MarshalÂ’s court and to JeffersonÂ’s great chagrin, Randolph successfully defended Vice President Aaron Burr against charges of treason.

Sources
“The Constitution and the Post Office.” http://about.usps.com/publications/pub100/pub100_005.htm

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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