On this episode of Our American Stories, The Founders knew firsthand that a postal system could be used as a tool of government surveillance. Before the Revolution, British officials had opened and inspected colonial mail, giving Americans good reason to distrust putting their letters in government hands. But the new nation faced a different problem. Its people were scattered across vast distances, and a republic could hardly function if they couldn't remain connected.
Daniel Piazza of the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum shares how the American postal system helped solve that problem, allowing Americans to truly settle their new nation.
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