The Last Postman

For the TLDR version scroll to the bottom and look for it...

"In 1639, the Massachusetts General Court established the first postal system in the colonies. Richard Fairbanks’ tavern in Boston was authorized as the official repository of mail, both local and from abroad"[0]. Then at some point in time the British extended their postal system to the colonies. Let's fast forward towards right before the American Revolutionary War.

On August 10, 1753, Benjamin Franklin was appointed deputy postmaster-general of British North America jointly with publisher William Hunter. It was common for offices to be jointly held at that time. Both were the first to hold this position. Franklin "served as a deputy postmaster general for all the colonies from 1753 to 1774"[0]. "In 1774, judged too sympathetic to the colonies, he was dismissed as joint postmaster general"[4][3].
"After the start of the American Revolution, he was appointed postmaster general of the colonies (image). During his tenure in 1775-76 he laid the foundations for the United States postal service. He greatly increased the number of post offices, started a packet mail service to Britain, and introduced the use of stagecoaches to carry the mails" [0].

On February 20, 1792, the Postal Service Act (pdf) was established, "signed into law" by President George Washington, which created The United States of America Post Office Department (or U.S. Post Office Department or "USPO") [1]. The "postal rate" at this time varied according to the distance it traveled, so postage for letters cost between 6 and 25 cents [5][0] (Section 9 in pdf). By contrast, "because news was considered crucial to an informed electorate, the 1792 law distributed newspapers to subscribers for 1 penny up to 100 miles and 1.5 cents over 100 miles; printers could send their newspapers to other newspaper publishers for free."[1][2][5].

"In 1794, while retaining high postage rates for letters, Congress lowered the rate for in-state newspapers to 1 cent and also gave magazines preferred rates – from 1 to 2 cents, depending on distance traveled (1 Stat. 362)" [2].
"During the War of 1812, in order to generate much needed revenue to pay for the war, the United States increased its postal rates. The regular postal rates were increased by 50% in February 1815, and were in effect until 31 March 1816 when the rates were repealed"[0].
On March 31, 1816, the USPO "single letter rate" (which changed over time [0]) was 6 cents per ounce for the distance of not over 30 miles; 10 cents fpr 31 to 80 miles; 12½ cents for 81 to 150 miles; 18½ cents for 151 to 400 miles; 25 cents for over 400 miles. [0] This remained the USPO postal rate until June 31, 1845.[0]
There is a ton of postal rate history information via the USPS here, the Wikipedia, and our [0] citation

The first private American independent mail company was Hale & Company. As evidence, "A handbill for Hale dated December 5, 1843 (and noted in the Boston Courier on the same date), specifically notes a daily service in New York" [8].

In 1844, Lysander Spooner founded his own mail company called the American Letter Mail Company [7]. His company's "Postage fees were established at 6 1/4 cents per half ounce or, 5 cents if paid by stamps that were to be sold at 20 for the dollar, as indicated on the face of the stamp" [8].
In contrast the USPO did not first issue and stamps until July 1, 1847. "Before the introduction of stamps, it was the recipient of mail—not the sender—who generally paid the cost of postage, giving the fee directly to the postman on delivery"[11].
"To begin with, Spooner couldn't understand why the Post Office should have a monopoly on mail delivery. He was schooled enough in law, however, to know that the Constitution ordered Congress to provide for mail delivery and it had done so with a postal department. But the wily Spooner found a loophole - the Constitution did not declare that a private citizen could not do likewise."[9]
"There was no question that government rates were much too high. It cost 18 3/4 cents to send a letter [via USPO] from Boston to New York and 25 cents to send one all the way to Washington DC. A letter sent [via USPO] from Boston to Albany, New York written on a 1/4-ounce sheet of paper and carried by the Western Railroad, cost 2/3 as much as the freight charge for carrying a barrel of flour the same distance" [8].

"Public sentiment against the high rates of postage and limited carrier delivery service was running high in early 1844"[8]. "In 1844, hearing from citizens from every party and under pressure to reform the postal system, Washington lawmakers and the Postmaster General had no intention of sitting still for any of 'that Spooner's shenanigans'. Suits against Spooner and his cohorts began. Railroad heads were given full warning that contracts for government mails would be removed and fines imposed unless space and passage were refused to private letter carriers. It was "round one" for the government when an agent of Spooner's company in Baltimore was found guilty and fined for transporting letters in a railroad car over a post road of the United States. Spooner himself was arrested in New York on March 7 on three charges by special agents of the Post Office . Another of his agents, Calvin Case, was held to bail for $100 around March 23 for carrying letters on the train" [8].
"Lysander Spooner had become legendary for his open defiance of poor government service. Although he offered more reliable and cheaper letter service than the U.S. Post Office, and this was what the public wanted, Congress resolved to improve its own system instead of allowing free enterprise to compete" [8].
"The Act of Mar. 3, 1845 , effective July 1, 1845, finally halted all private inter-city mail-carrying operations, although some private intra-city local posts continued to operate and challenge the meaning of the postal route law in courts. After July 1, 1845, almost no letter mail was privately delivered by any company between cities, although package delivery services continued to flourish. Spooner lost interest in postal reform until his attention was called to a campaign launched in 1848, which ultimately led to the second reduction of postal rates in 1851"[8].
"Stampless letters, paid for by the receiver, and private postal systems, were gradually phased out after the introduction of adhesive postage stamps, first issued by the U.S. government post office July 1, 1847, in the denominations of five and ten cents, with the use of stamps made mandatory in 1855" [11].

On July 1 1851, the previous rates from 1847-1848 were eliminated & it became 3 cents (5 cents for collect) for each 1/2 oz upto 3000 miles & 6 cents (10 cents for collect) for each 1/2 oz over 3000 miles distance. Also drop letters at 2 cents. [0]
On April 1, 1855, the elimination of the "collect" option occurred [prepayment mandatory] & it became 3 cents for each 1/2 oz upto 3000 miles & 10 cents for each 1/2 oz over 3000 miles distance. Also drop letters still at 2 cents. [0]

On March 3, 1863, "An Act to amend the Laws relating to the Post-Office Department was passed as "12 Statues At Large, Chapter 71" ((pdf)). This "law" is where the USPO pledged to deliver mail to all parts of the United States for 3 cents per ½ oz (Section 22 in pdf) .[0] Also drop letters still at 2 cents (Section 23 in pdf). The USPS shows the same rate with effective date of July 1, 1863 [10]. This essentially regulated any mail company out of business.

On

Now let's fast forward... On August 12, 1970, The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 was "signed into law" by President Nixon which "transformed the United States Post Office Department into the United States Postal Service [USPS], an independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States" [2].