03890nam 2200601Ia 450 991077817390332120221108101418.00-674-03914-910.4159/9780674039148(CKB)1000000000787143(StDuBDS)AH24023349(SSID)ssj0000250193(PQKBManifestationID)11194177(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000250193(PQKBWorkID)10231166(PQKB)10530773(Au-PeEL)EBL3300251(CaPaEBR)ebr10314261(OCoLC)923109890(DE-B1597)574618(DE-B1597)9780674039148(MiAaPQ)EBC3300251(OCoLC)1294423709(EXLCZ)99100000000078714319950512d1995 uy 0engur|||||||||||txtccrSpreading the news[electronic resource] the American postal system from Franklin to Morse /Richard R. JohnCambridge, MA Harvard University Press19951 online resource (384p.) Originally published: 1995.0-674-83338-4 0-674-83342-2 Includes bibliographical references (p. 343-356) and index.Preface Acknowledgments The Postal System as an Agent of Change The Communications Revolution Completing the Network The Imagined Community The Invasion of the Sacred The Wellspring of Democracy The Interdiction of Dissent Conclusion Abbreviations Notes Sources IndexThis text tells the story of the communications revolution spurred by the American postal system and the challenge it posed for American business, politics and cultural life.In the seven decades from its establishment in 1775 to the commercialization of the electric telegraph in 1844, the American postal system spurred a communications revolution no less far-reaching than the subsequent revolutions associated with the telegraph, telephone, and computer. This book tells the story of that revolution and the challenge it posed for American business, politics, and cultural life. During the early republic, the postal system was widely hailed as one of the most important institutions of the day. No other institution had the capacity to transmit such a large volume of information on a regular basis over such an enormous geographical expanse. The stagecoaches and postriders who conveyed the mail were virtually synonymous with speed. In the United States, the unimpeded transmission of information has long been hailed as a positive good. In few other countries has informational mobility been such a cherished ideal. Richard John shows how postal policy can help explain this state of affairs. He discusses its influence on the development of such information-intensive institutions as the national market, the voluntary association, and the mass party. He traces its consequences for ordinary Americans, including women, blacks, and the poor. In a broader sense, he shows how the postal system worked to create a national society out of a loose union of confederated states. This exploration of the role of the postal system in American public life provides a fresh perspective not only on an important but neglected chapter in American history, but also on the origins of some of the most distinctive features of American life today.Postal serviceUnited StatesHistoryCommunication and trafficPostal serviceHistory.Communication and traffic.383.4973John Richard R.1959-1494677MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910778173903321Spreading the news3718370UNINA