Q 01/05

Who was appointed the first postmaster general by the Continental Congress?

A) Benjamin Franklin

B) Thomas Jefferson

C) Alexander Hamilton

D) Samuel Adams

Answer · why

A) Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin had run the colonial mails for the Crown until he was fired in 1774; a year later Congress made him its postmaster general.

Q 02/05

In which city did the Second Continental Congress found the post office in 1775?

A) Boston

B) Philadelphia

C) Charleston

D) Williamsburg

Answer · why

B) Philadelphia

Philadelphia was where William Goddard had urged Congress to take over his 'Constitutional Post', a mail network set up outside royal control.

Q 03/05

Which item did the 1792 Postal Service Act let travel through the US mail at tiny rates?

A) Parcels

B) Newspapers

C) Postcards

D) Money orders

Answer · why

B) Newspapers

Newspapers went at extremely low rates, some for free, while letters cost 6 to 25 cents, since an informed public was seen as vital to the new democra...

Q 04/05

What power does the Constitution's Postal Clause grant Congress?

A) To print and sell postage stamps nationwide

B) To appoint every local postmaster

C) To tax letters and parcels

D) To establish post offices and post roads

Answer · why

D) To establish post offices and post roads

To establish post offices and post roads was the grant; Thomas Jefferson later asked whether it let Congress build roads or only choose existing ones.

Q 05/05

What did the law that created the modern US Postal Service phase out?

A) Its monopoly on letters

B) Its money orders

C) Its taxpayer subsidy

D) Its workers' pensions

Answer · why

C) Its taxpayer subsidy

Its taxpayer subsidy was phased out: the USPS took its last operating subsidy in 1982 and now pays its way mainly through postage.