Postage Increase History
Since 1775, the United States has had a postal department charged with establishing public post offices and delivering the mail. Postal rates for what is now called a first-class letter have risen steadily since that time, but comparatively speaking, mailing such a letter today costs you less now than it would have in 1863.
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Establishment
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The Second Continental Congress established the service that would become the United States Postal Service (USPS) in 1775, when it passed a resolution to that effect and appointed Benjamin Franklin the nation's first postmaster general. Since 1792, the USPS has kept a record of postal rates for domestic letters.
1792 to 1815
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Interpreting postal rates for the early period of American history can be tricky, because rates were based on how far a letter would travel. In 1792, the cost of mailing "single letters," which consisted of one sheet of paper and weighed approximately 1/2 oz., ranged from 6 cents for 30 miles up to 25 cents for more than 450 miles. In 1799, in response to the rapidly expanding boundaries of the nation, the range of rates rose to 8 cents for less than 40 miles to 25 cents for more than 500 miles.
In 1815, the government increased all postal rates for all distances by 50 percent to raise money to pay for the War of 1812; the next year, it repealed these rate increases. -
1816 to 1863
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From May 1, 1816, to July 1, 1845, rates ranged from 6 cents for less than 30 miles to 25 cents for distances of more than 400 miles. In July 1845, the range of rates dropped to 5 cents for less than 300 miles, up to 10 cents for more than that distance. In 1851, the postal service eliminated the lesser distances, charging customers 3 cents for less than 3,000 miles if they prepaid the postage and 5 cents if they did not. Distances of more than 3,000 miles cost 6 cents if prepaid, 10 cents if not. By 1855, rates stood at 3 cents for less than 3,000 miles, 10 cents for more than that, and prepayment was obligatory.
1863 to 2009
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Starting in 1863, the postal service scrapped all considerations of distance and charged customers 3 cents to mail a letter weighing no more than 1/2 oz; on Oct. 1, 1883, the rate was reduced to 2 cents.
In 1885, the service made 1 oz. the basis weight for determining postal rates for a letter, and set the rate for mailing such a letter at 2 cents. Between that time and 1974, the cost of mailing a letter bounced back and forth between 2 cents and 3 cents for several years and then rose steadily to 10 cents. Rates did not reach 20 cents until Nov. 1, 1981. Since then, rates have increased by 1 cents to 4 cents every one to three years. In 2009, the cost of mailing a 1 oz., first-class letter was 44 cents.
Increasing Value
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Measuring Worth, a website that calculates the relative value of the U.S. dollar over time, concludes that the 3 cents charged a customer in 1863 would amount to 53 cents in 2008, based on the Consumer Price Index. It's important to note, however, that the 1863 rate applied to letters weighing 1/2 oz., and current rates apply to letters weighing 1 oz. or less.
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