[United States Post Office]: [Jefferson, Thomas]:

$37,500 · Offered by William Reese Company

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES: AT THE THIRD SESSION, BEGUN AND HELD AT THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, ON MONDAY THE SIXTH OF DECEMBER, ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND NINETY. AN ACT TO CONTINUE IN FORCE ... A rare and foundational piece of early American legislation and a vital steppingstone on the road to a permanent United States Post Office, signed by Thomas Jefferson as secretary of state. Originally established under the Continental Congress in 1775, the duties of the Post Office were more or less inherited by the Washington administration at the end of the Revolutionary War. Shortly after the Constitution was adopted in 1789, an "Act for the temporary Establishment of the Post Office" was passed by the first Congress, solidifying its position in the new government. The present act is one of three passed between 1789 and 1792 which extended the duration of that original act while a final version was debated, bridging the gap until the Postal Service Act of 1792 finally made the Post Office permanent. In addition to extending the lifetime of the temporary Post Office, the present act also provides free franking privileges to officials in the Treasury Department and extends postal service from Albany to Bennington. The main text reads in full:"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the act passed the first session of Congress, intituled, 'An act for the temporary establishment of the post-office,' be,

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