Postal service in the United States started with the delivery of letters that did not have stamps. The cost for the delivery was incurred by the recipient and administered by provisional post offices. Finally a system of universal pre-payment was established. All letters then required nationally-issued postage stamps. Private postal systems that managed the stamp-less letters were phased out after the introduction of these postage stamps. The first postage stamps issued by the U.S. government occurred on July 1, 1847.
