Religion in Politics - Sunday Mail Delivery

In the early 19th century (1810) an effort was underway to deliver mail on Sunday. Several Protestants groups rallied together in opposition - as they held government to a higher power.

Their efforts failed (economic and business interests prevailed), and mail delivery on Sunday began soon after. However, Protestant groups were becoming more interested in America's politics. They started several organizations about this time which would have a significant impact on later politics, such as the Temperance Union (1826). Their interest in stopping Sunday mail did not decline.

In 1828, the Protestant groups again rallied to bring back Sunday as "holy" and stop the mail. They were more aggressive this time, but so was the opposition. Several smaller religious groups (Universalists and Seven-Day-Baptists) opposed it on the grounds that making Sunday off-limits was the same as making one religion have the ultimate monopoly in government - which actually makes this one of the first big Church-State issues since 1787 to come as a legal challenge before the government.

Andrew Jackson, president at the time, was also a defender of small government (and not terribly religious himself) and came down against the change. Business interests once again won out, and Sunday mail delivery again continued.

What stopped Sunday mail? The invention of the telegraph. By the middle of the 1850's Sunday mail was being stopped by local governments. The federal government felt no need to enforce it since important business information was still being processed by telegraph. After the Civil War, most municipalities stopped Sunday mail and it died out pretty much on its own accord.