Morality and the Mail in Nineteenth-Century America (Hardcover)

~ Wayne E. Fuller (Author) "On the first day of every week in the early winter months of 1810 an almost eerie stillness lay upon towns and villages along the..." (more)
Key Phrases: pound postage rate, unmailable matter, postal innovations, New York, Congressional Record, Case Files (more...)

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Product Description

Morality and the Mail in Nineteenth-Century America explores the evolution of postal innovations that sparked a communication revolution in nineteenth-century America. Wayne E. Fuller examines how evangelical Protestants, the nation's dominant religious group, struggled against those transformations in American society that they believed threatened to paganize the Christian nation they were determined to save. Drawing on House and Senate documents, postmasters general reports, and the Congressional Record, as well as sermons, speeches, and articles from numerous religious and secular periodicals, Fuller illuminates the problems the changed postal system posed for evangelicals, from Sunday mail delivery and Sunday newspapers to an avalanche of unseemly material brought into American homes via improved mail service and reduced postage prices. Along the way, Fuller offers new perspectives on the church and state controversy in the United States as well as on publishing, politics, birth control, the lottery, censorship, Congress's postal power, and the waning of evangelical Protestant influence.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (June 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252028120
• ISBN-13: 978-0252028120
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
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• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,422,860 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)