Letter Writing in America

The article "Letter Writing in America" talks about the changes in letter writing throughout history. The article starts out by talking about the letters from people exploring the new world. The explorers were being paid, and sent updates back to their bosses. The article says that because of this, the letters that were being sent from the new world frequently described "Eden-like surroundings", a plethora of available food and resources, and cordial and cooperative natives who came across as though they wanted to convert to Christianity. (Letter Writing in America) From here, postal services were created such as the British Colonial Post. The downside to this was that postage was expensive and many people were illiterate. Most letters being sent were either from wealthy upperclass citizens or were secret letters sent by the government or military. Newspapers then started publishing letters. After this, Westward Expansion made it popular for letters to be send back to family from the West, either as updates or often news of death. The railroads made letters faster to send and receive. During the civil war, letters were often sent between soldiers and their families, and there were often letters from former slaves. Letters of a particular time tend to show the issues that were present during that time period, such as letters from immigrants to their families and letters about feminism. Throughout the World Wars and the Great Depression, more letters are sent between soldiers and their families; letters also show up in newspapers regarding personal inquiries. In the modern times, letter writing has decreased significantly because of technology such as telegraphs, E-mail, and phones. Letters are still written mainly to petition the government, for business transactions, and as an art form. As for the future of letter writing, the article states that it is unknown.