Letters of Western Expansion

After reading the article, "Letters of Westward Expansion" from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, I see how many people who moved out to the western frontier continued to come into contact with their families back east: "Letters connected all of these migrants with the homes they had left behind, and helped to build an interconnecting network of people across the vast new country that was developing." These people moving out West saw a chance for a new life and wanted a fresh start while being able to remain connected to their families. However, though these migrants going out West wrote letters constantly, the letter coming from the east were more quickly distributed than those in the west as the delivery service was more active and accessible. As the article is further analyzed, it begin with a paragraph regarding the importance of this single method of communication. The commonality of Americans spreading throughout the expanding country was significantly increasing over the years after the development of the United States Government and Revolution. There were many causes to the migrations such as religious and employment opportunities. The increase in letters during this time was how these people stayed in touch with their previous lives and built connections of a wider range. All sorts of news from the west and east was constantly being exchanged through these letters becoming the only way to remain in contact for the changing country that was before the Civil War.