ABSTRACT
Secure in continuing a profession that he had for many years been tempted to leave, Belknap unleashed a flurry of writings to trace and contribute to the American national identity. When the War for Independence began in 1775 Hazard was postmaster of New York; when it ended in 1783 he was postmaster general of the United States of America. The end of the war brought independence to America in general and Belknap in particular the sense of independence to search for knowledge and share it by means of his many writings. The Belknap–Hazard correspondence was a counter to disorder, passivity and fear. It is no wonder that both men believed that Providence ordered their own lives and guided the Americans at war, when their letters registered a chronicle of the best of human experience, of seeking, understanding and love, even during, in Paine's words, 'the times that tried men's souls'.
