Early Transatlantic Mail: No Regular Service Until Steam

There was no regular mail service between Europe and America in early human history. Systematic study of ocean currents began in the 18th century (e.g., Benjamin Franklin's Gulf Stream map, 1769). Reliable scheduled crossings only became possible with steamships in the 1830s–1840s (Cunard Line, 1840). Before that, mail traveled on sporadic sailing packets, taking weeks to months.