Postal system appointing both male and female African American postmasters throughout the United States, giving them significant positions of federal authority.

Creswell joined the Radical Republicans and supported the end of slavery and the civil rights of African Americans.

In 1861, Creswell was elected to represent Cecil County in the Maryland House of Delegates and served until 1862, where he helped keep the state from joining the Confederacy.

Modern historians, starting in the 1960s and continuing into the 21st century, have taken a renewed interest in Creswell as a forgotten abolitionist and for his appointments and integration of both male and female African Americans to prominent positions in the U.S.

In 1863, Creswell was appointed the state's adjutant general, where he was in charge of raising Maryland's quota of troops for the Union war effort.

A staunch supporter of President Abraham Lincoln, Creswell was the first man in Congress to propose a constitutional amendment banning slavery.

Having lost reelection to the House in 1864, Creswell was elected to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Thomas H. Hicks, serving from 1865 until the end of that term in 1867.

During the beginning of the Grant administration, it was reported by the New York Times, July 29, 1869, that Creswell injured himself in Baltimore while on a visit to his father-in-law Rev.

During Reconstruction as a Radical Republican Creswell appointed African Americans to serve in every state working in the Postal System.

"[7] Prior to 1865, African Americans were banned from working in the Postal Department, mostly due to the Southern racism of not allowing blacks to handle the mail.

[8] At the end of the Civil War this restriction was lifted, but white postmasters in major cities around the nation only appointed a few African American clerks.

[8] One black postmaster, Charles Miller, received as hostile reception among white conservative society in Columbia, South Carolina in 1869.

[8] On November 15, 1872 Creswell appointed Mrs. Anna M. Dumas the first female African American postmaster in Covington, Louisiana.

[9] Five months later Creswell appointed black Union veteran and first Medal of Honor hero, William Carney, letter carrier of Bedford, Massachusetts.

[9] President Grant, at the beginning of his first term in office, initiated an attempt to annex the Dominican Republic, then known as Santo Domingo.

[11] Upon assuming office, Postmaster Creswell strongly advocated the abolishment of the franking privilege that allowed Congress, both the Senate and the House of Representatives, to use the U.S.

A bill to cut spending on Public Printing was introduced to the House, however, this failed to gain a two-thirds majority to pass.

[14] By law, to secure a postal contract, bidders had to pay a 5% guarantee check at a national bank payable to the Postmaster General.

[15] Creswell accepted the appointment of a United States counsel before the Alabama Claims Commission; he served in that position from 1874 to 1876.

In April 1892, his extensive law library was put up for auction by Latimer & Sloan, Auctioneers in Washington, D.C.[18] Historians view Creswell as a forgotten "committed abolitionist" and have taken renewed interest for Creswell's support of the Thirteenth Amendment ending slavery for African Americans in the United States, as a member of the House of Representatives, and for his advancement of African Americans, both male and female, in the Postal Service, while serving as President Grant's appointed Postmaster General during that latter half of Reconstruction.

[19] The mistake of his name "Angel James" from his correct name "Andrew Jackson" may have "originated in the late nineteenth century, possibly when his papers were processed by the Library of Congress.

"[20] According to historians John M. Osborne and Christine Bombaro, both of Dickinson College, Creswell "left few records of his personal life.

There is no autobiography, diary, or memoir to be found beyond a brief and incomplete biographical sketch he wrote in November 1863, presumably for the United States Congressional Directory.

"[20] Professor Matthew Pinsker, also of Dickinson College, said "[w]hile serving as a Postmaster General during the Grant Administration, Creswell helped to integrate and modernize the federal post office system.

"[21] Historian Ronald C. White said Creswell was a "highly competent lawyer" and "had ideas on how to reform the Post Office Department.

"[22] White noted that Postmaster Creswell received "strong commendations" for introducing reforms, including expanding the Western mail service, instituting fair competition on carriage routes for mail transportation, a system previously riddled with bribery, and for strongly advocating the abolishment of the franking privilege system, all of these efforts endorsed by President Grant.

[22] Osborne and Bombaro concluded that Creswell was "a true Border State pragmatist who came to embrace what were at the time considered radical ideas about abolishing slavery and promoting equality.

[25] An inscription on Creswell's enormous and elaborate granite monument located at Elkton Presbyterian Church Cemetery on Creswell's family plot reads: Lawyer, orator, statesman, patriot, member of the Bar of Cecil County and of the Court of Appeals of Maryland and of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.