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Going it alone!
The metric system originated in France in the 1790's, a few years after Jefferson's proposals. During the mid-nineteenth century, as expanding trade demanded a consistent set of measurements, use of the metric system spread through continental Europe. As they imported goods from Europe or exported goods to Europe, Americans became increasingly aware of the metric system. In 1866, Congress legalized its use in an act reading:
It shall be lawful throughout the United States of America to employ the weights and measures of the metric system; and no contract or dealing, or pleading in any court, shall be deemed invalid or liable to objection because the weights or measures expressed or referred to therein are weights or measures of the metric system.
It shall be lawful throughout the United States of America to employ the weights and measures of the metric system; and no contract or dealing, or pleading in any court, shall be deemed invalid or liable to objection because the weights or measures expressed or referred to therein are weights or measures of the metric system.
In 1875, the U.S. was one of the original signers of the Treaty of the Meter, which established the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM). This agency administers the International System of Units, the official version of the metric system. American scientists and engineers have always been among the leaders in improving, extending, and revising the metric system. The general public, however, has lagged far behind.
In 1893, Congress adopted the metric standards, the official meter and kilogram bars supplied by BIPM, as the standards for all measurement in the U.S.
In 1901, Congress established the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), now known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to support technical standards for American industry and commerce, including the maintenance of standards of weight and measurement. In 1964, NBS announced:
Henceforth it shall be the policy of the National Bureau of Standards to use the units of the International System (SI), as adopted by the 11th General Conference of Weights and Measures, except when the use of these units would obviously impair communication or reduce the usefulness of a report.
Henceforth it shall be the policy of the National Bureau of Standards to use the units of the International System (SI), as adopted by the 11th General Conference of Weights and Measures, except when the use of these units would obviously impair communication or reduce the usefulness of a report.
Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 to speed this process along. However, American consumers generally rejected the use of metric units for highway distances, weather reports, and other common measurements, so little was accomplished except for the encouragement of faster metric conversion in various scientific and technical fields.
In 1988, Congress passed the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act, which designates "the metric system of measurement as the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce." Among many other things, the act requires federal agencies to use metric measurements in nearly all of their activities...
Proponents of the metric system in the U.S. often claim that "the United States, Liberia, and Burma (or Myanmar) are the only countries that have not adopted the metric system." This statement is not correct with respect to the U.S., and probably it isn't correct with respect to Liberia and Burma, either. The U.S. adopted the metric system in 1866.
Note that many other countries have also had some difficulties. For example, France, the home of the metric system, rounded some of their old units. Une livre (pound), for example, has been generally rounded up in common parlance from 453.6 g to 500 g, although, if you go to a baker's today and ask for une livre de pain, you will get a loaf of nominal weight of 450 g. In the UK, which metricised the country 20-odd years ago, it is now illegal - and punishable - to use imperial measures in commerce, except that you can still buy a pint of beer in your local pub. However, the road signs are still entirely in miles. This country also went metric at about the same time (including the road signs, I'm happy to say) but the Cypriots haven't really come to terms with it. OK, I buy petrol (gasoline) and milk by the litre and the 1 pound load of bread IS 500 g, but if I go to local builders' merchant and ask for some wood 5x10 cm, the vendor will say, "Oh! You mean 2x4!" but when asked how long his 2x4 is, he'll reply 4 m! If a petrol station puts up a sign at a road junction, it inevitably states that it is 300 m along this or that road, but "300 m" always means "somewhere between 300 and 3,000 m". If I act unmanly and ask someone for the directions to such and such a place, I'll be pointed in the right direction and will then be told to "turn right at the next lights and you'll see it a little way along on the left". The "little way" can never be specified and can be anything from 20 m to 10 km or more, unless your interlocutor is someone as old as I am, when he will say it is about half-a-mile and you can then bet your bottom dollar that it is 750 m ± 100 m. I was amused to see the local carpenters/joiners buy MDF panels in metric but they cut it in inches! But this is after less than 20 years, not 139!
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