What if the United States had adopted Jefferson's decimalized system of measurements?

[Alamo]

The Metric system and the United States has been something that pops up with some degree of regularity on AH. As such, I thought it might be worth asking what the global and local effects would be if America didn't use traditional units - but rather than supposing an adoption of the metric system, what if Jefferson's decimalized system of measurements had been adopted in the 1790s?

This will require a bit of background, but I'll try to keep it brief. In 1790, Jefferson was asked by Congress to develop new, nationally standardized systems of coinage and measurement for the young republic, which was burdened by an incredible hodge-podge of standards across assorted states and regions. He first tackled coinage, and presented a decimalized system which was swiftly adopted, and which the US uses to this day. His next effort, measurements, was not quite as successful.

Jefferson had been in France at the time that debates over a new, rational, system of measurements had been underway, and he had significant apprehensions about using a measured meridian as the basis of such a system. He favored the use of a timed pendulum rod instead, as this was more egalitarian. The proposal then in vogue in France could only be truly verified in French territory, and to do so would be a significant scientific effort that required the backing of a state. Complaining of this in a letter to the American chargé d'affaires in France, Jefferson wrote -

The element of measure adopted by the [French] National Assembly excludes, ipso facto, every nation on earth from a communion of measure with them; instead of concurring in a measure which, like the pendulum, may be found in every point of the 45th degree, and through both hemispheres, and consequently in all countries of the earth lying under that parallel, either northern or southern, they adopt one which can be found in but a single point of the northern parallel, and consequently only in one country, and that country is theirs. ​

The proposal Jefferson had for measurements was split into a more conservative version, and a radical one. We're going to look just at the radical one to simplify matters.

Let the standard of measure, then, be a uniform cylindrical rod of iron, of such length as, in latitude, in the level of the ocean, and in a cellar, or other place, the temperature of which does not vary through the year, shall perform its vibrations in small and equal arcs, in one second of mean time.

...Let the second rod, then, as before described, be the standard of measure; and let it be divided into five equal parts, each of which shall be called a foot; for, perhaps, it may be better generally to retain the name of the nearest present measure, where there is one tolerably near. It will be about one quarter of an inch shorter than the present foot.

...Let the unit of capacity be the cubic foot, to be called a bushel.

...Let the weight of a cubic inch of rain water, or the thousandth part of a cubic foot, be called an ounce.

This was the basis of the proposed system, and it resulted in the following units, shown below with the equivalents in traditional American and metric units. These numbers come courtesy of Dan of Dozensonline:

***
​

Length:
Point (ten per line) - 11.73 thousandth of an inch - 298.1 microns
Line (ten per inch) - .11 inch - 2.98 millimeters
Inch (ten per foot) - 1.17 inch - 2.98 centimeters
Foot - .97 feet - 2.98 decimeters
Decad (ten feet) - 3.25 yards - 2.98 meters
Rood (ten decads) - 10.72 yards - 29.81 meters
Furlong (ten roods) - 326 yards - 298.1 meters
Mile (ten furlongs) - 1.85 miles - 2.98 kilometers

Area:
Rood (100 feet by 100 feet) - .21 acres - 888.5 square meters

Volume:
Metre (.001 cubic foot) - .89 fluid ounce - 26.48 milliliters
Demi-pint (.02 cubic feet) - 1.11 pints - 529.7 milliliters
Pottle (.1 cubic feet) - 2.79 quarts - 2.648 liters
Bushel (1 cubic foot) - 6.99 gallons - 26.48 liters
Quarter (10 cubic feet) - 9.35 cubic feet - 264.8 liters
Ton (50 cubic feet) - 46.75 cubic feet - 1.324 cubic meters
Last (100 cubic feet) - 3.46 cubic yards - 2.648 cubic meters

Weight:
Mite (.0001 ounce) - .04 grains - 2.648 milligrams
Minum (.001 ounce) - .4 grains - 26.48 milligrams
Grain (.002 ounce) - .81 grains - 52.97 milligrams
Carat (.01 ounce) - 4.08 grains - 264.8 milligrams
Scruple (.05 ounce) - 20.43 grains - 1.324 grams
Ounce (1 square inch rainwater) - .93 ounce - 26.48 grams
Pound (10 ounces) - 9.34 ounces - 264.8 grams
Stone (100 ounces) - 5.83 pounds - 2.648 kilograms
Kental (1000 ounces) - 58.37 pounds - 26.48 kilograms
Hogshead (10,000 ounces) - 583.78 pounds - 264.8 kilograms

***
​

Jefferson duly submitted his proposed systems of measurements to Congress in 1790. There, they seemed to have suffered more from apathy than hostility, combined with poor timing - military disasters in the Northwest Territory, and a desire to see if anything came of the then ongoing British and French efforts at measurement reform. The relevant Senate committee eventually released a recommendation in early 1792 to adopt the decimalised system of measurement, but it would be fated to die a slow death in the halls of Congress.

However, what if it had been officially adopted at that point?

It seems extremely unlikely that the French would have been budged from their own domestic developments, and would adopt the Metric system, much as they did historically, resulting in two new competing "rational" systems of measurement. Would this result in a patchwork arrangement across the globe over time, with countries selecting the system whose mother nation they had closer economic ties to - so, most of South America going decimal, much of Africa metric? Would the lack of a direct connection to the French make the American system more palatable than metric to certain counties, such as those in the Anglosphere? And would this multi-polar world of measurements encourage the adoption of new systems? One could see the new revolutionary governments in some nations such as the USSR deciding to create their own improved "rational and scientific" systems, splintering the globe even further.

Furthermore, how do you feel such this system would evolve over time? What units would quickly fall by the wayside, and what new ones added? Weight, for instance, seems to end at a relatively low figure. Area was already noted by Jefferson as being in need of further work:

The head of superficial measures in the last part of the report, is thought to be not sufficiently developed. It is proposed that the rood of land, being 100 feet square, (and nearly a quarter of the present acre,) shall be the unit of land measure. This will naturally be divided into tenths and hundredths, the latter of which will be a square decad. Its multiples will also, of course, be tens, which may be called double acres, and hundreds, which will be equal to a square furlong each. The surveyor's chain should be composed of 100 links of one foot each.​

Well AH, what are your thoughts?

 

[Vitruvius]

I don't really know much at all about Jefferson's system so this is fascinating. Off the top of my head I'd say one big hurdle would be ongoing land speculation which exploded right after Peace with Britain. The acquisition of all the land west to the Mississippi became a big issue. In order to sell it it had to be surveyed and divided up into townships and lots so switching up systems later on if that process is already underway could be a challenge. My home state of NY, for example, reserved a set amount of land for veterans in the form of the Central NY Military Tract. So I could see it becoming a political issue if suddenly a mile doesn't mean a mile anymore when the state had previously pledged a certain number of square miles of land to veterans. A lot of the early land treaties and surveys were pretty vague so adding another complication could be tricky, prompting lawsuits and political fights that could scuttle the movement to convert.

 

[Alamo]

I don't really much at all about Jefferson's system so this is fascinating. Off the top of my head I'd say one big hurdle would be ongoing land speculation which exploded right after Peace with Britain. The acquisition of all the land west to the Mississippi became a big issue. In order to sell it it had to be surveyed and divided up into townships and lots so switching up systems later on if that process is already underway could be a challenge. My home state of NY, for example, reserved a set amount of land for veterans in the form of the Central NY Military Tract. So I could see it becoming a political issue if suddenly a mile doesn't mean a mile anymore when the state had previously pledged a certain number of square miles of land to veterans. A lot of the early land treaties and surveys were pretty vague so adding another complication could be tricky, prompting lawsuits and political fights that could scuttle the movement to convert.

That's actually an interesting concern, and not one I'd thought of! On the other hand though, wasn't there already a fair amount of irregularity and confusion when it came to the standards for measurements between the states, something that was the very cause for Congress to push for a new uniform system?

 

[Brady Kj]

This is fascinating. If I were an old-time bigshot, I'd try to do this sort of thing myself. But it'd be a challenge to make it happen. It might require delaying the land surveying while also starting an enormous popularity cult of Thomas Jefferson.
I haven't heard of there being enough irregularity of measurements in the US to cause a problem. Maybe that's why our gallons are different from English ones?

 

[Jared]

Adopting this system would be five of one, half a decim of the other.

 

[AltoRegnant]

Why is it when something weird is happening in early america, it's always Jefferson?

 

[aaronupright]

The US has been on the metric system since 1893.

 

[Vitruvius]

This is fascinating. If I were an old-time bigshot, I'd try to do this sort of thing myself. But it'd be a challenge to make it happen. It might require delaying the land surveying while also starting an enormous popularity cult of Thomas Jefferson.
I haven't heard of there being enough irregularity of measurements in the US to cause a problem. Maybe that's why our gallons are different from English ones?

Yeah, I think if you could delay surveying for a few years. Maybe if the states refuse to give up their competing land claims so easily the status of the northwest territories is held in limbo for a few more years and then Jefferson's system can be incorporated into the ATL equivalent to the Northwest Ordinance. Maybe Jefferson could link up with Andrew Ellicott who was the premier land surveyor of the time. So the new Ordinance specifies how that the land in question will be surveyed using the new system of measurements to promote a regular survey. This would be a major boon to the system as people would then probably associate Jefferson's system with large scale regular land survey's and it would be a common shorthand in land speculation which was big business at the time. Interesting, since a number a speculators were actually foreigners, mainly Dutch and English investors, it gives an opportunity for the system to be exported or at least for foreigners to be exposed to it.

Otherwise I think it would be a challenge to get people to convert after the fact. The Central NY Military tract was divided into 10 square mile townships comprising 100 lots sized 600 acres each with each soldier promised at least 100 acres. The neighboring Phelps and Gorham Purchase on land over which Massachussetts had pre-emptive right of purchase was divided into townships of 5 square miles. Since one new square mile equals 3.4225 old square miles those lots and townships would have rather irregular sizes in the new system. The Phelps and Gorham consortium will struggle to market a township that's 7.304601899196494 square miles rather than 25 old square miles. While veterans in the military tract trying to resell their land grants (most didn't actually settle on the land they got but sold it off) will be trying to find a buyer for a nice 45.45454545454545‬ (new) double acre lot which probably doesn't sound as good as 100 (old) acres even if it's the same size. And those lots and townships will not be easily subdivided into new roods. So probably land deals stick to using the old system for convenience and familiarity. And in reading up a little on Jefferson's system its no surprise that one the biggest opponents was Robert Morris who was at one time the wealthiest man in the US and also a major land speculator including the one time owner all of NY west of the Genesee River.