THE METRIC SYSTEM

• There are two basic systems of measurement: the metric system, and the standard/customary system of measurement. The United States, Liberia, and Myanmar are the only countries in the world that still use the standard/customary system of measurement. Ironically, the United States was involved in the metric system meetings from the beginning, and was a signer of the 1875 Treaty of the Meter, voting to recognize the meter as a standard of measurement. So where did the metric system come from, and why don’t we use it?
•  In 1790, just after the French Revolution ended in France, the new French government commissioned the French Academy to develop a simpler system of measurement. The agreed-upon measurement for one metre was one ten- millionth of the distance between the north pole and the equator, as measured along the Paris meridian. It took until 1800 to complete the survey and finalize the metric system based on this new measurement.
•  American relations with France were much better than its relations with England in 1800, as the American Revolution was fresh in the lives of the people on both sides of the ocean. President Thomas Jefferson enjoyed a good relationship with the new French government. It was during this time that he made the Louisiana Purchase, buying a huge section of land from France that greatly enlarged the territory of the United States. For some reason, the United States failed to immediately approve the new, simpler metric system at its first opportunity
•  Interestingly, approval for the U.S. to “go metric” was granted by Congress in 1866, and the U.S. did sign the Treaty of the Meter in 1875. The standard or customary system of measurement would not go quietly. Instead, the U.S. added metric equivalents for standard measurements in 1959. For example, one inch is exactly 2.54 centimeters. But there is no direct comparison for the smaller unit, the millimeter. The U.S. government still states that our nation is working toward the goal of going metric, but for now we seem to be stuck somewhere in the middle. Many medical and scientific measurements use the metric system, while customary units are still seen in daily places such as marking miles and miles per hour rather than kilometers or kilometers per hour on our highways. Change is difficult. It’s not the metric system we fear, but the change.

Name:__________________________________

Answer the following questions based on the reading passage. Don’t forget to go back to the passage whenever necessary to find or confirm your answers.

1. There is a lot of talk about the metric system being a simpler system. What makes it simpler?
2. Why do you think the United States did not immediately switch to the metric system in 1800?
3. Do you think it was right for the U.S. to sign the Treaty of the Meter and then not switch to the metric system? 
4. Why do you suppose the fields of science and medicine have been the first to switch to the metric system? 
5. In your opinion, why are people so resistant to change?