Why does not America use the metric system?

In the past, each place had its own structure, but it ended up with the metric system. Only a few countries, including the United States, do not use this method. Why not?

This is partly the fault of the French. One year after the 1789 revolution, France decided to change the old weights and measures, which had large local differences. Broadly speaking, the same was the case in the United States of America. There, the system of ousted British rulers was still in use – including such units Inches, yards And Find⁇

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Not the guard

Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the United States and Secretary of State, was instructed by the House of Representatives to look into the matter. Initially he hoped to form an international organization with France, but the French had their own views on this. (In France, even the day was divided into ten hours and one hour into one hundred minutes.) And after the fall of Napoleon, the metric system became obsolete in France for some time; It does not seem to be a guardian.

The Americans decided to maintain the British system, although they called it the US Customary System. Nevertheless, there were various attempts to turn things around in the nineteenth century. In 1866 Congress voted in favor of the introduction of the metric system, which is now in full use in the European landscape. Nine years later, the United States became one of the first countries to sign an international agreement on the meter agreement (the Netherlands did so only in 1929).

Inches vs. Centimeters

But vehemently opposed the American industrial metric system. Machine manufacturers in particular feared that replacing inches with centimeters would be too complicated and expensive. Another difficulty is that the US government has never forced the use of the metric system – even in the 1970s, another serious attempt was made to introduce it. In addition, historians point out that many Americans are very proud of themselves Miles, acres And Gallons And would like to see other parts of the world follow their pattern.

You can find this question here Luke’s Summer Magazine⁇

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Text: Leo Pollock