During 1790, America was in huge debt, having depleted what small money and supplies the country had during its successful struggle for independence. Prior to the nation's greatest positive feature, the land west of the Ohio River could be sold it had to be measured out as well as mapped. Furthermore before that could be done, a uniform set of measurements had to be selected for the new republic out of the chaos of approximately 100,000 different units that were in use in every day life. Measuring America tells the captivating story of how we finally achieved the American Customary System-the last conventional system in the world as well as how one man's surveying chain ineradicably imprinted its dimensions on the land, on cities, plus on our culture from coast to coast. (Jeremy Melvin, 2004, pp 5)
Measuring America is the enthralling, provoking, and eye-opening tale of why America has finished up with its exclusive system of weights and measures the American traditional system, different from any other in the world and how this has overwhelmingly shaped our country as well as culture. In the process, Measuring America makes known the enormous power contained inside the acres and miles, ounces and pounds that we use daily without ever understanding their importance.
English, Dutch, Scandinavian, Scottish, German and further settlers had all brought their own systems with them, plus in his first address to Congress, George Washington put the institution of a single system of weights and measures right away after a national defense and a currency as the United States’ most vital precedence.
The argument on this very important measure occurred at a decisive moment in the history of ideas, when objective, scientific reasoning was increasingly challenging the customary, subjective view of the world...............
