Skip to main content
News

Shiver me meters! Pirates take ‘lengths’ to steal Jefferson’s metric dream

By By Whitney Corley
October 9, 2023
News article

In the early years of the United States, there was a fervent desire for uniformity in currency, weights, and measures. In his first State of the Union address in 1790, President George Washington acknowledged the importance of this goal, stating, "Uniformity in the Currency, Weights and Measures of the United States is an object of great importance, and will, I am persuaded, be duly attended to."

Thomas Jefferson, a man of broad interests and scientific curiosity, was particularly intrigued by the metric system that France created and was about to adopt. He believed that this system, with its logical and decimal-based measurements, could bring consistency and efficiency to the young nation. So, he reached out to his friend and renowned French scientist, Joseph Dombey.

Jefferson's request was clear: he asked Dombey to bring metric standards, including a metal rod, representing the meter, and a cylindrical weight, representing the kilogram, to the United States. Dombey, eager to promote international scientific cooperation, embarked on a journey across the Atlantic in 1793.

However, fate had other plans for Dombey and the metric standards. While en route to the United States, Dombey's ship encountered a violent storm and found itself off course and farther south, in the Caribbean Sea. To make matters worse, France was at war with Great Britain at the time, and the ship became a target for British pirates.

In a daring raid, the pirates overtook Dombey's vessel and made off with the precious metric standards. Dombey himself was captured and held prisoner by the pirates until his unfortunate death later that year.

The meter was lost forever; however, the kilogram somehow found its way into the hands of American surveyor Andrew Ellicott. It remained within the Ellicott family for generations, a tangible link to the lost dream of metric standardization in America.

It wasn't until 1952 that the kilogram was finally relinquished by the Ellicott family and entrusted to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), marking the end of its long journey.

Tragically, the hope of adopting the metric system in the United States was forever shattered when relations between the young nation and France soured. In 1798, France hosted an international gathering in Paris which would ultimately solidify the metric system as the global standard for weights and measures. However, the United States, excluded from the event due to deteriorating diplomatic ties, missed the opportunity to be a part of this historic transformation.

Thus, despite early enthusiasm and the best intentions of figures like Thomas Jefferson, America's path to metric standardization was fraught with storms, piracy, and international politics. The metric system, while widely adopted worldwide, remained elusive on American shores for many years to come.

Sources: