Before the Revolution, the French had a system that was similar to Imperial/Customary units - the Kings measures was 12 "inches" to a foot (324 mm), 16 "ounces" to a pound (489 g) etc. However the local authorities had the freedom to "redefine" the Kings measure locally. So guess what, in grain-growing areas, the merchants used very large "pounds" when the bought grain from the peasants, but in the towns the merchants used small "pounds" when they were selling the grain to the bakers. This was but one of the things that led to the French Revolution.
At the time, most of the peasants were illiterate and were scared off by the "strange" names given to the units of measure. Napoleon recognised the need for a single system of measure throughout the country and recognised the power of the metric system, and probably thought it a good system for his children (or child) to learn, though he himself did not want to have to learn it. The mesures uselles, as it was called, was authorised for the retail trade. It gave the French populance a stable system with names that they understood, while the next generation were taught the "real McCoy" at school. The full metric system was re-introduced in 1839, though words like "livre" continued to be used on market stalls into the 1970's when it fell foul of EEC regulations. (When I toured France and Italy in 1975, I noticed that the "livre" (500g) was used in French markets whie Italian pizza parlours priced pizza by the "atto" (100g). Both now use the kilogram. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John M. Steele Sent: 07 July 2014 20:46 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:54097] Re: Napoleon To me, it is a rather confused story. He revoked or banned the metric system and reintroduced "usual measures." BUT he redefined all the usual measure to have simple relations to metric measures, something like a pound, but redefined to be exactly half a kilogram. So he created "hidden metric." Did it help or hurt? I'm not sure. _____ From: "Ressel, Howard R (DOT)" <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, July 7, 2014 2:37 PM Subject: [USMA:54096] Napoleon We were discussing leadership and Napoleon at work today and it made me wonder how much influence he had on Frances development and use of the metric system anyone have some insight? Howard Ressel Project Design Engineer NYSDOT 1530 Jefferson Road Rochester, NY 14623 585 272-3372 43,560 square feet in an acre 5280 feet in a mile 16 ounces in a pound 128 ounces in a gallon 23 confused kids in a class What could be simpler?
