Who Freed the Slaves

In the great history of the United States, two institutions have struggled side-by-side for freedom from bondage and oppression, both socially and legally. These two institutions are, of course, African American rights and the emergence of the Metric System. The 1860s became an important time-period when both of these institutions were radically beginning legal transformations. The Metric Act of 1866 made the use of the metric system legal and made it “unlawful to refuse to trade or deal in metric quantities.” (USMA) Likewise, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment marked the end of a 200 year history of black slavery in the United States. With the passage of the Metric Act of 1866, little credit can be given to the congressional representatives that passed the legislation; in fact, it was the many scientists, mathematicians, economists, and the like that advocated the use of the system. Similarly, to credit the freedom from bondage for all black Americans to L...