Embracing International Standards: The Metric System and Domestic Economic Integration in 19th-Century Brazil

The paper offers a history of the adoption of the metric system of weights and measures in Brazil. Passed into law in 1862 and mandated for nationwide implementation by 1872, the adoption of the metric system was a tangible expression of growing interest by policymakers in the international standardization movement of the nineteenth century. But implementation sparked regional revolts that scholars have interpreted as the absence of state capacity and the perils of importing foreign ideas for domestic development. This paper argues that the government’s interest in the metric system was part of an active engagement in international conversations about the power of standardized systems and data for improved regional, national, and international exchange. The government’s reaction to the revolts and its subsequent measures to ensure implementation reveal a pragmatic approach to internal bottlenecks that expanded the governing capacity of the Brazilian state.