Suspension of the United States Survey of the Coast

Background. The Survey of the Coast was created within the Department of the Treasury by an Act of Congress on February 10, 1807, to chart U.S. waters for safe navigation. Surveying operations finally began in 1816, when Hassler started work in the vicinity of New York City. With work barely underway, Congress — frustrated by the Survey's slow and limited progress in its first decade, unwilling to endure the time and expense of scientifically precise surveying, unconvinced of the propriety of expending government funds on scientific endeavors, and uncomfortable with Hassler's foreign birth — moved to repeal the 1807 statute in 1818.

Legislative Action. On April 14, 1818, Congress enacted legislation repealing most of the 1807 statute. The law removed the Survey from the Department of the Treasury and prohibited the employment of civilians for coastal surveys. Responsibility was transferred to the Army and Navy, who were believed to achieve adequate results more quickly and cheaply during routine activities.

Operational Impact. Although the 1818 law did not abolish the Survey, it suspended its operations by removing the superintendent and civilian workforce. From 1818 to 1832, the agency existed without conducting surveys. The Army performed no surveys, and Navy efforts yielded unsatisfactory results, prompting calls for the revival of the original 1807 law.