I wouldn't think that the early Congress would have
copied what the Brits were doing, seeing as the new nation was trying to be completely different.

Tell that to those of us who still cling to the British(antiquated) system of weights and measures. Base 10 good, base 12 or 16 bad! Nobody believed Franklin when he came back form seducing half the French court and told Congress (not the congress he'd been having in France) that the French had a good idea!