Arms Makers of Colonial Amer
Title | Arms Makers of Colonial Amer PDF eBook |
Author | James B. Whisker |
Publisher | Susquehanna University Press |
Pages | 217 |
Release | 1992 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9780945636144 |
Arms Makers of Colonial America by James B. Whisker is a comprehensively documented historical survey of the broad spectrum of arms makers in America who were active before 1783. Complemented by a lengthy introduction and nearly 200 illustrations, this extensive listing was derived from original source materials, including the archives and public and state papers of the thirteen original colonies, tax records, Revolutionary War pensions, deeds, wills and estates, and the American Archives. With a full citation of the source, each biographical entry presents the type of arms production the individual was engaged in, the time period, and the location. The professions represented are many and varied: gunsmiths and gunstockers, armorers, gun barrel makers, iron and steel manufacturers, brass founders, pike and other edged weapon makers and cutlers, accoutrements makers, gunpowder makers, and gunlock makers and locksmiths. In each of the earliest settlements in America there was a gunsmith who mended the arms of his neighbors and sharpened their knives and taught them how to use these tools on which they depended for food and protection. John Dandy of Maryland, ca. 1635, is the first person who can be identified as a gunsmith who made guns - lock, stock, and barrel. Most of the earliest gunsmiths were armorers, that is, they repaired, cleaned, and maintained arms on government contract. In early New England each militiaman provided his own gun or the colonial administration provided one for him and charged him for it. The maintenance of the gun was the responsibility of the government, and thus it has been possible to identify many of the early armorers and gunsmiths through colonial records of their services. Militia service was neglected, however, during the early to mid eighteenth century, and when war came, public arms were generally in a deplorable state. During the French and Indian War many gunsmiths were impressed into service as armorers to restore the neglected arms. This exercise proved to be a grand rehearsal for arms production taken on during the Revolution. An English observer wrote that the Americans would have little difficulty arming themselves if war came between the mother country and her colonies because there were more than sufficient gunmakers and allied tradesmen to provide 100,000 guns a year. Pennsylvania was the center of the arms making trade. The home rifle, commonly called the Pennsylvania-Kentucky Rifle, an American modification of the German hunting rifle, had been developed in or near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. It was deadly accurate and gave the skilled marksmen of the backwoods a superior sniper weapon. The craftsmen of Lancaster, Philadelphia, and other cities stopped making their civilian arms and concentrated on making militia muskets in the early years of the war for independence. By 1780, except on the frontier, the supply of imported and domestic militia arms exceeded demand, and the tradesmen returned to rifle making. The golden age of classic long rifle making followed.
Arms and Armor in Colonial America, 1526-1783
Title | Arms and Armor in Colonial America, 1526-1783 PDF eBook |
Author | Harold Leslie Peterson |
Publisher | Courier Corporation |
Pages | 376 |
Release | 2000-01-01 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9780486412443 |
Finest single-volume survey of Colonial weaponry covers firearms, ammunition, edged weapons, and armor. Over 300 illus.
Arms Makers of Massachusetts, 1610-1900
Title | Arms Makers of Massachusetts, 1610-1900 PDF eBook |
Author | James B. Whisker |
Publisher | |
Pages | 0 |
Release | 2013 |
Genre | House & Home |
ISBN | 9781936320561 |
This study is a major reference work dealing in a thorough and complete fashion with every known gunsmith, inventor and manufacturer of firearms in Massachusetts from the earliest colonial smith to the industrial entities that flourished in Massachusetts and New England by the 1900s. Original sources including but not limited to, town, county and local histories, Commonwealth and National Archives, directories, memoirs, U.S.Patent office materials and military procurement memoranda have been utilized to create a complete biographical record. Ancillary areas such as locksmiths, powder makers and forge masters are also discussed. A complete bibliography and index are also included. Dr. Whisker is the author of Arms Makers of Colonial America and several other specialist studies.
Lock, Stock, and Barrel
Title | Lock, Stock, and Barrel PDF eBook |
Author | Clayton E. Cramer |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing USA |
Pages | 275 |
Release | 2018-02-21 |
Genre | History |
ISBN |
This provocative book debunks the myth that American gun culture was intentionally created by gun makers and demonstrates that gun ownership and use have been a core part of American society since our colonial origins. Revisionist historians argue that American gun culture and manufacturing are relatively recent developments. They further claim that widespread gun violence was largely absent from early American history because guns of all types, and especially handguns, were rare before 1848. According to these revisionists, American gun culture was the creation of the first mass production gun manufacturers, who used clever marketing to sell guns to people who neither wanted nor needed them. However, as proven in this first scholarly history of "gun culture" in early America, gun ownership and use have in fact been central to American society from its very beginnings. Lock, Stock, and Barrel: The Origins of American Gun Culture shows that gunsmithing and gun manufacturing were important parts of the economies of the colonies and the early republic and explains how the American gun industry helped to create our modern world of precision mass production and high wages for workers.
Arms Makers of Pennsylvania
Title | Arms Makers of Pennsylvania PDF eBook |
Author | James B. Whisker |
Publisher | Selinsgrove : Susquehanna University Press |
Pages | 236 |
Release | 1990 |
Genre | Biography & Autobiography |
ISBN |
A survey, with hundreds of illustrations, of the arms making industry in Pennsylvania from its beginnings until about 1900. it focuses on the Pennsylvania long (Kentucky) rifle, and identifies the primary schools of gun making and major technological developments. Illustrated.
Arming America
Title | Arming America PDF eBook |
Author | Michael A. Bellesiles |
Publisher | |
Pages | 604 |
Release | 2003 |
Genre | Firearms ownership |
ISBN |
Armed America
Title | Armed America PDF eBook |
Author | Clayton E. Cramer |
Publisher | Thomas Nelson |
Pages | 321 |
Release | 2009-08-24 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 1418551872 |
"For many Americans, guns seem to be a fundamental part of the American experience?and always have been." Grand in scope, rigorous in research, and elegant in presenting the formative years of our country, Armed America traces the winding historical trail of United States citizens' passion for firearms. Author and historial Clayton E. Cramer goes back to the source, unearthing first-hand accounts from the colonial times, through the Revolutionary War period, and into the early years of the American Republic. In Armed America, Cramer depicts a budding nation dependent on its firearms not only for food and protection, but also for recreation and enjoyment. Through newspaper clippings, official documents, and personal diaries, he shows that recent grandiose theories claiming that guns were scarce in early America are shaky at best, and downright false at worst. Above all, Cramer allows readers a priceless glimpse of a country literally fighting for its identity. For those who think that our citizens' attraction to firearms is a recent phenomenon, it's time to think again. Armed America proves that the right to bear arms is as American as apple pie.