The evolution of Muskets and rifles between the 1400s, and the 1800s aided in the outcome of many wars and battles as well as increasing body count throughout history. Weapons such as muskets, cannons, crossbows, and boats like cargo ships and steamboats for transportation aided in many historical battles and events. Events including the Spanish Inquisition, the time period when Christopher Columbus discovered America (1492). The French and Indian War (1754), The Revolutionary War (1775) where the colonial citizens broke away from England, The War of 1812 and The Mexican-American War (1826). Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who sailed for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, …show more content…
Britain, emerging victorious, they took possession of the French territories in Canada and became the dominant colonial power in North America. The weapons used in this battle were flintlock smoothbore muskets, tomahawks, and bow & arrow. Flintlock smoothbore muskets, or ‘Brown bess’ as the British calls it due to its brown color was .69 caliber rifle that replaced heavier matchlocks and arquebuses that were used in the Spanish Inquisition. The very first flintlock was developed by Frenchman Marin le Bourgeoys who designed it for King Louis VIII. Flintlocks, pistols, and rifles have been the backbone of every European and American army from 1660 to 1840. Flintlocks were improved versions of the matchlocks in several ways, there was no longer an open flame needed to fire and was replaced with a small spark. The cock on the Matchlocks were fitted with flint and the flash pan was replaced with a pinning pan, a smaller version of the flashpan, which held less gunpowder. A small piece of steel was placed on top of the pinning pan that would strike the flint, when the trigger was pulled, to create a spark and ignite the
During the years leading up to and during the American Civil War there were a number of advancements in firearms technology. This paper will focus on a few of those advancements, namely the inventions of the Minié ball, the Spencer and Henry repeating rifles, and of the Gatling gun.
Before 1860, the government of the United States provided little interest or encouragement in the inventions of various ordinance experts. The U.S. Ordinance Department generally thought that the United had many preceding wars and battles due to the smoothbore cannon, and thus, no further weapons were needed. Many inventors had spent of years of time and many on this experiments and would face financial crisis if the government did not use them.
By the year 1754 conflict had erupted between France and Britain over colonial borders in the new world. Britain was expanding her American colonies westward, and France was alarmed by Britain’s aggressive movement into traditionally French or Indian territories. The spur had begun when French soldiers captured a British expedition led by George Washington; he was dispatched by Gov. Robert Dinwiddie on a fruitless mission to warn the French commander at Fort Le Boeuf against further encroachment on territory claimed by Britain. The consequential conflict, known as the French and Indian War, lasted from 1754 to 1763 and had a profound impact on Britain’s dealings with the colonies in America which ultimately led to the American Revolution.
The Henry rifle is a rifle that has a high magazine that uses a .44 caliber rimfire with 26 or 28 grains of blackpowder (Henry rifle. (2014, March 10). Retrieved from wikipedia). This gun was made in the year 1860 and used during the American Civil War through 1866. The Henry rifle can hold 16 rounds and is a breech loading lever action rifle. It can shoot an average of 28 rounds per minute (Henry rifle. (2014, March 10). Retrieved from wikipedia). The length of the rifle is 44 ¾ inches (Henry rifle. (2014, March 10). Retrieved from wikipedia). What makes the Henry rifle inferior to the Spencer rifle is that this gun doesn’t have a grip or anything to grab onto. Another reason is because the gun uses black powder and the barrel can overheat quickly (Henry rifle. (2014, March 10). Retrieved from wikipedia). This defect generally gave the person using it burns on the hand. The burns can get worse if used for longer time, so most of the people who used it wore a glove on their hand (Henry rifle. (2014, March 10). Retrieved from wikipedia)
Christopher Columbus was a renaissance explorer in 1492. he was sent by queen Isabelle and king Ferdinand of Spain to look for a trade route to east Asia
The Repeating Rifle was used during the Civil War by 1863. These guns could fire more than one bullet before they needed to be reloaded. The most popular one was called the Spencer Carbine and it could shoot seven shots in 30 seconds. The Minie bullet was Claude-Etienne Minié created this bullet. This also used, and the new rifling or grooves in the musket’s barrel made these bullets spin and travel up to 900 feet. They increased the range and accuracy of the muskets these bullets did a lot more damage to bone. .(Judy,2012) (Falton, 2001).
Christopher Columbus is one of the top most well-known names in history. Columbus was an Italian explorer who in part went on several voyages across seas to discover some of the most prominent land not yet known to exist. Columbus went on four separate voyage each involving new found land. On Columbus’s last voyage he set out to discover a direct water route from Europe to Asia and after many attempts Columbus on his last voyage lead the permeant European discovery of the New World or better known as America.
Christopher Columbus was one of the most legendary sailors and explorers of all time. Christopher Columbus , an italian explorer, was born in the year of 1451 in the Republic of Genoa. Christopher Columbus was a teenager when he first set sail the ocean in 1465. He became a sailor in 1476 and started to travel many places before going on his largest voyage in 1480. In 1492, Christopher Columbus exploration to the New World linked Europe and the Americas. His discoveries enlightened the globe and started a new age of exploration. His standards and morals changed the history of the whole globe. He was known for traveling for all types of reasons for many foreign monarchs. But why would a monarch from one country be interested in employing an explorer from a foreign country to complete such an important task?
During the late 1600s and the to the mid-1700s, countries fought for land and power in order to have global domination. While several countries fought for the same cause, resolving their differences was nearly impossible, and this often led to more wars and conflicts. One of the many conflicts concerned the domination of North America. While many European powers competed for control of North America, Britain gained the most territory through the four French and Indian wars, King William's War, Queen Anne's War, King George's War, and the French and Indian War. As these wars progressed, Britain achieved the most success and eventually became the most dominant power in North America.
Most of the colonizers of America came from Britain and France whereby they fought for territory and power. Reasons why the colonizers wanted America were for self-government, religious sufferance, cheap land, and economic opportunity. Due to this, the Native American Indians sided with the French against the British for the strong colonies including North America. The war lasted for seven years where the British troops captured North America (Canada). A peace treaty was signed in Paris which led the French to lose everything, resulting in the American Indians not being able to trade. Moreover, the British government lost a lot of expenses due to the funding of war, and the colonialists had experience with long warfare with the ‘mentorship’ of the Britain troops. Since the colonists gained
From 1754 to 1763, the French and Indian War took place. This war altered the political, economic, and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies. It was the last of four North American wars waged from 1689 to 1763 between the British and the French. In these struggles, each country fought for control of the continent with the assistance of Native American and colonial allies. The French and Indian War occurred to end the land dispute between the British and French. Whoever won, in reality, gained an empire. It was a determined and eventually successful attempt by the British to get a dominant position in North America, the West Indies, and the subcontinent of India. Although Britain had won all this land, political, economic, and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies were totally annihilated.
The French and English fought in America over control of the new lands. These battles became known as the French and Indian War, and lasted from 1754 until 1763. During the war the colonists helped the British Army. Indian tribes such as the Huron from Canada, fought on the side of the French against the English colonists. The British Army and colonists were victorious.
“Match” was a lightly twisted rope dipped in a highly flammable solution so it could hold an ash for long periods of time (Peterson 14). The matchlock was the weapon used by Columbus when he traveled to the new world. The weapon was also used by the residents of Jamestown and by the pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. The matchlock was the basic military weapon for 200 years. During that time only minor changes were made to the firearm. It was made lighter, the barrel was made longer, and the long lever like trigger was replaced with a shorter trigger that could be pulled with one finger. Early matchlock guns had a number of names including harquebus, hacquebut, hagbutt, hachbuss, caliver, and musket. (Britanica Matchlock Article 2)
in1873. Colt made a lot of pistols in his lifetime. Colt will always be remembered for his
“In a large sense, however, the term when applied to firearms refer to the efforts toward creating a more effective, predictable, and longer bullet trajectory” (Projectile). All three of those improvements have to do with projectile motion calculations. If the bullet can slice through the air then there will be less air resistance, which is neglected in the calculation anyways. When the bullet just slices though it will improve its speed along with how far it will go. When you improve both of those variables then it will also improve the predictability of the bullet's path. “During the fourteenth century until 1500, muskets were hopelessly unreliable” (Projectile). This is because the bullet that was shot was just a ball, which couldn’t slice through the air. Due to the air resistance, the bullet would slow down quickly but also start to wobble in air. When the bullet slows down it won't penetrate like bullets today, which would mean that the bullet wouldn’t have enough force to exit the body. Also due to the wobbling of the bullet, it would miss the intended target more times than actually hitting it. Although the shape of the bullet has a huge impact the variables so does the barrel of the gun. The imperfections on the inside of the musket barrel and the bullet it would not fly straight. “When fired, they bounced erratically of the sides of the barrel, and this made their trajectory