Arming the World: American Gun-Makers in the Gilded Age

Arming the World is a fascinating history of the American small arms industry from the early 1800s through the post-Civil War era. Starting with Alexander Hamilton and Eli Whitney, the United States developed a system for arms production vastly different from the traditional methods seen elsewhere. Operating its own weapons factories, the federal government developed unique methods for mass producing guns, which it then imposed upon private industry. This American "armory practice" led to new types of machine tools, precision engineering, fundamental changes in labor relations and, ultimately, interchangeable parts for guns. Coupled with revolutionary advances in weapons technology, these breakthroughs encouraged American gun-makers to pioneer such innovations as revolvers, repeating rifles, and even primitive machine guns.

The federal government's staggering purchases of arms during the Civil War fueled the arms industry's explosive growth and, simultaneously, stimulated the development of deadly breech-loading rifles and brass-cased ammunition. When, in 1865, it became evident that every country in the world must re-arm itself with modern weapons, American gun-makers journeyed abroad. They sold pistols and rifles by the millions and cartridges by the billions to places ranging from Russia to Mexico, Denmark to Turkey, and Spain to Japan. Happening at a time when the uneasy European balance of power already was shifting, this outburst of Yankee ingenuity and ambition had global repercussions that echo even today.