Armed America: The Remarkable Story of How and Why Guns Became as American as Apple Pie

Armed America: The Remarkable Story of How and Why Guns Became as American as Apple Pie

by Clayton E. Cramer
Armed America: The Remarkable Story of How and Why Guns Became as American as Apple Pie

Armed America: The Remarkable Story of How and Why Guns Became as American as Apple Pie

by Clayton E. Cramer

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Overview

"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.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781595552846
Publisher: Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date: 08/24/2009
Pages: 320
Sales rank: 620,256
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Clayton E. Cramer has an MA in History from Sonoma State University, and has taught history at Boise State University and George Fox University (Boise branch). A writer whose work has been published in the San Jose Mercury News, National Review, and the American Rifleman, he has published several academic books on history and firearms, including For the Defense of Themselves and the State and Black Demographic Data, 1790-1860. He writes a monthly column for Shotgun News (circ. 95,000).

Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgments & Technical Notes....................vii
Creating a Useable Past: Michael Bellesiles and Revisionist History....................x
I. Colonial America 1. A Lonely Outpost: Militias in Colonial America....................3
2. Threatening Shadows: Guns in the Hands of the Other....................24
3. Uneasy Alliances: Guns and Indians....................41
4. Guns in Official Records and Personal Narrative....................51
5. Intent to Kill: Man Against Man and Man Against Nature....................68
II. The Shot Heard 'Round the World 6. Guns in Revolutionary New England....................91
7. Guns in the Revolutionary Middle Colonies....................108
8. Guns in the Revolutionary South....................122
9. Guns in the Continental Army & Revolutionary Militias....................140
III. The Early Republic 10. Militias in the Early Republic....................171
11. Ammunition in the Early Republic....................187
12. Pistols in the Early Republic....................194
13. Guns and Sport in the Early Republic....................204
14. Guns and Violence in the Early Republic....................224
Epilogue....................236
Appendix: Firearms Glossary....................237
Bibliography....................244
About the Author....................257
Notes....................259
Index....................295
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