History of Guns

Arming the World tells the story of the American small arms industry from the early 1800’s through the post-Civil War era. Almost from the beginning, the United States produced arms in new, and radically different, ways, relying upon machinery to mass produce guns when others still made them by hand. Leveraging their technological advantage, American gun-makers produced guns with interchangeable parts and perfected new types of small arms, ranging from revolvers to repeating rifles.

The federal government’s staggering purchases of arms during the Civil War stimulated the development of fast-firing breech-loading rifles and metal-cased ammunition. When, in 1865, it became clear that every country in the world had re-equip itself with modern weapons, the Americans had an overwhelming head start. Salesmen from Remington, Winchester, Colt and Smith & Wesson --- and from lesser-known firms, too - traveled the world marketing their guns, dominating - or, perhaps, even inventing - the international arms business. American gun-makers sold rifles and side-arms by the millions and cartridges by the billions to great powers, restive colonies and fading empires alike. Adding a new element to the unstable global balance of power, American gun-makers affected the course of history.

Geoffrey S. Stewart is a retired Washington lawyer. He received A.B. and A.M. degrees from Brown University and his legal training at Harvard Law School. He began his professional career at Davis Polk & Wardwell, served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy, and was Associate Counsel to the Office of Independent Counsel Iran/Contra. Mr. Stewart was a partner of the firm Hale and Dorr from 1986 to 1999 and then of the firm Jones Day until 2018.