Weapons In Colonial Times Essay

Weaponry has been used for thousands of years, but there were many main improvements during the Colonial Times. Weaponry evolved from the basic weapon such as a bayonet to the highly destructive cannon. Although the levels of advancement varied their purpose was all the same, to kill. They were used and still are used to fight and the Colonial Times are a big contributor to how they are used today. During the Colonial Times weapons such as muskets, rifles, and tomahawks were used and improved for killing.

The first basic weapon that was used during colonial times was the tomahawk. They originated from the Algonquian Indian tribe. Tomahawks are hatchets with an axe blade and a solid pole. Some have different types of patterns and designs on the poles. Most of them were made from stone, antler bone, or bone meal. The heads were originally attached by using strips of rawhide. During Colonial Times the weapon was improved upon by making the shaft out of metal instead of

The bayonet was a slightly more advanced weapon than the tomahawk. They originated as a hunting weapon that may have been helpful to hunters if a shot was missed. They were fifteen to thirty inches in length and looked like long-handled knives. The weapon was usually put on the end of a gun for hand to hand combat and is thought to be more painful than a bullet. The bayonet does not pierce your body completely, it has a triangular shape that tears the flesh off. There are two main types of bayonets, the plug and the socket. The plug bayonet was the original model that had to be replaced with the socket bayonet because it stopped the gun from firing. The socket bayonet secured more firmly into the gun and had to match accurately with the gun barrel’s size. Although, the bayonet was usually used as a fighting weapon it was sometimes used as a candle holder, a convenient skewer for roasting meat, and a digging