Sam Colt's Six-Shooter Launched The American Industrial Revolution and Sped Western Settlement

Sam Colt's Six-Shooter Launched The American Industrial Revolution and Sped Western Settlement

In August of 1831, a 16-year-old from Connecticut named Sam Colt boarded a ship of missionaries bound for a round-trip voyage to Calcutta. Restless and rambunctious, with a particular fondness for blowing things up—he’d been expelled from Amherst Academy not long before for repeatedly firing a cannon from the top of a hill to the horror of frightened townspeople—Colt had long been a source of distress for his family, who hoped that this time at sea might prepare him for a stable career in a respectable trade. Instead, it would become the setting for an idea that would change the course of American history.

Today's guest is Jim Rasenberger, author of "Revolver: Sam Colt and The Six-Shooter That Changed America. " We explore the life of the inventor who introduced repeating firearms to the world. With Colt’s revolver (allegedly dreamed up during that long stint at sea), one could for the first time shoot multiple bullets from a gun without reloading—a revolutionary mechanism that would help spark the American Industrial Revolution and speed the settlement of the West.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jaksot(1075)

Frederick Douglass’s Private Writings on Abraham Lincoln, His Strong Critiques and Stronger Praise

Frederick Douglass’s Private Writings on Abraham Lincoln, His Strong Critiques and Stronger Praise

Frederick Douglass made the strongest arguments for abolition in antebellum America because he made the case that abolition was not a mutation of the Founding Father’s vision of America, but a fulfill...

28 Elo 202549min

The Industrial Revolution Was Supposed to Lead to Unlimited Free Time But Only Gave Us Smartphones and Endless Dopamine

The Industrial Revolution Was Supposed to Lead to Unlimited Free Time But Only Gave Us Smartphones and Endless Dopamine

Free time, one of life’s most important commodities, often feels unfulfilling. But why? And how did leisure activities transition from strolling in the park for hours to “doomscrolling” on social medi...

26 Elo 202531min

James Cook Mapped the Globe Before Dying At the Hands of Hawaiians Who Once Worshipped Him

James Cook Mapped the Globe Before Dying At the Hands of Hawaiians Who Once Worshipped Him

Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan are known for discoveries, but it was Captain James Cook who made global travel truly possible. Cook was an 18th-century British explorer who mapped vast re...

21 Elo 202556min

American Anarchists: The Original Domestic Extremists

American Anarchists: The Original Domestic Extremists

In the early twentieth century, anarchists like Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman championed a radical vision of a world without states, laws, or private property. Militant and sometimes violent, ana...

19 Elo 202539min

100 Years Before Ford v. Ferrari, a Horse Breeder Revolutionized Thoroughbred Racing Through a Similar Obsession With Progress

100 Years Before Ford v. Ferrari, a Horse Breeder Revolutionized Thoroughbred Racing Through a Similar Obsession With Progress

Horse racing was the most popular sport in early America, drawing massive crowds and fueling a cultural obsession with horses’ speed and pedigree. In the early 1800s, every town in America with a few ...

14 Elo 20251h 14min

Western Rome Fell Due to Germanic Immigration, Mass Inflation, and a Bloated Bureaucracy

Western Rome Fell Due to Germanic Immigration, Mass Inflation, and a Bloated Bureaucracy

It took little more than a single generation for the centuries-old Roman Empire to fall. In those critical decades, while Christians and pagans, legions and barbarians, generals and politicians squabb...

12 Elo 202539min

Why the Atomic Bombing of Japan is as Justified in 2025 as it was in 1945

Why the Atomic Bombing of Japan is as Justified in 2025 as it was in 1945

It's been 80 years since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the question of whether or not those bombings were justified has never been more contentious. That wasn't the case in the immediate...

7 Elo 202552min

Surviving the Siege of Leningrad with Sawdust Bread and Iron Determination

Surviving the Siege of Leningrad with Sawdust Bread and Iron Determination

The first year of the siege of Leningrad that began in September 1941 marked the opening stage of a 900-day-long struggle for survival that left over a million dead. The capture of the city came tanta...

5 Elo 202546min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

olipa-kerran-otsikko
sita
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
kaksi-aitia
i-dont-like-mondays
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
uutiscast
poks
antin-palautepalvelu
rss-nikotellen
kolme-kaannekohtaa
mamma-mia
rss-murhan-anatomia
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
aikalisa
meidan-pitais-puhua
rss-haudattu
loukussa
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
mystista