History & English Component

Pre 1800s

Falconet Cannon

Falconet cannons were light cannons that were developed in the late 15th century, the barrel of it was about 4 feet long while they had a caliber of 2 inches. It weighed about 5000 pounds and it would use.5 pounds of black powder in order to fire a 1 pound round shot about 5,000 feet. They would also be used to fire grapeshot. They were originally made to use on land, the falconet had gained naval prominence during the 17^th century to defend, light vessels. They were heavily used during the American Revolutionary War by both the British and the Colonists.

Tsar Cannon

            The Tsar Cannons are one of the largest cannons ever made and were casted in 1586 by Andrei Chokhov in Russia. They are 5.34 meters long and they weigh a hefty 40 tons, it also has a caliber of 890 mm. it was originally created to defend the Kremlin’s Savior Gate, though it has never been fired.  The cannon balls shown in the picture were also casted in the same time as the cannon itself, though it was never intended for the Tsar Cannon, this is because it was always intended to use a fire stone case-shot.

1800s- 1900 3-inch Ordnance Rifle

The 3-inch Ordnance Rifle was the most common rifled field artillery in both armies during the American Civil War, it was made out of machined iron, it was popular because it was accurate and reliability. The ammunition that they used was solid bolt, case, common shell and canister. It was manufactured at Phoenix Iron Company and it was made in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

Parrott Rifle

 The Parrott Rifle was designed by Robert Parrott; it was deployed by both the US Army and the US Navy. They were produced in 10 and 20 pounder models for use on the battle field. This was used in the Civil War that would fire an elongated shell, which was made specifically for this type of gun.  These cannons were used extensively during the American Civil War.

1900s-present

Howitzer Cannon

These cannons were originally made in the late 1700s by Sweden but were later developed in the early 1900s, they were introduced again as the field howitzer and they had the ability to fire shells with high trajectories. They were also able to fire shells that were twice the size of the shells that were fired by the same size cannon.  These cannons were first used in World War One but from then on they began to become more widely used.

Railway/Railroad Cannon

The railway gun is also called the railroad gun; it was built by Krupp and was used by Germany in World War I and World War II.  These cannons were used first in the American Civil War; it was a banded 32-pounder Brooke naval rifle that was mounted on a flat car.  Later on they were added to the railway tracks during the World Wars. It was modified so that it was larger, more mobile and more protected.

 

 

I personally think that we shouldn't be making weapons of mass destruction in the United States. If we were to actually make these weapons and use them in war it would leave the United States and other nations in a devastated place. Plus if we were to make these weapons it would only cause other nations to make their own or start to develop more advanced weapons.  There is no real reason for weapons of mass destruction to be developed because it actually does more harm than it does good for us all. If we were to see how these weapons were used over time we could be able see that they cause much unneeded trouble and they only cause trouble to us. Weapons over time have progressed much more than when they were first made, they were small and heavy and wouldn't cause as much damage as the cannons do today. As cannons began to develop they only began to get larger, heavier/lighter in some ways, and they just began to cause more and more trouble. They were used in wars, where if one side only had them they would have a huge advantage. Though if both of the sides have cannons then they are evenly matched.

A Long Way Gone

In the book A Long Way Gone, weapons are used by the RUF to apparently get freedom from the government. They actually stole these weapons from the government and instead of trying to protect the citizens they are just trying to get what they need and try to overpower the government. The RUF and the government would give young children AK-47s just so that they could fight for them. The government would go and force the children to go and become soldiers and during this process they will make them hate the RUF and turn them into killing machines.

When Ishmael first got his gun he couldn't bring himself to even hold it or touch it. Though later on he was able to hold his gun with ease, when he went to his first battle he witnessed a death and he turned into a killing machine. After this incident he turned to drugs and he had absolutely no trouble with shooting his gun. Nowadays in our nation we are constantly shown to violence, in cartoons, videogames, movies etc. Even when we are not aware of this we are shown to violence. But due to the huge amount of it we are shown we don't even take notice to it unless it is in your face.