Guns, Race, and Skill in Nineteenth-Century Southern Africa

Storey, William Kelleher

doi:10.1353/tech.2004.0208

“…36 Hunting and warfare have been described as 'intimately connected ' activities, not least because 'the hunt is often the training ground for war' and 'shooting skills that developed in one setting could be transferred to the other'. 37 Livingstone might well have subscribed to this view, for, contra much recent scholarly literature, he never questioned the military significance of firearms, going so far as to theorize that, by making local conflicts 'more terrible ' and by reducing the gap between 'the strong and the brave ', on the one hand, and 'the weak & cautious ', on the other, guns would work towards reducing the incidence of war in Central Africa. 38 The available written sources do not permit us to gauge the extent to which the lazarinas affected Luvale tactics and organization.…”

Section: Guns and Luvale Menmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reassessing the Significance of Firearms in Central Africa: The Case of North-Western Zambia to the 1920s

Macola¹

2010

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Based on a close examination of European travelogues and the evidence produced in the wake of the formulation of colonial gun policies, this article contends that the significance of firearms in Central Africa in the nineteenth and early twentieth century has been unduly played down in the existing literature. The first substantive section of the paper charts the movement of the gun frontier in nineteenth-century North-Western Zambia. It foregrounds the new technology's economic and military applications, the means through which North-Western Zambians overcame some at least of its limitations and the plurality of innovative social roles they attributed to it.Successive sections centre on the pervasiveness of gun running in the early twentieth century and the implementation and profound social consequences of gun control laws.

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“…32 Bailey and Nie, English Gunmakers, 15. 33 David Williams, The Birmingham Gun Trade (Stroud: The History Press, 2004), 84. 34 Report from the Select Committee on Small Arms, House of Commons, GB Parliamentary Papers, 1854, iv.…”

Section: Men Making Guns: the Royal Small Arms Factory At Enfieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…32 Given that the second massacre directly targeted so many women, Britons considered it to be an attack on the values they treasured most dearly. 33 The massacre changed British attitudes to the conflict. Initially, many Britons had blamed EIC mismanagement for the outbreak of Rebellion, dismissing claims about the Enfield cartridge's role.…”

Section: Daily Southern Cross Reported Thatmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Violent Trajectories: A Cultural History of the Enfield Rifle in the British Empire

Thompson¹

0

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<p>This thesis explores the material, cultural, and political significance of the Enfield rifle in the British Empire from c. 1850 to 1870. Unravelling the weapon’s links with imperial ideology and violence, it argues that the Enfield helped to produce discourses of race, gender, and civilisation during this era. Furthermore, it contends that these discourses shaped the ways in which Britons viewed the Enfield and influenced how they saw themselves. The rifle is best known for its well-chronicled role in the 1857 Indian Rebellion, where it was central to British narratives of the conflict. While acknowledging the Indian context, this thesis aims to draw the Enfield deeper into debates about British imperial culture, comparing the rifle’s physical and discursive influence across a range of imperial spaces. The Enfield rifle was one of the most important weapons of the nineteenth century. The product of a revolution in rifle technology, it amazed the British public and military with its accuracy and range. The weapon’s invention prompted the introduction of large scale factory production techniques in Britain. It also stimulated a massive rethinking of military tactics and was a central component of the militarisation of British society during the 1850s and 1860s. The Enfield then had extensive use in conflicts including the Crimean War, the Indian Rebellion, the New Zealand Wars, and the American Civil War. It also found a home in the burgeoning Volunteer Movement in Britain and New Zealand. Through its use in these arenas, the Enfield had a considerable physical impact on the British Empire, but it had even greater discursive significance. During the 1850s and 1860s, discussions about the Enfield’s invention, production, and usage promoted ideas of rationality, modern science, and individualism. After the 1857 Indian Rebellion, the rifle came to epitomise British technological might and racial ‘superiority’ in the minds of Victorians. The Volunteer Force, established in 1859, embraced the Enfield as its weapon of choice and conceived of it as a weapon that embodied the Force’s values of skill, education and respectability. In the New Zealand Wars however, the rifle failed to bring the decisive victories many settlers expected, and they began to disparage the weapon as a result. Nevertheless, the Enfield was still deeply implicated in the contested process of colonisation in New Zealand. Ultimately, the Enfield’s role in these events transformed the weapon into a deeply raced and gendered object.</p>

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“…In 1806, the British government established a new small arms factory at Lewisham in southeast London, which was moved to Enfield, northeast London, in 1818 as Enfield was more suitable for steam power. 33 The new factory supplemented the army's supply, though it continued to use private contractors as well.…”

Section: Men Making Guns: the Royal Small Arms Factory At Enfieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Violent Trajectories: A Cultural History of the Enfield Rifle in the British Empire

Thompson¹

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

<p>This thesis explores the material, cultural, and political significance of the Enfield rifle in the British Empire from c. 1850 to 1870. Unravelling the weapon’s links with imperial ideology and violence, it argues that the Enfield helped to produce discourses of race, gender, and civilisation during this era. Furthermore, it contends that these discourses shaped the ways in which Britons viewed the Enfield and influenced how they saw themselves. The rifle is best known for its well-chronicled role in the 1857 Indian Rebellion, where it was central to British narratives of the conflict. While acknowledging the Indian context, this thesis aims to draw the Enfield deeper into debates about British imperial culture, comparing the rifle’s physical and discursive influence across a range of imperial spaces. The Enfield rifle was one of the most important weapons of the nineteenth century. The product of a revolution in rifle technology, it amazed the British public and military with its accuracy and range. The weapon’s invention prompted the introduction of large scale factory production techniques in Britain. It also stimulated a massive rethinking of military tactics and was a central component of the militarisation of British society during the 1850s and 1860s. The Enfield then had extensive use in conflicts including the Crimean War, the Indian Rebellion, the New Zealand Wars, and the American Civil War. It also found a home in the burgeoning Volunteer Movement in Britain and New Zealand. Through its use in these arenas, the Enfield had a considerable physical impact on the British Empire, but it had even greater discursive significance. During the 1850s and 1860s, discussions about the Enfield’s invention, production, and usage promoted ideas of rationality, modern science, and individualism. After the 1857 Indian Rebellion, the rifle came to epitomise British technological might and racial ‘superiority’ in the minds of Victorians. The Volunteer Force, established in 1859, embraced the Enfield as its weapon of choice and conceived of it as a weapon that embodied the Force’s values of skill, education and respectability. In the New Zealand Wars however, the rifle failed to bring the decisive victories many settlers expected, and they began to disparage the weapon as a result. Nevertheless, the Enfield was still deeply implicated in the contested process of colonisation in New Zealand. Ultimately, the Enfield’s role in these events transformed the weapon into a deeply raced and gendered object.</p>

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Guns, Race, and Skill in Nineteenth-Century Southern Africa

Cited by 34 publications

References 34 publications

Reassessing the Significance of Firearms in Central Africa: The Case of North-Western Zambia to the 1920s

Reassessing the Significance of Firearms in Central Africa: The Case of North-Western Zambia to the 1920s

Violent Trajectories: A Cultural History of the Enfield Rifle in the British Empire

Violent Trajectories: A Cultural History of the Enfield Rifle in the British Empire

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