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Armed America: The Remarkable Story of How and Why Guns Became as American as Apple Pie Paperback – Illustrated, August 24, 2009

by Clayton E. Cramer (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 31 ratings
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"For many Americans, guns seem to be a fundamental part of the American experience?and always have been."

Grand in scope, rigorous in research, and elegant in presenting the formative years of our country, Armed America traces the winding historical trail of United States citizens' passion for firearms. Author and historial Clayton E. Cramer goes back to the source, unearthing first-hand accounts from the colonial times, through the Revolutionary War period, and into the early years of the American Republic.

In Armed America, Cramer depicts a budding nation dependent on its firearms not only for food and protection, but also for recreation and enjoyment. Through newspaper clippings, official documents, and personal diaries, he shows that recent grandiose theories claiming that guns were scarce in early America are shaky at best, and downright false at worst. Above all, Cramer allows readers a priceless glimpse of a country literally fighting for its identity.

For those who think that our citizens' attraction to firearms is a recent phenomenon, it's time to think again. Armed America proves that the right to bear arms is as American as apple pie.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Thomas Nelson
  4. Publication date
    August 24, 2009
  5. Dimensions
    6.13 x 0.75 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1595552847
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1595552846
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas Nelson; Illustrated edition (August 24, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1595552847
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1595552846
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.01 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.13 x 0.75 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 31 ratings

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Clayton E. Cramer

Clayton E. Cramer

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
31 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Glenux
5.0 out of 5 stars @Griff Heartfieldon Michael Bellisiles wrote a book that, for ...
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2014
Verified Purchase
@Griff Heartfieldon
Michael Bellisiles wrote a book that, for some reason, scared the NRA?
That's a laugh.
I guess you did not read the book nor heard the fact the Cramer was the one who exposed Bellisiles for his fraudulent lies and how he made up his resources. Bellisiles was shamed, lost his job and forfeited the book prize he was given because he lied as so many Anti-gun rights people have to resort to because their arguments are invalid, baseless and illogical.

Nothing scares the NRA because they know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
This book "Armed America" and Cramers other boook,
"For the Defense of Themselves and the State" are two of the most well documented and researched books on our inherent, Personal, Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
Get both books.
6 people found this helpful
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Anthony
4.0 out of 5 stars Six years later, this book stands on its own.
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2014
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This book was a necessary response to fraudster Michael Bellesiles' tendentious "Arming America", where Bellesiles deliberately misinterpreted historical data to claim that guns weren't common in early America. Clayton Cramer was one of the historians who uncovered Bellesiles' fraud, and wrote this book to set the record straight.

However, this book isn't just a refutation of Bellesiles. It's also an entertaining slice of early American history in its own right. Just like other books which focus on foods, this book is a "vertical history" (though shorter than many) focusing on guns over a 200-plus year slice of American history. To show that guns were common throughout the period, Cramer covers a wide variety of conflicts, from Indian wars to slave revolts to political conflict within the colonies to interpersonal conflicts between the colonists. This results in a rather broad coverage of social and political history of a period that normally gets glossed over - most school history skips from 1622 (when the Indians bailed out the Plymouth colonists) to 1756 (when the French and Indian Wars started) with just a paragraph or two reciting who established each colony and why. Due to the focus of this book, it doesn't provide broad coverage of the history of that time, but it does a lot more than most. The book also continues into the Revolutionary War, where one gets a better sense of the logistics of the war (for the battle buff, the period is otherwise well-covered, of course) as Cramer tracks down how the Continental Army and its supporting militias armed themselves. The last part of the book tracks guns through the Early Republic period, and doesn't shy away from noticing that much use of the militia away from the frontier was in chasing down escaped and rebelling slaves, but shows that militias, and guns, had far more uses than those.

Given the circumstances surrounding the writing of this book, it's understandable that it refers back to Bellesiles' book (and earlier paper) to specifically contradict the claims made. However, this would be a stronger book if all the material referring to Bellesiles and "Arming America" were tucked away in a foreword or afterword, leaving the history to stand on its own, and allowing those who are interested in the controversy to look it all up in one place without interrupting the narrative flow of this fascinating history.
5 people found this helpful
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Mary Christine Potts
5.0 out of 5 stars very happy with this book
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2021
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very happy with this book
One person found this helpful
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A. Burchfield
3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but it won't convince those who "know" it isn't so
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2007
A few years ago Michael Bellsiles wrote a book claiming that early Americans didn't own guns, didn't have them, and that historical documentation proved it. He was widely discredited even by many of his anti-gun peers when it was found that much of his research was false or totally inaccurate.

Clayton Cramer spent five years researching the same records Bellesiles "used" and found totally opposite results, guns were very common all over the colonies (the book covers a period from the 1600's to the 1840's). Divided into 3 sections, Colonial America, the Revolutionary war, and the early Republic- Cramer gives exhaustive detail on what America was really like. The author is even careful to note that sometimes a modern reader can't be sure just what some statements from the past meant.
There are a lot of footnotes (unfortunately he gives no indication of just how hard it is for the average person to get at the original documents to read them, he does mention that Bellesiles usually reported just the opposite of what sommething actually said in print.) and a 12 page bibliography to back up his statements.

My worst problem with the book was that the few included photographs are too dark, hard to get any detail from them. It's a good fascinating book that I don't regret owning, it just won't convince anyone who doesn't believe it is true.
26 people found this helpful
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JSR
5.0 out of 5 stars Now I understand the Bellesiles scandal
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2017
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Thoroughly debunks Michael Bellesiles' theory that guns were uncommon in colonial, revolutionary, and early America. He uses some of the very works that Bellesiles cites to show that guns were common. No wonder Bellesiles was in such hot water.
One person found this helpful
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Madam Rob
5.0 out of 5 stars I want a sequel
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2018
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At times it can be a slow book to read but I got an enormous amount of information. I sincerely thank Cramer for writing this book and for thinking beyond the bandwagon.
One person found this helpful
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RKV
4.0 out of 5 stars Revisionists' Bane, Or How The Standard Version Was Right All Along
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2007
Verified Purchase
Cramer writes a focused work, detailing the presence and use of firearms in the colonial, revolutionary and early Republic periods of American history. He compiles a wealth of specific examples based on primary sources like wills, newspapers, legislation, travel books, etc. He demonstrates a deep knowledge of the topic and the sources, showing the range and breadth of early American experience with firearms for use in personal defense and in a military context. Some of the material can be dry, and this book is not one for those looking for a rollicking story - it's a history, of the kind useful for professionals or amateurs with a specific, rather than a general interest in the topic. Occasionally Cramer restates the obvious - of course, given the inability of some of our countries "best" historical scholars on the Bancroft Committee to pick up on the obvious inconsistencies between Bellesiles' writing in Arming America and the original records, he should be forgiven. Armed America should be seen as a refutation of Bellesiles and his ilk - as the academic frauds that they have been demonstrated to be. After reading Armed America you will be convinced that Cramer had the right of it.

4 stars - it's a solid work, and well executed.
43 people found this helpful
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