Chronology

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Springfield Armory

Chronology

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Chronology Curricula

Springfield 1892 to 1945 Home

Themes Home Technology and Manufacturing People of the Armory

Chronology Curricula

	United States	Springfield	Armory
1795	Under President Washington, the Whiskey Rebellion is quelled by Federal troops in Pennsylvania	Springfield sells land to Federal Government to be used as Armory	Armory begins musket production

1802	Under President Jefferson, the United States Military Academy is founded at West Point		Harper's Ferry Armory begins musket production

1812-1815	War of 1812		Armory ceases production of new muskets to repair old muskets

1812	James Madison, a Democratic-Republican, reelected president	Springfield made county seat of Hampden County	Congress established the U.S. Army Ordnance Department in 1812 to oversee the procurement and inspection of all weapons, components and ammunition purchased by the United States government.
		The academy for boys and girls started

1814	British troops capture and burn Washington	Bridge over river collapsed
		Springfield Bank founded, the first bank in Springfield

1815	Andrew Jackson defeats British in the Battle of New Orleans		Under Major Decius Wadsworth, Chief of Ordnance, the Armories agree to work toward uniform production to create a pattern muskets similar to the French 1777 musket. Eli Whitney also attended the meeting.

1816	James Monroe, a Democratic-Republican, elected president	Bridge over river rebuilt	Simeon North, a private arms contractor in Middletown, Connecticut, developed a milling machine for cutting metal parts. This allowed a for an unskilled laborer to man the machine instead of a skilled craftsman.

1817	Construction of Erie Canal begins	Episcopalians hold first services in Springfield

1818	Andrew Jackson defeats the Seminole Indians in Florida	A 3rd bridge built over river and used until 1922	Springfield Armory’s master armorer, Adonijah Foot, and several other workmen developed a system for gauging musket components.

1819	Commercial panic destabilizes the economy	Unitarian Society organized	Armory workers transition from being paid by the day to being paid by the number of pieces they produce.

1821	Missouri admitted as a slave state under the Missouri Compromise	First Baptist Church in Springfield

1822	Cotton mills opened in Lowell, Massachusetts	Ames and Sons patent the "cylinder machine" for pressing paper

1823	Monroe Doctrine proclaimed	First Methodist Church in Springfield	The system of inspection and gauging developed at Springfield Armory became the Ordnance Department standard for Springfield, Harper's Ferry, and private contractors.

1824	John Quincy Adams, a Democratic-Republican, elected president	Springfield Republican founded by Samuel Bowles Sr.	Bayonets are developed at Harper’s Ferry Armory that would fit musket barrels made at Springfield Armory. This is an achievement in interchangeability.
			Thomas Blanchard developed a gun stock turning lathe. This allowed a for an unskilled laborer to man the machine instead of a skilled craftsman.
1825	Erie Canal Completed

1826	Samuel Morey patents the first internal combustion engine	Thomas Blanchard tests his steam powered "horseless carriage" in Springfield	New Englander John Hall, at Harper's Ferry, demonstrated that rifles of his design and production could be made with interchangeable parts with the aid of over sixty-three inspection gauges and sophisticated machinery.

1827	The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is incorporated as the first railroad in American offering both passenger and freight transport	Springfield chapter of the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance founded

1828	Andrew Jackson, a Democrat, elected president	Public high school for boys opened
		Thomas Blanchard launches the steamboat "Blanchard"

1829	Black abolitionist, David Walker issues David Walker's Appeal. Afterwards, severe slave revolts occurred throughout the South.	Private girls academy opened

1831	The McCormick Reaper invented
	Nat Turners slave rebellion

1833	Walter Hunt invents the first lock-stitch sewing machine

1834	Woman workers at Lowell mills stage a strike		Simeon North took Hall’s achievement one step further by using Hall’s gauges to produce rifles that were practically interchangeable with those made by Hall at Harper’s Ferry.

1836	Samuel Colt demonstrates the revolver	Irish Catholic immigrants begin to arrive in large numbers (late 1830s)
	Martin Van Buren, a Democrat, elected president
	Siege of the Alamo

1839	Whigs hold their first national convention	Springfield and Boston linked by Western Railroad.

1840	William H. Harrison, a Whig, elected president	Christ Church founded

1841	Harrison dies in office. John Tyler succeeds him.		James Ripley put in charge of the Springfield Armory. Until this point civilians had controlled the Armory, but now it was under military control.

1843	Pioneers head to Oregon on the Oregon Trail		Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned the Arsenal at Springfield

1844	Samuel F.B. Morse demonstrates the telegraph	Shad runs begin to decline (1840s)	Production of Hall's Rifles ended.
	James K. Polk, a Democrat, elected president

1845	Irish potato famine spurs major immigration to the United States	Western Railroad Car Company builds coaches in Springfield. Repair shop started near railroad station at Gridiron and Liberty St.
	Frederick Douglas publishes his autobiography

1846-1848	Mexican War

1847	Mormons found Salt Lake City	St. Benedict's the first Catholic Church in Springfield dedicated

1848	Zachary Taylor, a Whig, elected president
	Seneca Falls Convention on women's rights

1850	Taylor dies in office. Millard Fillmore succeeds him.	Springfield Population 11,000
	Compromise of 1850 enacted

1851	Isaac Singer invents a Sewing Machine	Abolitionists George Thompson and William Lloyd Garrison, and Wendell Phillips visit Springfield	International recognition of what the British soon termed as “the American System of Manufacture” came at the Crystal Palace exhibition.

1852	Franklin Pierce, a Democrat, elected president	Springfield incorporated as a city	Jacob Abbot published a detailed story on the Springfield Armory in Harper's Magazine
	Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin published

1854	Kansas-Nebraska Act

1856	Violence breaks out in "Bleeding Kansas"

1856	James Buchanan, a Democrat, elected president

1857	Elisha Graves Otis demonstrates his passenger elevator	Smith & Wesson establishes its first arms manufacturing facility in Springfield, producing the first successful, self-primed metallic ammunition	Armory watershops consolidated at the current site; steam power replaced water power

1859	Edwin Drake drills the first oil well in the United States	Former Springfield resident John Brown leads a raid on Harpers Ferry Arsenal

1860	B. Tyler Henry designs the repeating rifle later known as the Winchester	Games manufacturer Milton Bradley Company established
	Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, elected president

1861-1865	Civil War		Harper's Ferry Armory destroyed

1861	First battle of Bull Run		Springfield Armory produced 42,574 muskets

1862	Battle of Antietam

1863	Battle of Gettysburg

1863	Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation

1864	Lincoln reelected President		Springfield Armory produced 247,664 muskets

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