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Model 1842 Harpers Ferry Rifle

Model 1842 Harpers Ferry Rifle

Grade Range: 5-12
Resource Type(s): Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted: 12/28/2010

Model 1842 Harpers Ferry percussion musket had a smoothbore barrel. After the adoption of the .58-caliber minie bullet in 1855, musket barrels were rifled.


National Standards

United States History Standards (Grades 5-12)

Era 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)

1: United States territorial expansion between 1801 and 1861, and how it affected relations with external powers and Native Americans
 
2: How the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of slavery, and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led toward regional tensions
 
3: The extension, restriction, and reorganization of political democracy after 1800
 
4: The sources and character of cultural, religious, and social reform movements in the antebellum period
 

Era 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)

1: The causes of the Civil War
 
2: The course and character of the Civil War and its effects on the American people
 
3: How various reconstruction plans succeeded or failed
 

Instructional Strategies

Museum education

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Keywords

military history, weapon, Civil War, rifle, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, Virginia, arsenal

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