When political tensions rise between two sides, it’s no surprise when they begin to arm themselves in preparation for a possible conflict. This is the time when armorers thrive as the two tribes tool up and start spending on various weaponry in a bid to deter or intimidate their opponents. This naturally occurred in late 1860 as the troubles between the north and south of America threatened to get violent. State militias on both sides began to arm themselves in anticipation of war and it was boom time for those who dealt in instruments of death.

This letter, written in December 1860 as those tensions between north and south heightened, is an offer to sell 930 brand new Enfield rifles to the recipient – state-of-the-art weapons obtained from the British government. Yet what’s remarkable about this letter is that it’s from the New York arms dealer Cooper & Pond to the quarter master general of Georgia, Paul Jones Semmes. Semmes was to go on to lead a brigade of Georgia infantry in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and was to be mortally wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg’s infamous Wheatfield in 1863.

The juxtaposition is immediately clear: northern arms dealers selling to southern soldiers. What it suggests is that arms dealers are pretty unscrupulous as to whom they will sell weapons too; this being a northern business selling rifles to a group of people who surely must have known might be using them against their own tribe in a matter of months. It shows to some degree the primacy of profit over principle in this industry.

This document also resonates in that it reminds us of the effect that war has had on the American economy over the years. The two World Wars were boom time for an already generally booming American industry. In many ways, these later wars were a boon to the American economy with all economic sectors from agriculture to heavy industry increasing output. Women workers came into the factories, loans to allied governments and bonds for citizens matured, adding to the general prosperity of the country. The U.S.’s economic might is partly based on its involvement with wars over the decades of the twentieth century.

The costs are war throughout history have always been enormous. But of course this must mean someone must be benefitting from that increased expenditure. So this letter is a classic example of what war can do for economic activity and spending. And in this particular case it didn’t matter who was buying as long as someone was spending.

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