Before the invention of the Colt revolver, warring Indians could fire several arrows in the time it took a white soldier to fire and reload a single shot from a gun. At "Hays' Big Fight" in July, 1844, fifteen mounted Texas Rangers (led by Captain John Coffee Hays and including Samuel Walker) faced eighty mounted Comanches at a tributary of the Pedernales River. At the time, the Comanches were the greatest light cavalry in the world. Nevertheless, the Texans had Colt's revolvers, and the battle ended with half the Comanches killed or wounded.

The Colt handgun not only provided firepower superiority over the Indians but also could readily be fired one-handed by a horseman. It changed the balance of power and was the foundation of white victories over the Indians in Texas and many other places in the West.

During the American Civil War, Colts were the most common revolver on both sides. As in most wars, handguns were carried mainly by officers. Colt's factory manufactured about 200,000 revolvers during the war, selling 127,000 to the U.S. Army and the rest to individual purchasers in the Union. In the 1861-1866 period, Colt's firearms accounted for 39 percent of U.S. government firearms acquisitions (mostly the Army Model handgun).

Even more significant, Colt's six-shooter was small enough to be carried routinely by a civilian and had enough firepower for a small person to defend him or herself against a group of larger assailants. For the first time ever, no longer were a group of large males the almost-sure winner of a violent confrontation with a woman or a smaller man.

After the Civil War, a popular saying was "Abe Lincoln may have freed all men, but Sam Colt made them equal." The Colt revolver was one of the greatest advances of self-defense in all of human history.

Free term papers are not written to satisfy your specific instructions. You can use our professional writing services to buy a custom written research paper, term paper, or essay on Biographies at affordable price. CustomTermPapers is the best solution for those who seek help in writing term papers, essays, and research papers related to Biographies and other relevant topics.