Social Impacts of Cannons

Before the 1800s most cannons were used as siege weapons to capture forts of castles. For example trebuchets were used in the Siege of Dover in 1216 to take over the Castle of Dover. Eventually the trebuchets came out on top. Eventually the Many trebuchets and cannons in this time period helped enormously when taking over buildings or forts but we not as practical after the rise of gun powder can to be and other bigger more powerful weapons took over.

During the 1800s gun powder became more popular and cannons were used a lot more especially in the American civil war. Many cannons were manufactured by the Union and the Confederacy. The north had an advantage over the north since they made hundreds more cannons than the south which could have been a factor contributing to their victory.

In the 1900s through Modern-day weapons became much more sophisticated than those of previous centuries. Cannons are more like enormous guns and most are placed on top of armored vehicles. The mortar which is one type of cannon that has been modernized and still used was popular and cause a lot of damage in World War I. They were generally used to “take out enemy machine gun posts, suspected sniper posts or other designated features.  Larger mortars were occasionally used to cut enemy barbed wire, generally in situations where field artillery could not be used.” (First World War)