Historic Replicas

Throughout early American history, slavery weighed heavily on the hearts and minds of the infant nation’s people.  Slavery was a complex issue, and few were indifferent to its implications.  In the South, slaves were crucial to the agricultural economy.  The Northern states were focused on industry and had been settled in some cases by more progressive people and organizations.  Presidents and senators had staved off the conflict many times. 

Territories often became states two at a time, to maintain the balance between free and slave states in the Senate, and a series of slave law compromises were made.  With every loss and gain, some people were inevitably outraged over what they considered unfair treatment.  All the while, the abolitionist cause was growing. John Brown, a white man, tried to stage a massive slave revolt in Virginia and was killed using civil war guns, shocking the nation.  And in 1854 a slave named Dred Scott made a legal bid for freedom, and was denied. 

In the process, slavery became legal in all U.S. territories.  Abolitionists were furious, and in the election of 1860, they finally made their voices heard by sending Abraham Lincoln to the White House.

Though I have read and seen a great deal about the Civil War, including Ken Burns’ documentary series, whenever I think of Civil War swords I think of the famous (or infamous) pilot episode of “Antiques Roadshow” on PBS several years back, which has been shown numerous times since it first aired.  A man brought in a Civil War sword for appraisal, claiming he had found it in his attic and had once used it to slice a watermelon.  The on-camera appraisers and alleged sword owner got excited and estimated its worth in the five figures.
 
Later, it was revealed that the sword was authentic, but the man was a friend of the on-camera appraisers and the whole incident had been staged.  The producers of the show were not even in on the joke at the time.  To their credit, they have made efforts to remove all portions of the shows that included the two appraisers that were involved in the deception.

A katana is a type of Japanese sword, sometimes known as a “samurai sword”.  The term “katana” my be applied to any curved Japanese sword with a blade longer than 60 centimeters, but the term is sometimes used incorrectly used as a generic name for Japanese swords.

The katana has a distinctive appearance—its blade is curved, slender, and has a single edge.  The grip is long to accommodate both of the user’s hands, and the guard is either circular or square.  As historical weapons, katana have become synonymous with the samurai image from feudal Japan.   Katana have become renowned for their exceptional sharpness and cutting ability, and in current popular culture, the myth of katana has far exceeded its actual limitations.