Library Research Guides: HIST 311: A New Birth of Freedom: Primary Sources

A Few Tips...

- think about language; how was your topic discussed in the time and place you're studying? Use those terms to search a primary source. Consult a historical or slang dictionary if necessary

- use secondary sources to identify key primary sources -- mine the references in the footnotes and bibliographies. Book authors often have an appendix describing their primary sources

American Indian Histories and Cultures
"Explore manuscripts, artwork and rare printed books dating from the earliest contact with European settlers right up to photographs and newspapers from the mid-twentieth century. Browse through a wide range of rare and original documents from treaties, speeches and diaries, to historic maps and travel journals."
American Indian Newspapers
One Cherokee newspaper included, coverage from 1828-1845.
University of Oklahoma Western History Collections
Includes manuscripts by indigenous people, records of Native-pioneer meetings, Civil War manuscripts, and more.
The Black Hawk War
Documents and primary sources on empire and conflict between the Sauk, Ho-Chunk, and Americans.

Early American Indian Documents
10 volumes of treaties and laws from 1607-1789.

Colonial America
"Consists of the original correspondence between the British government and the governments of the American colonies, making it a uniquely rich resource for all historians of the period." Coverage: 1606-1822.
American Revolutionary War Manuscripts at the Boston Public Library
Some of the topics covered include the war’s political origins, the unfolding of military and naval campaigns, foreign alliances, opinions, and the economic aspects of the struggle.
American Independence: Internet Modern History Sourcebook
Links to documents and sites with primary sources on American Independence.
Avalon Project: 18th-Century Documents
Legal sources, with a focus on revolutionary records.

Documenting the American South
Texts from the collections of the University Libraries at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Search or use subject terms (under the Subjects link) to find resources.
Confederate States of America Records
The records of the Confederate States of America span the years 1854-1889, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1861-1865, during the Civil War in America. The collection relates to the formation of the government of the Confederacy and the conduct of its internal, external, and military affairs.
American Civil War Documents
A collection of links to Civil War sources.

American West
"From early topographical sketches and pioneers’ accounts, to photographs of Buffalo Bill and his ‘Wild West’ stars, explore the fact and the fiction of westward expansion in America from the early eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century. "
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration, & Cultural Exchange
"Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange provides a vast range of visual, manuscript and printed materials sourced from over twenty key libraries and more than a dozen companies and trade organisations around the world. These original sources will help scholars to explore the history of fifteen major commodities and to examine the ways that these have changed the world." Commodities include tobacco, sugar, fur, and more.
Avalon Project: 19th-Century Documents
Legal sources, focuses on Manifest Destiny and foreign policy.
Graff Collection of Western Americana
Explore more than 130,000 digitized images from the Newberry’s renowned Graff collection, documenting America’s westward expansion. Topics covered include narratives from explorers, pioneers, hunters, traders, and prospectors; accounts of the Mormon treks of 1846 and 1849, and the history and culture of Native Americans.
American Journeys
European records of travelers encountering what would become the United States. 1000 AD - 1844 AD
Making of the Modern World
Primary sources documenting world history through the lens of economics & trade, 1450-1914.
NOTE: Access is provided through the Boston Public Library with a Boston Public Library card. Get a BPL eCard
Political Americana
A major collection of materials from U.S. national political campaigns, including pamphlets, political cartoons, buttons, and more.

Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice
"Bringing together primary source documents from archives and libraries across the Atlantic world, this resource allows students and researchers to explore and compare unique material relating to the complex subjects of slavery, abolition and social justice."
Focus on the 19th century.
Avalon Project: 19th-Century Documents
Legal sources, focuses on Manifest Destiny and foreign policy.
Documenting the American South
Several collections of materials on the South. Focuses on North Carolina and the 19th century, but other periods and places may be found.
Anti-Slavery: Boston Public Library
The Anti-Slavery Collection contains about 40,000 pieces of correspondence, broadsides, newspapers, pamphlets, books, and realia spanning a 35-year period.
Black Abolitionist Archive
"The Black Abolitionist Digital Archive is a collection of over 800 speeches by antebellum blacks and approximately 1,000 editorials from the period. These important documents provide a portrait of black involvement in the anti-slavery movement; scans of these documents are provided as images and PDF files."

African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
Full-text of 282 Black American newspapers.
Dates: 1827-1998 CE

American Indian Newspapers
One Cherokee newspaper included, coverage from 1828-1845.

America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Full text of more than 1,000 historical U.S. newspapers. Contains Early American Newspapers, 1690-1922, and African American Newspapers, 1827-1998.
Dates: 1690-1998 CE

The Annotated Newspapers of Harbottle Dorr, Jr.
Revolutionary-era Boston newspapers and pamphlets collected, annotated, and indexed by Harbottle Dorr, Jr., a shopkeeper in Boston.
Nineteenth Century in Print
Popular magazines of the era digitized by Cornell
Chronicling America
select historic American newspapers 1880-1922 - & find information about American newspapers 1690-present

Guardian and the Observer (UK), 1791-2003 This link opens in a new window
Full-text archive of two British newspapers, covering all aspects of British and world news.
Dates: 1791-2003 CE
Times Digital Archive, 1785-2014 This link opens in a new window
Full text news, editorials, letters to the editor, obituaries, historical photos, reviews, and advertisements from a premier British newspaper.
Dates: 1785-2014 CE

American Revolutionary War Maps
The collection represents an important historical record of the mapping of North America and the Caribbean. Most of the items presented here are documented in Maps and Charts of North America and the West Indies, 1750-1789: A Guide to the Collections in the Library of Congress compiled by John R. Sellers and Patricia Molen van Ee in 1981.
Social and Political Cartoons: Boston Public Library
Over 100 cartoons, with a focus on the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.

American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series I, 1760-1900 This link opens in a new window
Full-color, high-resolution images of many pamphlets, fliers, advertisements, and more from the Revolutionary Period through the Spanish-American War.
Dates: 1760-1900 CE
Artstor This link opens in a new window
Digitized images of art, architecture, and other forms of visual culture from around the world, from museums, archaeology, photo archives, slide collections, and art reference works, dating from B.C.E. to present.

Requires creation of an Artstor account to download images. This account also grants you off-campus access for 60 days. If your account is inactivated or you need to create an account, make sure to use a library link (such as this one) to get to Artstor so that you will be recognized as a Wellesley user.

David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Enormous historical map collection searchable by keyword, geographic area, subject, and time period.

America's Historical Imprints This link opens in a new window
Documents published in America up to 1819, including books, pamphlets, broadsides, and ephemera, covering topics such as daily life, politics, religion, science, and more.
Dates: 1640-1819 CE

Hathi Trust
HathiTrust is a partnership of academic & research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.
Internet Archive
Digitized, searchable books and magazines mostly published before 1923. Includes printed volumes of court records, reprinted older books, and more.