LibGuides: U.S. History: Primary Sources

Early American Newspapers

America's Historical Newspapers
Search and browse American newspapers published from 1690 to the recent past.

Laws & Statistics

Historical Statistics of the United States Millennial Edition Online
Historical Statistics of the United States is the standard source for quantitative facts of American history.

THOMAS This link opens in a new window
THOMAS puts Federal Legislative information on the internet. Databases in the THOMAS system include: Congress Now (floor actions), Bills, Congressional Record, Committee information & more. Also includes a historical section.

Tips for Finding Primary Sources in Library Catalogs

If you are doing a keyword search in a library catalog and want to find primary sources, try using terms like "sources," "diaries," or "correspondence." For example you could type in: "American Revolution" and "sources."

You can also search by author if it is a notable individual like George Washington. Under author, type in Washington, George.

You can also search for what is called a corporate author, which means the author is an organization, not an individual. For instance, if you want to find documents produced by the Parliament in the UK you could look for the author Great Britain. Parliament

Primary Sources of the Civil War

Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
Roughly 20,000 documents, most relating to Lincoln's years as president.
The Civil War: Women and the Homefront
A resource created by Duke University which gives insight into the war as seen through the eyes of largely southern women as well as slaves.
The Civil War Archive: Letters Home from the Civil War
Letters from both Union and Confederate soldiers.
The Civil War Collection at Michigan State University
A collection focused on the letters of soldiers from the state of Michigan.
The Civil War Collection at Penn State
Documents are not transcribed so you must read the scanned originals.
Civil War Diaries and Letters
From the University of Iowa Libraries.
Civil War Diaries and Letters Collection
Collection from Auburn University.
Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1855-1865.
A collaborative venture from various archives and museums in the Kansas City area.
Civil War Primary Source Documents
Digitized documents from the NY Historical Society chronicling all aspects of the American Civil War
First Person Narratives of the American South
An excellent opportunity to gain insight from the view of ordinary people experiencing the Civil War firsthand.
Making of America: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies
Scanned pages from the thirty volume set.
Manuscripts of the American Civl War
Seven soldier's diaries scanned by Notre Dame's Rare Books and Special Collections Library.
The Museum of the Confederacy
Photographs and manuscripts documenting the Confederacy.
Saint Mary's College of California Special Collections
Correspondence from a soldier in the Fifth Vermont regiment and a diary from an officer in the Sixteenth Michigan regiment.
South Carolina and the Civil War
Scanned materials collected by the University of South Carolina.
Valley of the Shadow
Documents comparing life during the war in a town in Virginia and another in Pennsylvania.
Virginia Military Institute Archives
The archives has manuscripts from soldiers on both sides of the conflict.
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
Seventy scanned volumes.
Wisconsin Goes to War: Our Civil War Experience
Original documents digitized by the University of Wisconsin.

Primary Sources Databases

Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window
Full-text of 18th and 19th century American newspapers.
American Periodicals Series (APS) This link opens in a new window
Collection contains digitized images of the original pages of over 1100 American magazines and journals that originated between 1740 and 1940s.
Black Thought & Culture This link opens in a new window
Provides access to full-text documents of major black leaders in North America from the 19th & 20th centuries. Currently includes approximately 100,000 pages of primary source materials.

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writer's Project, 1936-1938
2,300 first hand accounts of former slaves.
Gilded Age
Searchable collection brings together primary documents and scholarly commentary for researchers studying this period in American history. The collection offers rare materials dating from 1865 to 1902.
Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)
Full-text of the: Atlanta Constitution 1868-1925; Boston Globe 1872-1922; Chicago Tribune 1849-1984; Christian Science Monitor 1908-1991; Los Angeles Times 1881-1984; New York Times 1851-2001; Wall Street Journal 1889-1987; Washington Post 1877-1988.
Chronology of US Historical Documents
A chronological list of historic documents from United States history compiled by the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Documents range from the Magna Carta of 1215 to Barack Obama's 2012 State of the Union Address.
Digital Library: Primary Sources
A collection of electronic texts and primary sources from digital libraries around the world.
Library of Congress
Congress' Library, though becoming more and more everybody's library.

National Archives and Records This link opens in a new window
Home of numerous American documents, though weak on 20th Century Presidents since they have their own libraries

Documenting the American South
A "digital publishing initiative that provides internet access to texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture. Currently DocSouth includes sixteen thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs."
Early Americas Digital Archives
A digital library consisting of texts originally written in the Americas or about the Americas from the landing of Columbus in 1492 to approximately 1820.
Oral History Online
Indexes English language oral histories housed in repositories around the world. Does not contain full-text but provides options to locate items and link to full-text transcripts or audio/video content on web-sites when available.
Papers of Dolley Madison
Coverage: 1788-1837
The Papers of Dolley Madison Digital Edition is currently complete through April 1837, with a total of 964 documents. Enter the collection to read the letters by time period; Search to locate letters by text, names, dates, topics, and places; the letters are sorted by date, author, or recipient.
Frederick Douglass Papers
Collection maintained by the Library of Congress.
Papers of George Washington
Coverage: 1748-1799
This resource encompasses five separate series and the complete diaries. You may search on full text and by date, author, or recipient across all volumes and series.
Papers of John Adams
This resource comprises John Adams’s complete diaries, selected legal papers, and the ongoing series of family correspondence and state papers.
Immigration to the United States
Historical materials from the libraries, archives and museums of Harvard University ranging from 1789 to 1930. The collection focuses largely on immigration during the nineteenth century, and includes 400,000 pages from more than 2,200 books, pamphlets, and serials as well as nearly 10,000 pages from manuscripts and archival collections and nearly 8,000 photographs. "By incorporating diaries, biographies, and other writings capturing diverse experiences, the collected material provides a window into the lives of ordinary immigrants."
Papers of Thomas Jefferson
Since 1950, Thomas Jefferson's writings have been compiled in the ongoing project The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Rotunda’s digital edition brings together all 33 volumes published through 2006 into one searchable online resource.

LexisNexis Congressional Record This link opens in a new window
Coverage: 1789-1979
A collection of U.S. government publications compiled under the directive of Congress. Included are reports, documents, and journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Access through the "Advanced Search" tab.

Charles F. Heartman Manuscripts of Slavery Collection
"The Charles F. Heartman Manuscripts of Slavery Collection consists of over 4000 pieces dating from 1724 to 1897, and relate directly to the social, economic, civil, and legal status of enslaved Negroes and Free People of Color in Louisiana an especially in New Orleans. The manuscripts are written in French, Spanish, and English."
ConSource:
"ConSource is building the preeminent online resource for constitutional research and education. Continually expanding in scope, it provides free public access to what is fast becoming the world’s most comprehensive online library of source documents related to the U.S. Constitution."
Digital Treaties Explorer
374 Ratified Indian Treaties visible for the first time
Gateway to North America: the People, Places and Organizations of 19th Century New York
Digitized documents from the NY Historical Society that track the activities of inhabitants, including residential and business directories, organization records and urban guidebooks.
Library of Congress: Education Resources
"The Library of Congress offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching."
North American Slave Narratives
Many primary documents are included as well as a bibliography of other sources.
The Papers of Jefferson Davis
Documents from the published papers of Jefferson Davis.
Revolutionary War Era Orderly Books
Digitized orderly books from the NY Historical Socieity spanning 1748-1817
Slavery and Abolition in the U.S.: Select Publications of the 1800s
Large number of scanned documents representing both sides of the slavery debate.
Slaves and the Courts 1740-1860
A wide overview of the legal system relating to slavery from the colonial era through the start of the Civil War.
SNAC: Social Network and Archival Context
"SNAC is demonstrating the feasibility of separating the description of persons, families, and organizations—including their socio-historical contexts—from the description of the historical resources that are the primary evidence of their lives and work. A key objective is to provide researchers with convenient, integrated access to historical collections held by multiple private and public archives and libraries around the world while also setting the stage for a cooperative program for maintaining information about the people documented in the collections."
Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library
Includes the first thirty one volumes of The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant.
Women Working
Produced by Harvard University, this is a virtual collection of over 650,000 pages from 3,100 books and trade catalogs, as well as 900 archival items and 1,400 photographs. "Women Working, 1800-1930 is a digital exploration of women's impact on the economic life of the United States between 1800 and the Great Depression. Working conditions, workplace regulations, home life, costs of living, commerce, recreation, health and hygiene, and social issues are among the issues documented in this online research collection from Harvard University."