HIS 338 - Young America
This guide provides resources targeted to a greater understanding of American society from the War of 1812 through the Mexican - American war.
Primary Sources
Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs and oral histories. Primary sources may include letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, interviews, memoirs, documents produced by government agencies such as Congress or the Office of the President, photographs, audio recordings, moving pictures or video recordings, research data, and objects or artifacts such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons.
Taken from the American Library Association / Reference and User Services Association http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/history/resources/pubs/usingprimarysources
The video below offers helpful information on locating primary sources:
American History Primary Sources
The following is a list of selected digital collections that include images, manuscripts, maps, and government documents.
- David Rumsey Historical Map CollectionThe David Rumsey Historical Map Collection has over 20,000 maps and images online and focuses largely on North and South America.
- Digital Public Library of AmericaResources from US libraries, archives and museums, including photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and more.
- Documenting the American SouthDAS is maintained by the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and is dedicated to "providing access to digitized primary materials that offer Southern perspectives on American history and culture.
- Edward E. Ayer Digital CollectionOne of the world's premiere sources of primary documents on American Indians. Topics covered include Native American archaeology, ethnology, art, and language; the history of the contact between Europeans and native peoples; voyages, travels, and accounts of early America; the development of cartography of the Western Hemisphere; and the history of the aboriginal peoples under the jurisdiction of the U.S. in the Philippine Islands and Hawaii.
- Harvard University Digital CollectionsHarvard University has a number of digital collections that focus on different topics, geographical areas, and time periods.
- Library of Anglo-American CultureThe History Search allows you to browse documents by country/event of interest. Note: not all documents are primary sources and many are in languages other than English.
- Library of Congress: Digital CollectionsMaintained by the Library of Congress, American Memory has well over 5 million primary source documents related to American history online.
- Library of Congress Picture CollectionThe Library of Congress has made 1.25 million digitized photographs searchable using this new interface. Collections range from digitized cartoons and baseball cards to depression-era photographs documenting the struggle of migrant workers.
- The Making of AmericaFrom the University of Michigan, Making of America (MoA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints.
- National ArchivesSearch the entire collections of the Nation's Record Keepers.
- NY Historical Society | Making History MatterNYHS manuscript collections relating to slavery
- NYPL Archives & ManuscriptsFrom the New York Public Library you can search "over 60,000 linear feet of personal papers and organizational records supporting historical research".
- Oral Histories of the American SouthA project to digitize 500 interviews, this collection contains interviews with civil rights leaders in the south and southern politicians such as Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
- Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text & ImageOver 2,000,000 images from various collections of rare books, manuscripts, papyri, photographs and sheet music are available for your viewing. Each collection has its own web site that is unrestricted in the interests of knowledge and learning.
- Suffragist Oral History ProjectFrom UC Berkeley Library, this collection contains 12 interviews with participants in the suffragist movement.
- University of New Hampshire Digital CollectionsThe University of New Hampshire has digitized documents relating to New Hampshire history including government documents, photographs, maps, et cetera.
Early American History
- The American Presidency Project - DocumentsThe American Presidency Project has consolidated, coded, and organized into a single searchable database:the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Inaugural Addresses, State of the Union Speeches, Executive Orders, and thousands of other documents such as Presidential Proclamations and National Party Platforms.
- The Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History, and DiplomacyThis collection of documents covers the 19th century, 1800 - 1899.
- David Rumsey Historical Map CollectionThe David Rumsey Historical Map Collection has over 20,000 maps and images online and focuses largely on North and South America.
- Digital Public Library of AmericaResources from US libraries, archives and museums, including photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and more.
- Documenting the American SouthDocumenting the American South (DocSouth) is 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.
- Documents for the Study of American HistoryLegislation, speeches, policy statements, documents, and maps from 1800 - 1850
- Documents on the Erie CanalThe Erie Canal is famous in song and story. Proposed in 1808 and completed in 1825, the canal links the waters of Lake Erie in the west to the Hudson River in the east. An engineering marvel when it was built, some called it the Eighth Wonder of the World.
- Fordham University Modern History Sourcebook - Early U.S. HistoryThe Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.
- Harvard University Digital CollectionsHarvard University has a number of digital collections that focus on different topics, geographical areas, and time periods.
- Library of Congress: Digital CollectionsMaintained by the Library of Congress, American Memory has well over 5 million primary source documents related to American history online.
- Library of Congress Picture collectionThe Library of Congress has made 1.25 million digitized photographs searchable using this new interface. Collections range from digitized cartoons and baseball cards to depression-era photographs documenting the struggle of migrant workers.
- The Making of AmericaFrom the University of Michigan, Making of America (MoA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints.
- National ArchivesSearch the entire collections of the Nation's Record Keepers.
- NY Historical Society | Making History MatterNYHS manuscript collections relating to slavery
- Primary Documents in American History - National Expansion and Reform 1815 - 1860Links to 8 major historical documents from 1820 - 1857
- US History Primary SourcesFrom National History Day and Cecil Hall University this site provides links to documents supporting research in American History. Topics include civil war history, presidential history, government history, women's history, and many more.
- WWW-VL: History: United States: National Period, 1800-1830Research tools, timelines, documents and secondary sources on multiple topis from 1800 - 1850
- WWW-VL: History: United States: The Age of Jackson, 1830-1857Research tools, timelines, documents and secondary sources on multiple topics from the period of the Presidency of Andrew Jackson to 1850
World History Primary Sources
The following is a selected list of digital collections supporting world history research.
- Ancient History SourcebookThis site focuses on online texts, which, for the most part, means public domain texts translated more than 75 years ago. In many cases it is these older translations which are used in commercially available sourcebooks. Coverage ranges from Mesopotamia to the origins of Christianity
- Avalon ProjectYale Law School’s Avalon Project contains digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government. Covers time periods from ancient history to the modern day.
- British Library Online ResourcesUnique collection items & expert commentary related to History, English, Religious Studies, Citizenship & a variety of other subjects.
- Digital ScriptoriumThe Digital Scriptorium is a growing image database of medieval and renaissance manuscripts that unites scattered resources from many institutions into an international tool for teaching and scholarly research.
- Euro DocsSearch primary sources by European country of origin
- Hanover Historical Texts CollectionThe Hanover Historical Texts Collection makes available digital versions of historical texts for use in history and humanities courses. Material touches on the Crusaders, Italian Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, French Revolution, and many other topics.
- Internet History Sourcebooks ProjectFrom Fordham University, find primary sources for Ancient, Medieval, and Modern periods. The site offers several subdivisions (i.e. African, women, etc.) as well
- The LabyrinthFrom Georgetown University: Medieval studies scholarly resources compiled and organized from around the world. Contains texts in all European languages, including Latin and Greek.
- Library of Congress Global GatewayThis resource contains a number of digitized international resources including cuneiform tablets, photographs and manuscripts.
- Perseus Digital LibraryTufts University brings you an evolving collection of resources for the study of the ancient world, including archaeology, atlas, texts and translations, text tools and lexica.
- World Digital LibraryThe World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.