Libraries: Primary vs Secondary Sources: American History Sources

American Government & Presidential Documents

National Archives
Includes America's founding documents and is searchable by topic. This should be one of the first places you go when looking for primary documents on U.S. History.
America's Founding Documents
"These three documents, known collectively as the Charters of Freedom, have secured the rights of the American people for more than two and a quarter centuries and are considered instrumental to the founding and philosophy of the United States."
Library of Congress: Digital Collections
National Archives: DocsTeach
The online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives - Includes activities that you can use as well as tools to create new activities.
U.S. Census Bureau
"The Census Bureau's mission is to serve as the nation's leading provider of quality data about its people and economy. "

Historical Databases

You can find these secondary sources through the HCC library. If you're off campus, you will need to sign in using your w# and password.

Note: Some of these databases have collected primary sources - primarily the Gale and MAS databases.

Biography Databases

American National Biography Online
Reference biographies of men and women from all eras and walks of life whose lives have shaped the United States, with illustrations, hyperlinked cross-references, links to select web sites, and search and browse capabilities. (Full text)
Biography Reference Bank
This biographical database offers in-depth profiles from Current Biography and World Authors, the periodical coverage of Biography Index and specialist content of Junior Authors & Illustrators. It provides full-text articles, images and abstracts from today’s leading magazines and journals.

History Databases

Gale In Context: U.S. History
Uncover information on hundreds of the most significant people, events, and topics in U.S. history from a variety of sources.
Gale OneFile: U.S. History
Search balanced coverage of events in U.S. history. Best for novice historians and academic researchers. Updated daily.
Gale OneFile: World History
Access balanced coverage of events in world history and scholarly work being established in the field.
MAS Complete & Reference eBook Collection
Designed specifically for high school libraries, MAS Complete is a full-text database providing hundreds of popular high school magazines and reference books. It also includes thousands of biographies and primary source documents, plus over a million photos, maps and flags.
The links here allow you to search both the MAS Complete database and the MAS Complete Reference eBook Collection at the same time.
Portal to Texas History
The Portal to Texas History is a gateway to rare, historical, and primary source materials from or about Texas. Created and maintained by the University of North Texas Libraries, the Portal leverages the power of hundreds of content partners across the state to provide a vibrant, growing collection of resources.

Images

Pictures of the Revolutionary War
From the National Archives, these are photographic copies of works of art.
Encyclopedia Virginia - Media
Entries are accompanied by primary documents and media objects, including images, audio and visual clips, and virtual tours of historic sites.

Online Collections of Primary Sources

General Resources

National Archives
Includes America's founding documents and is searchable by topic. This should be one of the first places you go when looking for primary documents on U.S. History.
ALA RUSA - Primary Sources for United States History
ALA RUSA - Primary Sources on the Web: Finding, Evaluation, Using
AVALON Project
"Documents in law, history, and diplomacy" from Yale Law School. Browse by time period or search."
Digital Public Library of America
Images, texts, videos, and sounds from across the United States
Making of America : Cornell University Library
"The Cornell University Library Making of America Collection is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction."
World Digital Library
Over 15,000 digitized manuscripts, photos, books, and more covering World History and other subjects in the Social Sciences.

Colonial to 1860

Cross-Cultural Colonial Conflicts
English-Native conflicts began as soon as the first European settlers arrived. Includes the Pequot Nation and King Philip's War.
Perspectives on the French and Indian War
From 1754 and 1763, major powers engaged in a global struggle, the Seven Years War. In North America, this conflict was referred to as the French and Indian War. The conflict between the French and British Empires included indigenous nations.
Primary Source Documents Pertaining to Early American History
An extensive list of primary documents, British and American, that affected the founding of The United States. Includes links to original documents from Washington, Adams, Madison, Franklin, and Paine.
Mayflower History - Primary Sources Archive
Links to books written by Mayflower passengers and pilgrim associates, Plymouth records, documents and letters
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a crucial turning point in the escalation of the American Revolution and became a powerful symbol of American protest and independence.
Full Text of The Federalist Papers
The Federalist, commonly referred to as the Federalist Papers, is a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison between October 1787 and May 1788.
Creating the U.S. Constitution
Although it was convened for the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, the attendees at the Constitutional Convention instead chose to draft a plan for a new government of the United States.
A New Nation Votes
"A New Nation Votes is a searchable collection of election returns from the earliest years of American democracy. The data were compiled by Philip Lampi. The American Antiquarian Society and Tufts University Digital Collections and Archives have mounted it online for you with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities."
Texas Revolution
Between October 1835 and April 1836, residents of Texas rebelled against the government of Mexico and ultimately declared Texas to be an independent republic.
War of 1812
In many ways, this conflict formally established independence from Great Britain for the United States. It is celebrated as the origin of Canada’s nationhood. For many Native American nations, it marked an end to thousands of years of sovereign habitation of the North American continent east of the Mississippi.

1860 - Civil War and Reconstruction

Slave Voyages
The Slave Voyages makes publicly accessible records of the largest slave trades in history. Search these records to learn about the broad origins and forced relocations of more than 12 million African people who were sent across the Atlantic in slave ships, and hundreds of thousands more who were trafficked within the Americas. Explore where they were taken, the numerous rebellions that occurred, the horrific loss of life during the voyages, the identities and nationalities of the perpetrators.
Transatlantic Slave Trade
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the Transatlantic Slave Trade brought twelve million enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World as part of a broad exchange of trade goods between England, West Africa, South America, the West Indies, and the United States.
The Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Free African Americans faced the threat of being returned to a slaveholder as a result of the The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which required that all escaped enslaved persons be returned, upon capture, to their masters.
Women in the Civil War
Women had new responsibilities on the battlefield and at home, and the war affected white, slave, and Native American women differently.
Civil War Music
Short articles, song lyrics and pictures of sheet music
The Colored Conventions
From 1830 until well after the Civil War, African Americans gathered across the United States and Canada to participate in political meetings held at the state and national levels. A cornerstone of Black organizing in the nineteenth century, these “Colored Conventions” brought Black men and women together in a decades-long campaign for civil and human rights.
Documented Rights
In this exhibit "Documents in the National Archives" give voice to our national struggle for personal rights and freedoms from the Emancipation Proclamation to the five cases that comprised Brown v. Board of Education (1950's).

1900's - Modern History

On the Books: Jim Crow and the Algorithms of Resistance
Discover Jim Crow and racially-based legislation signed into law in North Carolina between Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement (1866-1967). This website lists and contextualizes North Carolina segregation laws for educators and researchers interested in Southern and African American History during the Jim Crow era.
Civil Rights Digital Library
"The struggle for racial equality in the 1950s and 1960s is among the most far-reaching social movements in the nation's history, and it represents a crucial step in the evolution of American democracy. The Civil Rights Digital Library promotes an enhanced understanding of the Movement by helping users discover primary sources and other educational materials from libraries, archives, museums, public broadcasters, and others on a national scale. "

Presidential Papers and Libraries

The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799
Prepared under the direction of the United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission and published by authority of Congress
George Washington's Papers
The papers of army officer and first U.S. president George Washington (1732-1799) held in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress constitute the largest collection of original Washington papers in the world.
The Adams Family Papers
Created by the Massachusetts Historical Society, it contains Correspondence between
John and Abigail Adams, the Diary of John Adams, and Autobiography of John Adams.
Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
"he papers of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), lawyer, representative from Illinois, and sixteenth president of the United States, contain approximately 40,550 documents dating from 1774 to 1948, although most of the collection spans from the 1850s through Lincoln’s presidency (1861-1865). "
Presidential Libraries - Herbert Hoover through Donald Trump
Presidential libraries fall under the National Archive. On this page, you'll find links for all presidential libraries from Herbert Hoover through Donald Trump.
American Presidential Libraries, Museums, and Historical Sites
Presidential libraries have only existed since 1955, so how do you find presidential papers before that? This website has a link for every president.

Oral Histories

Oral Histories are a recording containing information about the past obtained from in-depth interviews concerning personal experiences, recollections, and reflections and are considered primary sources.

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
"In 1964, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library began conducting oral history interviews of people whose lives or work intersected with John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and/or the major events and issues of their times. The John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection now holds roughly 1,300 interviews, while the Robert F. Kennedy Oral History Collection houses about 275 interviews. Many of the transcripts have been digitized and are available for viewing online."
Library of Congress: September 11, 2001, Documentary Project
"The September 11, 2001 Documentary Project captures the reactions, eyewitness accounts, and diverse opinions of Americans and others in the months that followed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93. "
Oral Histories of the American South
"Oral Histories of the American South is a three-year project to select, digitize and make available 500 oral history interviews gathered by the Southern Oral History Program (SOHP)."

Primary vs Secondary Sources: American History Sources