Research Guides: History, Law, Political Science: United States History

United States History

Selected links to primary sources for United States history, either scans of original documents or in translation / transcription.

History Matters A directory of publicly-accessible US History primary sources. Browse by topic, format, period, and more.
Archive Grid ArchiveGrid includes over 7 million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. With over 1,000 different archival institutions represented, ArchiveGrid helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies. Note: The vast majority of these holdings are not available online or by ILL; they must be visited in person.
Chronicling America Digitized, searchable historic American newspapers from the Library of Congress. Includes the Memphis Daily Appeal.
Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) The DPLA offers a single point of access to millions of items—photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more—from libraries, archives, and museums around the United States. Users can browse and search the DPLA’s collections by timeline, map, format, and topic.
Documenting the American South Texts, images, and audio files related to Southern history, literature, and culture, from the Colonial Period thru the early 20th century.
Early Americas Digital Archive Texts originally written in or about the Americas from 1492 to approximately 1820. Published and supported by the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH).
Founders Archives Correspondence and writings of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.
France in America Bilingual digital library explores history of the French presence in North America from the early 16th century to the end of the 19th century.
Harvard Digital Collections Digitized collections of primary sources from Harvard University Library include Women Working, 1800-1930 and Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930.
Library of Congress: Digital Collections Library of Congress digital collections provide access to millions of written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas.
Making of America Primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction.
National Archives Access hundreds of thousands of images of historical documents, figures, and events.
US Constitution Annotated The US Constitution, including its amendments, with annotations and comments provided by practicing lawyers. Includes introduction to historical and present controversies, important cases, and historical background.

African American History

African-American Migration Experience From the New York Public Library Schomburg Center, offers essays, books, articles, and manuscripts, 8,300 illustrations, 100 lesson plans, and 60 maps to aid in understanding peoples, places, and events that shaped African America's migration over the past four hundred years. (Some map animations no longer work due to outdated Flash technology.)
Behind the Veil Audio recordings of interviews from African Americans recalling the Jim Crow era (1890-1950). From Duke University.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture The digitized and catalogued portions of a very large collection of African American historical material at the New York Public Library.
Slave Voyages Database An interactive database of slave voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, including to colonial North America and to the United States.
Umbra Search (African American History) Text, image, sound, and video documentation of African American life from the seventeenth century to the present.

Special Topics

Center for Jewish History Devoted to the experience of American Jews from 1654 - present, includes images, documents, and recordings. Although some collections are partially or completely digitized, to view a collection in its entirety will require a visit to The Lillian Goldman Reading Room in NYC.
Densho Digital Repository (Japanese American internment in WWII) Material relating to the experience of Japanese Americans in relocation camps, including oral histories and camp newspapers.