Fourth of July: Primary Sources

Collection of primary documents and speeches essential for the study of US History. Arranged chronologically.

Utopias in America, from the first Puritan settlements to the communes of the 1960s, share the goal of removal from the heart of civilization to the wilderness in order to establish a new social order. Communities with European roots embraced the equalizing demands and freedoms of the New World’s open frontier, even as the new country claimed the pursuit of happiness as an inalienable right. Though their inspirations varied—theocracy, millenialism, socialism, theosophism, behaviorism—they all reflected the American dream of a better world, now.

The modern definition of caricature is a pictorial representation of a person or thing through the gross exaggeration of its most characteristic features. In times of social and political upheaval the caricaturist boldly, and satirically, portrays the world as they see it, and any text present is secondary to the meaning constructed by the portrait. The caricatures in this collection depict times of turbulence in American history and range in date from the Revolutionary War to the War of 1812 and to the presidential elections of 1860 and 1864 which brought Abraham Lincoln to the White House.

Founded in 1812 by Revolutionary War patriot and printer Isaiah Thomas, the American Antiquarian Society is both a learned society and a major independent research library. The AAS library today houses the largest and most accessible collection of books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, periodicals, music, and graphic arts material printed through 1876 in what is now the United States, as well as manuscripts and a substantial collection of secondary texts, bibliographies, and digital resources and reference works related to all aspects of American history and culture before the twentieth century.

Beginning in 1837 the printer Peter Force, who also served as mayor of Washington, D.C., devoted sixteen years to collecting thousands of pamphlets, booklets, and newspaper articles pertaining to the "Origin, Settlement, and Progress of the Colonies in North America" from the Revolutionary Era in order to preserve them for future generations. He published them in a set of nine large volumes that he called the American Archives. By the late twentieth century Force's collection of materials from the years 1774-6 had become a valuable scholarly resource, as it contained the only surviving copies of many important documents. But while a number of large research libraries around the world held the American Archives in their collections, it remained an underused resource. Scholars and students alike struggled with Force's unwieldy index and complicated organization of the materials.

The 47 treaties, speeches, historical accounts and governmental documents in this collection trace the United States from the settling of the continent to the founding of the country to the Civil War and early twentieth-century international relations

Primary source accounts of travelers and explorers of North America from the Vikings in Canada to 19th century mountain men.

From the Library of Congress, 253 published narratives about and from visitors to the colonies and United States (1750-1920). Subjects include: agriculture, topographic descriptions, social life and customs, religion, Native Americans, military, Mormons, and much more.

Over 2,000 items with distinct coloration and notations. Over 600 are original manuscript drawings.. Famous mapmakers include famous mapmakers as John Montrésor, Samuel Holland, Claude Joseph Sauthier, John Hills, and William Gerard De Brahm.

With the first battles of the American Revolution occurring in the Boston area, one of the most important historical time periods represented in the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center's pre-20th-century holdings is the American Revolutionary War era, defined broadly as 1750 to 1800. This collection encompasses approximately 900 maps covering Boston and New England, as well as the remainder of eastern North America and the West Indies during this time period.

The New York State Library holds an extensive collection of material on the American Revolutionary War in print, microform, and online formats. This material consists of troop rosters and other details extracted from muster and pay rolls, Loyalist records, colonial New York State history documents, military bounty land records, diaries, orderly books, personal papers of participants and broadsides.

The Gilder Lehrman Collection is a unique archive of primary sources in American history. Owned by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and located at the New York Historical Society, the Collection includes more than 60,000 letters, diaries, maps, pamphlets, printed books, newspapers, photographs, and ephemera that document the political, social, and economic history of the United States. An extensive resource for educators, students, and scholars, the Collection ranges from 1493 through the twentieth century and is widely considered one of the nation’s great archives in the Revolutionary, early national, antebellum, and Civil War periods. Requires subscription, which is free to educators from kindergarten through grade twelve.

Database of and index to 5,000+ fulltext, audio and video versions of public speeches, sermons, legal proceedings, lectures, debates, interviews other recorded media events, and a declaration or two.

The Mid-Atlantic region of North America – stretching from New York south to Virginia – was a pivotal area in the early development of the American colonies and the United States. This website looks at this region and its history through maps created up to 1850. The cartographic record created on paper by the early mapmakers preserves, places and events in the physical and historical context of the time in which the maps were made. Much of that context no longer exists on land, as development and growth have ridden roughshod over the past. The maps on this site cover the early modern period ending in 1850, just as so-called internal improvements (canals, highways, and railroads) began to cross the young nation and change the landscape. T

"The Printed Ephemera collection at the Library of Congress is a rich repository of Americana. In total, the collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history."

In 1870, just five years after Cornell’s founding, White was instrumental in bringing an extensive collection of slavery and abolitionist materials gathered by his close friend, Reverend Samuel Joseph May, to the Cornell Library. Numbering over 10,000 titles, May's pamphlets document the anti-slavery struggle at the local, regional, and national levels. Much of the May Anti-Slavery Collection was considered ephemeral or fugitive, and many of these pamphlets remain scarce today. Sermons, position papers, offprints, local Anti-Slavery Society newsletters, speeches, poetry anthologies, freedmen's testimonies, broadsides, and Anti-Slavery Fair keepsakes all document the social and political implications of the abolitionist movement and the fight for equality and human rights.

The Antislavery Collection contains several hundred printed pamphlets and books pertaining to slavery and antislavery in New England, 1725-1911. The holdings include speeches, sermons, proceedings and other publications of organizations such as the American Anti-Slavery Society and the American Colonization Society, and a small number of pro-slavery tracts.

In the century before the creation of the Supreme Court of the United States, the British Privy Council heard appeals from the 13 colonies that became the United States of America. The jurisdiction of that Council lasted longer in the North American colonies in Canada and the Caribbean. In a few instances it still exists today, exercised by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. This catalogue focuses on all currently known appeals from the colonial courts from the future United States (Part 1) and from Canada and the Caribbean (Part 2) before 1783. These appeals are organized in numbered reports (some containing cross appeals and related appeals in a single report): 257 reports from the US colonies, 19 from Canada, and 500 from the Caribbean. Most significantly, this site offers improved access to source material related to these appeals including images of 96 briefs of the appellant, the respondent, or both from 54 of the reports from the US colonies and, similarly, 188 briefs from 107 reports from Canada and the Caribbean.

ArchiveGrid includes over 7 million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. With over 1,400 archival institutions represented, ArchiveGrid helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies.

The National Archives holds historical U.S. government documents (federal, congressional, and presidential records) that are created or received by the President and his staff, by Congress, by employees of Federal government agencies, and by the Federal courts in the course of their official duties.

This online exhibit highlights the Clements Library’s best holdings related to the Barbary Wars. Featured items include manuscripts, books, maps, and engravings documenting the United States’ first interactions with the Arab world and the early development of the U.S. Navy. The heart of this material comes from three manuscript collections: The Tobias Lear papers, the John Rodgers papers, and the Isaac Chauncey papers. Together, these collections document the highest level of naval and diplomatic decision-making during and after the wars. Additionally, the exhibit relies on several other manuscript collections that contain discussions of and references to early American activities in the Mediterranean. Also showcased is the Clements’ collection of 19th-century Barbary captivity narratives, books that informed and inflamed the American public on the home front, as well as images of the naval conflict and maps of the region.

Materials by and about Benjamin Franklin from the State Library collection digitized in commemoration of his 300th birthday.

Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words, indicates the depth and breadth of Benjamin Franklin's public, professional, and scientific accomplishments through important documents, letters, books, broadsides, and cartoons. Marking the tercentenary of Franklin's birth, this exhibition, concentrates on his achievements as a printer and writer, an inventor and scientist, and, particularly, as a politician and statesman.

The papers of statesman, publisher, scientist, and diplomat Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) consist of approximately 8,000 items spanning the years 1726 to 1907, with most dating from the 1770s and 1780s. The collection's principal strength is its documentation of Franklin's diplomatic roles as a colonial representative in London (1757-1762 and 1764-1775) and France (1776-1785), where he sought to win recognition and funding from European countries during the American Revolution, negotiated the treaty with Britain that ended the war, and served as the first United States minister to France. The papers also document Franklin's work as a scientist, inventor, and observer of the natural world, and his relations with family, friends, and scientific and political colleagues.

American-born Benjamin West was one of the most prominent artists in late eighteenth century London. President of the Royal Academy from 1792 until his death, he received many commissions from George III and other English patrons, and at the same time served as teacher and advisor to three generations of American artists in London. He was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, on October 10, 1738. His earliest paintings were portraits of children, Robert and Jane Morris (c. 1752; Chester County Historical Society, West Chester, Pennsylvania). His exceptional talent was quickly recognized, and he painted portraits in eastern Pennsylvania and New York City (briefly), influenced by the work of John Valentine Haidt, William Williams, and John Wollaston. He went to Italy in 1760 to continue his study of painting and after three years, spent primarily in Rome, Florence, and Venice, he settled in London.

Benjamin West, the first internationally recognized artist to hale from the New World. Self-taught in his early years, West became a prominent portrait painter in Philadelphia and New York before travelling to Europe to immerse himself in the Italian Old Masters and Greek and Roman art. There he took up the newly forming Neoclassical style and painted several large-scale history paintings that were wildly popular with the public. Wrapped in a mythology of self-promotion, West was hugely influential for a new generation of American artists, including Gilbert Stuart and John Singleton Copley, that shaped the early Republic's visual identity. While his reputation languished with later critics and historians, West's eventual transition to Romanticism and embrace of current trends has prompted some scholars to consider West one of the first modern artists.

This exhibit provides an overview of the work of and issues faced by this seminal Congress, which was a virtual second sitting of the Federal Convention, fleshing out the governmental structure outlined in the Constitution and addressing the difficult issues left unresolved by the Constitution. Each topic begins with a quote from the Constitution relating to it. The illustrations (letters, newspaper articles, cartoons, portraits, etc.) for the topics provide just a sampling of the wealth of material in the Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, 1789-1791.

As Revolution began in the thirteen American colonies in the late 1770s, the British were badly outnumbered. When in desperation they promised freedom to any slave of a rebel who fought the Americans on their behalf, the response was greater than they could have imagined; as many as 30 000 slaves escaped to British lines. Working as soldiers, labourers, pilots, cooks, and musicians, they were a major part of the unsucessful British war effort. As defeat became inevitable, these free blacks were evacuated to Nova Scotia with the other Loyalists. But their hoped-for promised land never arrived. Their land was never granted, and most were reduced to a position not so different from slavery, where they were dependent on the meagre wages they could earn from manual labour. In the end most chose to seek a new life in Sierra Leone, away from the cold lands where they had experienced so much prejudice.

For many of the half million African Americans living in the Thirteen Colonies in the late eighteenth century, the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) was also their war for independence. The British, seeking to undermine the American Patriot war effort, offered freedom and security to slaves who ran away from their masters.

Papers of Bonds Conway (1763-1843), a free African-American resident of Camden (Kershaw County, S.C.). This collection of family letters, land papers, and other items documents several generations of a free family of color from the 18th through the 20th centuries in South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, east Texas, and elsewhere. Topics discussed include social relations during antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras through the early 20th century.

Although it has been over two centuries since the moonlit March night in 1770 when British soldiers killed five Bostonians on King Street, people still debate responsibility for the Boston Massacre. Does the blame rest with the crowd of Bostonians who hurled insults, snowballs, oyster shells, and other objects at the soldiers, or does the blame rest with an overreacting military that violated laws of the colony that prohibited firing at civilians? Whatever side one takes in the debate, all can agree that the Boston Massacre stands as a significant landmark on the road to the American Revolution

The repository contains high resolution images of over one hundred and fifty historical documents, some six hundred manuscript pages in all, as well as introductory headnotes, bibliographic information, and technical data. The collection can be browsed by date, name, or type of document. Many of the documents have been transcribed, as part of an ongoing project.

Contains the journals of the Continental Congress, Maryland Gazette, Proceedings, etc.

The history of Virginia and that of the Cabell family are inextricably linked; indeed, since about 1726, the Cabells have been one of the Commonwealth’s most interconnected and influential families. This site offers a broad introduction to the Cabell family and to the extraordinary archival material that Cabells in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries left behind.

alendars provide summaries full enough, for most purposes, to replace the original documents. These summaries are printed in chronological order and do not necessarily reflect the archival ordering of the documents (hence ‘calendar’). They are the primary finding aid for the records that they describe. The State Papers Colonial are the accumulated papers of the secretaries of state relating to colonial affairs from the 16th to the 18th century. This series details papers relating to Colonial America and the West Indies for the period 1574-1739.

The fourth in a series of local history collections presented by the National Digital Library Program as part of American Memory, joining "California As I Saw It", Pioneering the Upper Midwest, and Puerto Rico at the Dawn of the Modern Age. Together, these online collections make up a virtual local history bookshelf. Like the other local history collections, The Capital and the Bay comprises first-person narratives, early histories, historical biographies, promotional brochures, and books of photographs in an attempt to capture in words and pictures a distinctive region as it developed between the onset of European settlement and the first quarter of the twentieth century. Works published after that time generally pose copyright challenges that prevented their inclusion.

Includes: Journals of the Continental Congress; Eliot's The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution; and Farrand's The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787

The Charles F. Heartman Manuscripts of Slavery Collection consists of over 6000 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.

Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society contains a variety of letters, diaries and other papers relating to early America and the Revolution; mainly focused on New England colonies, but other colonies are also mentioned.

Located at the Met in the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History There are essays, works of Art and chronology

Boston Public Library holds thousands of manuscripts, correspondence, documents, and printed records from the Colonial and Revolutionary War periods. The collection documents the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, as well as the ensuing political, social, and financial crises that led to the American Revolution and the formation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The events leading up to the Revolutionary War, as well as the war itself, are well-documented in both print materials and manuscripts written by George Washington, John Hancock, John and Samuel Adams, James Otis, and other important patriots.

The series includes documents and materials from throughout the country and from several European repositories covering the earliest days of North Carolina's settlement by Europeans through the ratification of the United States Constitution. The publication of twenty-six volumes of historical materials, appearing between 1886 and 1907, with a four-volume master index, marked a significant achievement for the state's historians and provided a benefit to the entire state of North Carolina. The turmoil and uncertainty of the proprietary years, the attempts at consolidating power and improving life under royal stewardship, and the emergence of an independent state were documented here through individual, governmental, and organizational records. These documents were handwritten originals that are often difficult for non-experts to read, and some of the originals have disappeared since publication.

Collection of biographies, autobiographies, church documents, sermons and more pertaining to African American history in Southern churches.

This collection includes archival documents relating to the early development of New Paltz, NY, settled by Huguenot immigrants from northern France in 1678. Types of records include wills, receipts, contracts, town tax lists and meeting minutes, and family letters, written in French, Dutch, and English, primarily concerning the financial and legal activities of the first few generations of the town. English translations of foreign-language items are provided.

Worlds of Change: Colonial North America at Harvard Library provides access more than 700,000 digitized pages of all known archival and manuscript materials in the Harvard Library that relate to 17th- and 18th-century North America. Over 200 years of colonial era history are represented in this digitized collection, and the diversity in focus, format, and content reflects the complexities of the era in which the materials were created.

After Georgia became a royal colony in 1754, the governor acted as ordinary or appointed an official to carry out such duties. The ordinary probated wills, provided instructions to administrators for the inventory and appraisal of an estate, and ensured that administrators followed all legal requirements in settling the estate. These wills are the official record copy transcribed into volumes by the Ordinary.

Experience the largest outdoor educational living museum in the country, through immersive and authentic 18th-century programming for our guests.

There are thirty two wills from the Trustee period, 1733-1753. After Georgia became a royal colony in 1754, the governor acted as Ordinary or appointed an official to carry out the ordinary’s duties. The ordinary probated wills, provided instructions to administrators for the inventory and appraisal of an estate, and ensured that administrators followed all legal requirements in settling the estate.

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 70,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World to soldiers’ letters from World War II and Vietnam. Explore primary sources, visit exhibitions in person or online, or bring your class on a field trip.

In the years between 1764 and 1776, America truly became a nation. Where before America had been a cluster of competing British colonies—with differing origins, goals, and policies—by 1776 colonists had forged a separate identity flexible enough to support not just revolution but nation building. Topics include the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Sons of Liberty, Townshend Acts, Non-consumption and Non-importation, Boston Massacre, Committees of Correspondence, Boston Tea Party, Coercive Acts, First Continental Congress, Lexington and Concord, Second Continental Congress, Battle of Bunker Hill, Washington appointed general, Declarations of Independence, etc.

Records of the Commission which sold lands seized from Loyalists during the American Revolution through the abolishment of their civil rights and confiscation of their property. In Westchester County, this land primarily belonged to Frederick Philipse and his Philipsburg Manor. Entries include the name of the buyer, the amount paid, and the property boundaries. The volume ends with a description of the capture of Major André and the land presented to one of his captors as a reward (pages 137-141).

Beginning with the Continental Congress in 1774, America's national legislative bodies have kept records of their proceedings. The records of the Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention, and the United States Congress make up a rich documentary history of the construction of the nation and the development of the federal government and its role in the national life. These documents record American history in the words of those who built our government.

Convened in Philadelphia in May 1787, the Constitutional Convention created one of the most important documents of the new nation - the United States Constitution. Under this title you will also find Bankson's Journal, which includes the important delegate credentials from "Ratifications of the Constitution," and drafts of the Virginia Plan, which ultimately led to a bicameral Congress consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

These are documents which were misplaced, overlooked, or found in private hands when the Papers of the Continental Congress were first arranged in 1834. Among the most interesting are the official report of the Annapolis Convention of September 1786, the event leading to Constitutional Convention; and the full text of "Bankson's Journal," an account containing the credentials of delegates to the convention found nowhere else, as well as various reports, resolutions, and legal acts.

Official records of the original colonies and the early United States. The First Continental Congress (1774) addressed "intolerable acts" by the British. The Second Continental Congress (1775-1781) created the Declaration of Independence and the first national government. The Congress of the Confederation (1781-1789) followed. Read important papers, letters, treaties, and reports--famous and obscure--relating to the formation of the new nation, as penned by the founding fathers.

The collection consists of published material, ephemera, and artifacts dating to between 1800 and 1976, including ballots and slates of candidates; promotional broadsides, handbills, and posters; political cartoons (primarily from Harper’s Weekly, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, and Puck); lithographs and prints (primarily by Kellogg, N. Currier, and Currier & Ives); pamphlets, leaflets, and brochures; songbooks and sheet music; badges, pins, ferrotypes and celluloid buttons; campaign ribbons; parade equipment such as lanterns, torches, banners, and walking sticks; bandanas and other textiles; and souvenirs of all kinds including plates, cups, vases, trays, bottles, sewing boxes, and games. There are approximately 7,000 discrete items in the Cornell collections, which are currently represented by over 900 digital images and will soon be representated by an estimated 34,000 additional digital images.

The CyberCemetery is an archive of government websites that have ceased operation (usually websites of defunct government agencies and commissions that have issued a final report). This collection features a variety of topics indicative of the broad nature of government information. In particular, this collection features websites that cover topics supporting the university’s curriculum and particular program strengths.

Among the most common types of literature found on home bookshelves, over the past three hundred years, has been the advice or conduct book. Since the publication of Gervase Markham's The English-Housewife in 1615, advice books for women have incorporated both philosophical and practical guidance. These works not only taught the skills of household management, cooking, gardening, etiquette, childcare, and family medical care, but they also conveyed the appropriate role of a woman in society. Intended for the inexperienced young woman, the books defined an ethical, Christian-based code of behavior, with strict gender role definitions.

As the repository for records of Delaware state and local governments, the Delaware Public Archives contains thousands of documents and other materials that can help with researching one’s genealogical roots. Among these records are census materials, vital statistics including birth, death, and marriage records; tax assessments, probate/estate records, land deeds, and military records. The Delaware Public Archives also preserves a large amount of genealogically related materials that were of private origin. These records include family histories, bible records, church records, manuscript genealogies, and newspapers.

This site includes transcriptions of the diary, correspondence, and papers of the richest and most important man of his day in Virginia, who owned at his death at least 300,000 acres containing many farms and plantations that produced tobacco and other crops for sale, some 750 slaves to work those plantations, and large sums of money invested in Virginia and in England. Robert Carter was a member of the Council of Virginia, acting governor 1726-1727, and a political power in the colony. He had received a classical education in England, and corresponded widely both within the colony and with merchants in England.

Includes a description of the capture of John Andre. Yorktown the last battle of the Revolutionary War.

Samuel Sewall was a judge, businessman and printer in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, best known for his involvement in the Salem witch trials, which he later apologized and his essay "The Selling of Joseph (1700), which criticized slavery.

Transcriptions of significant primary source documents pertaining to the American Revolution.

Contains over 3,000 titles documenting the history of the Inquisition and the persecution of witchcraft, primarily in Europe. The collection documents the earliest and the latest manifestations of the belief in witchcraft as well as its geographical boundaries, and elaborates this history with works on canon law, the Inquisition, torture, demonology, trial testimony, and narratives. The collection focuses on witchcraft not as folklore or anthropology, but as theology and as religious heresy.

Links to more than 700 digital collections of primary sources pertaining to women's history in America from the time of ancient Pueblo women to the 1970s. Sources include photos, letters, diaries, artifacts and more.

The National Archives has selected thousands of primary source documents to bring the past to life as classroom teaching tools from the billions preserved at the National Archives. Use the search field to find written documents, images, maps, charts, graphs, audio and video in their ever-expanding collection that spans the course of American history.

Documenting 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.

Contains 277 documents relating to the work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution. Items include extracts of the journals of Congress, resolutions, proclamations, committee reports, treaties, and early printed versions of the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Most broadsides are one page in length; others range from 1 to 28 pages. A number of these items contain manuscript annotations not recorded elsewhere that offer insight into the delicate process of creating consensus. In many cases, multiple copies bearing manuscript annotations are available to compare and contrast.

The year is 1777. Rumors are spreading of not one, but two armies of invaders who (the rumors say) will come down Lake Champlain from the north, and from the British stronghold Oswego to the west. In both armies are red and white men who have been driven from their homes and their families. They're coming to take back what's theirs and to turn the tables on their enemies - their neighbors who cast them out as traitors. Contains the Chronicles, Valley Dwellers, settlements, Letters and links.

The museum’s collection begins with works from the colonies of New Spain and New England. Some of the oldest works in the collection are from seventheenth-century Puerto Rico—Santa Bárbara (Saint Barbara), a painting from about 1680–90, and Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows), a painted wood sculpture from about 1675–1725. The collection features artworks that trace the transformation of the thirteen colonies into a nation, including portraits by John Singleton Copley, Charles Willson Peale, and Gilbert Stuart; landscapes by Thomas Cole; and sculptures by Horatio Greenough. Copley’s portrait of Mrs. George Watson emphasizes luxurious fabric, lace, Delft pottery, and flowers—costly imports and fitting props for the wife of a prominent Boston merchant. That port city was a vital center of shipping and trade in the English colonies.

The Early Americas Digital Archive (EADA) is a collection of electronic texts originally written in or about the Americas from 1492 to approximately 1820.

The Early California Population Project (ECPP) is a database developed by the Huntington Library providing public access to all the information contained in the California mission registers from 1769–1850. It includes baptism, marriage, and burial records of each of the California missions, providing historical information on the Indians, soldiers, and settlers of Alta California.

Go to the archive, which includes letters, portraits, newspaper articles, and maps, to examine the rich documentary record of this fascinating woman. An interactive timeline, portrait, and other kinds of explorations can be experienced in the activities section. For classroom applications, helpful links, bibliographies, and other curricular materials, go to the teaching resources section. Tools include guides on how to use primary sources and how to evaluate websites.

This collection of nearly 600 broadsides highlights crime and capital punishment, primarily in England, as seen through the popular press in the 18th and 19th century. Between 1735 and 1868 in England and Wales, more than 9,300 people convicted of capital crimes were publicly executed. Before reforms of 1830s there were over 200 capital crimes. These included: arson, assault, burglary, counterfeiting, forgery, highway robbery, house breaking, larceny, murder, piracy, rape, sodomy, theft of cows, horses, or sheep, treason.

Online texts of books, pamphlets, and broadsides known to have been printed in the U.S. between 1640 and 1821.

witness accounts concerning slavery and slaves.

The Federalist Papers were a series of eighty-five essays urging the citizens of New York to ratify the new United States Constitution. Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, the essays originally appeared anonymously in New York newspapers in 1787 and 1788 under the pen name "Publius." The Federalist Papers are considered one of the most important sources for interpreting and understanding the original intent of the Constitution.

"First-Person Narratives of the American South" is a collection of diaries, autobiographies, memoirs, travel accounts, and ex-slave narratives written by Southerners. The majority of materials in this collection are written by those Southerners whose voices were less prominent in their time, including African Americans, women, enlisted men, laborers, and Native Americans.

Hailed as "the Oxford English Dictionary of American constitutional history," the print edition of The Founders' Constitution has proved since its publication in 1986 to be an invaluable aid to all those seeking a deeper understanding of one of our nation's most important legal documents.

Correspondence and writings from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison

The history of the free African American community as told through the family history of most African Americans who were free in the Southeast during the colonial period. Two books you can read on-line containing about 2,700 pages of family histories based on all colonial court order and minute books on microfilm at the state archives of Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Delaware (over 1000 volumes), tax lists, wills, deeds, free Negro registers, marriage bonds, parish registers, Revolutionary War pension files, etc. There are also another 5,000 pages of abstracted colonial tax lists, Virginia personal property tax lists, under "Colonial Tax Lists..."

Slavery has been called the “peculiar institution,” but there is nothing strange about a practice that is as old as the human record and as widespread. Slavery has existed in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas—and in Pennsylvania. Even in Western Pennsylvania, as is evidenced by this exhibition, lifetime and term slavery persisted into the 19th century.

Louisiana documents from 1655 to 1924 with a strong emphasis on the French colonial, Spanish colonial, and early national periods. Includes correspondence, land sales, slave sales, plantation journals, business licenses, property sales, professional and family papers, legal documents, land grants, tax receipts, theater programs, broadsides, engravings, and more. A noted Louisiana document collector, Felix Kuntz (1890-1971) donated his collection to Tulane University in four installments beginning in 1954 and requested that it be named after his parents. Today, the Rosemond E. and Emile Kuntz Collection (LaRC Manuscripts Collection 600) is a renowned resource for studying Louisiana with a special emphasis on New Orleans. Particularly noteworthy are records from the Company of the Indies, papers of Francisco Bouligny describing early French and Spanish authority over Louisiana, documents spanning Louisiana's entry into the United States through the Civil War and New Orleans? growth as a major commercial center, New Orleans municipal records (1805-1850s, including an 1805 census), and several small personal and family collections such as those of John McDonogh, the Pontalba family, and the Pierson family.

The Friendly Association papers contain hundreds of unique and detailed accounts of behind-the-scenes treaty negotiations; historical documents dating back to the early years of Pennsylvania related to work with Indigenous groups; the correspondence of Pemberton and others relating to fund-raising and the exigencies of Pennsylvania politics; and missives from Indian leaders, transcribed or otherwise transmitted by an intricate network of Indian “go-betweens” who maintained almost constant contact with the Association.

The Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College is devoted to the history of the Society of Friends (Quakers) and its concerns. The Library includes printed works dating from the mid-seventeenth century to the present, as well as archives, manuscripts and other materials. This digital database is a small sample of its approximately 60,000 visual resources holdings.

A hypertext on the history of the United States from the colonial period until modern times

Transcriptions of advertisements for runaway slaves, documents, court records, etc. pertaining to slavery in Virginia.

An introduction to the diverse elements of the 18th centory fortifications in America.

Notebook kept by George Washington, first President of the United States, while a colonel in charge of the Virginia militia during the French and Indian War, 1757. Memoranda concern military matters and consist of his outlines for letters to be written, orders to be given, and tasks to be accomplished. Letter recipients include the Governor of Virginia, the Speaker of the House of Burgesses, Colonel Stanwix, and others. Initial entries are dated, beginning 1757 June 7, correlating to his command at Fort Loudoun in Winchester, Virginia. Items were apparently cross-hatched once completed. Memoranda include a list of officers' commissions given out by him in May and July; a list of his wagon horses with their names, physical descriptions and drawn brand marks; and a list of things to be done in Williamsburg should he go there in November. Also in his handwriting is an undated recipe for making "small beer." The volume also contains items not written by him: an earlier roll of the artificers employed at the works at Winchester under the command of Captain William Peach[e]y, with an account of their lost time for July, 1756; an undated list of men drafted from the artificers to do garrison duty for a time, drafted on July 9; and an undated list of men drafted from various Virginia counties, sometimes noting their occupation and description of fitness for service.

George Washington (1732-1799) was a Virginia planter, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and first President of the United States. The Washington Papers comprise manuscript items by or related to George Washington and his family acquired by The New York Public Library and its predecessor the Lenox Library through various gifts and purchases. Among the items in the collection are Washington’s notebook as a colonel in the Virginia militia (1757), the manuscript of his Farewell Address to the nation (1796), and letters he sent and received, 1757-1799.

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. They consist of approximately 77,000 items accumulated by Washington between 1745 and 1799, including correspondence, diaries, and financial and military records. The collection documents Washington’s childhood education, his first career as a surveyor, his experiences as a militia colonel during the French and Indian War, his election as a Virginia delegate to the first and second Continental Congresses, his role as general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, his presidency of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, his two terms as president (1789-1797), and his retirement. Also documented is his management of Mount Vernon, his plantation home in Virginia, and the lives of his family, servants, and slaves. Notable correspondents include John Adams, Benedict Arnold, Edward Braddock, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, and the Marquis de Lafayette. Because of the wide range of Washington's interests, activities, and correspondents, which include ordinary citizens as well as celebrated figures, his papers are a rich source for almost every aspect of colonial and early American life.

The Historical Governors’ Papers collection is an ongoing digitization project and will eventually include the correspondence of many of North Carolina’s early governors. These materials are from the collections of the State Archives of North Carolina and each group of correspondence will be indexed by month and year. Also included are materials from North Carolina’s colonial governors.

The collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of material associated with the American Revolution era (1763-1783), including manuscripts, broadsides, government documents, books, images, and maps. This guide compiles links to digital materials related to the American Revolution that are available throughout the Library of Congress website. In addition, it provides links to external websites focusing on the American Revolution and a bibliography containing selections for both general and younger readers.

The Washington Papers was established in 1968 at the University of Virginia, under the joint auspices of the University and the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union, to publish a comprehensive edition of George Washington’s correspondence. Forty years later, the project broadened that scope to include other significant editions, such as the George Washington’s Financial Papers, the Martha Washington Papers, and Washington Family Papers projects. Today there are copies of over 135,000 documents in the project’s document room. This is one of the richest collections of American historical manuscripts extant. There is almost no facet of research on life and enterprise in the late colonial and early national periods that will not be enhanced by material from these documents.

"During the American Revolution Thomas Paine penned a patriotic song called “Hail Great Republic” which is to be sung to the tune of Rule Britannia (of course!) (1776)"

Over 20,000 thousand letters and documents in relation with the birth of Canada and the United-States of America

This feature contains primary documents in text, image, and audio about the experiences of ordinary Americans throughout U.S. history. All of the documents have been screened by professional historians and are accompanied by annotations that address their larger historical significance and context.

This ongoing project introduces a novel approach for spotting early American immigrants in Colonial American and European sources. The basic thesis is that most indentured servants were European immigrants. This project aims to create a reconstructed passenger arrival list for people who came to Colonial America as indentured servants, redemptioners, and transported convicts between 1607 and 1820. A random sample taken from among the database’s first 10,000 immigrants revealed that approximately 50% do not appear in Filby’s multi-volume Passenger and Immigration Lists Index. Check back regularly for updates.

Thousands of photographs, diaries, books, pamphlets and more related to immigration to the U.S. (1789-1930).

High resolution images from the Library's archive of early American images, map collection, and political cartoon collection are available through Luna. Scans of over 15,000 full books are available through Internet Archive.

Many factors contributed to the eventual success of the American colonies as they revolted against British rule. American leadership, the timely support of international allies, and international respect and recognition played major roles in the struggle for independence. Several documents and engravings held by the National Archives help to illustrate these important factors that led to the founding of the United States.

This 1750 legal document between John Henry Coats, his father, and shoemaker John Humphries obligates Humphries to teach Coats the trade.

This 1794 indenture, or contract, binds Letitia Beard "to learn the art, trade and mystery of a housewife."

Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler, this historically significant, seven volume compilation contains U.S. treaties, laws and executive orders pertaining to Native American Indian tribes. The volumes cover U.S. Government treaties with Native Americans from 1778-1883 (Volume II) and U.S. laws and executive orders concerning Native Americans from 1871-1970 (Volumes I, III-VII). This digitization project was made possible by significant gifts from the AMIGOS Bibliographic Council, the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Foundation and the Angie Debo estate.

First published in 1727 under the title Indian Converts, or Some account of the lives and dying speeches of a considerable number of the Christianized Indians of Martha's Vineyard, in New-England, Experience Mayhew's history of the Wampanoag Indians on Martha's Vineyard provides a rare look at the lives and culture of four generations of Native Americans in colonial America. Dividing his treatment into four sections—Indian Ministers, Good Men, Religious Women, and Pious Children—Mayhew details the books that different age groups were reading, provides insights into early New England pedagogy and childrearing practices, and describes each individual in terms of genealogy, religious practice, way of life, and place of residence. In addition to drawing on his own first-hand knowledge of the community and transcriptions of oral testimony he and others collected, Mayhew inserts translations of Wampanoag texts that have since been lost.

The Schedule of Indian Land Cessions comprises 709 entries with links to the related map or maps for each entry. The tables and essays are available in both searchable text and page images and the maps are available in images. Due to the complexity of information presented in each entry, it is strongly recommended that users print out both pages of a table entry for comparison with the related map.

Between 1776 and 1887, the United States seized over 1.5 billion acres from America's indigenous people by treaty and executive order. The Invasion of America shows how by mapping every treaty and executive order during that period. It also contains present-day federal Indian reservations.

The papers of colonial governor James Glen (1701-1777), who served as Governor of South Carolina from 1738 to 1756, include official government documents, papers concerning relations with Native American Indians, business papers relating to his ownership of a South Carolina rice plantation, and correspondence between Glen and South Carolina planter, John Drayton (1713-1779).

James Madison (1751-1836) is one of 23 presidents whose papers are held in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. The Madison Papers consist of approximately 12,000 items, spanning the period 1723-1859, captured in some 37,714 digital images. They document the life of the man who came to be known as the “Father of the Constitution” through correspondence, personal notes, drafts of letters and legislation, an autobiography, legal and financial documents, and his notes on the 1787 federal Constitutional Convention. The papers cover Madison’s years as a college student; as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Continental Congress, and Confederation Congress; as a delegate to the 1787 federal Constitutional Convention and the Virginia ratification convention of 1788; his terms in the House of Representatives, as secretary of state, and as president of the United States. Also documented are his retirement and the settlement of his estate; matters relating to his family, including his wife, Dolley Payne Madison; and his home, Montpelier, in Virginia.

James Madison (1751-1836) was one of the key contributors in the drafting of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights and the fourth President of the United States. The James Madison papers, dated 1773-1847, primarily consist of correspondence and documents either written by or sent James Madison. Topics of the correspondence include the American Revolution, war intelligence reports, foreign relations, political events, slavery, and domestic and family affairs. Other documents include checks, contracts, an annotated address, and a note of Madison's accounts with James Monroe. Letters to and from Madison's family, the bulk of which were addressed to Dolley Madison, are also included. The bulk of these pertain to domestic and social affairs.

This site contains the entire English translation of the The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, originally compiled and edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites and published by The Burrows BrothersCompany, Cleveland, throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century. Each file represents the total English contents of a single published volume. The original work has facing pages in the original French, Latin or Italian, depending on the author.

No country values free expression more highly than we do, and no case in American history stands as a greater landmark on the road to protection for freedom of the press than the trial of a German immigrant printer named John Peter Zenger. On August 5, 1735, twelve New York jurors, inspired by the eloquence of the best lawyer of the period, Andrew Hamilton, ignored the instructions of the Governors's hand-picked judges and returned a verdict of "Not Guilty" on the charge of publishing "seditious libels." The Zenger trial is a remarkable story of a divided Colony, the beginnings of a free press, and the stubborn independence of American jurors.

John Singleton Copley (1738 - 1815) was an American painter, born presumably in Boston, Massachusetts and a son of Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Irish. He is famous for his portrait paintings of important figures in colonial New England, depicting in particular middle-class subjects. His paintings were innovative in their tendency to depict artifacts relating to these individuals' lives.

John Trumbull is known for his portraits and history paintings of the leaders and events of the American Revolution. Born in 1756 in Lebanon, Connecticut, he graduated from Harvard College in 1773 and served with the Connecticut First Regiment in the early months of the revolution. He began his painting career in 1777. He went to England to study briefly with Benjamin West in 1780, returning in 1784 for a longer period. The critical era of his life, and that of his finest work, was from 1784 to 1794. In March 1785 he wrote to his father, Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., that "the great object of my wishes...is to take up the History of Our Country, and paint the principal Events particularly of the late War." (Connecticut Historical Society, quoted in Cooper 1982, 7) Influenced by the work of West and Copley, he completed his first history painting, The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill (Yale University Art Gallery), in March 1786. He began the composition of The Declaration of Independence (Yale University Art Gallery) while visiting Thomas Jefferson in Paris that July. There he also visited private paintings collections and met Jacques-Louis David and Jean-Antoine Houdon, travelling to Germany and the Low Countries before going back to London.

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
Jonathan Edwards, among the foremost theologians and philosophers of his time, was born in East Windsor, Connecticut, on October 5, 1703. He attended Yale College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1720. Upon leaving Yale, he succeeded his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, as minister of the Congregationalist Church at Northampton, Massachusetts from 1726 to 1750. There he became known as an evangelical preacher and stern Calvinist, helping inspire the “Great Awakening” of the 1740s. His writings, which were widely circulated, included A Faithful Narrative and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. In 1751 he became a missionary to the Mahican and Mohawk Indians at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and minister to the English congregation there. While at Stockbridge he continued writing treatises that expounded his theology, including Freedom of the Will and The End for Which God Created the World. In 1757, he accepted an offer to become the president of the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University. In March 1758 he received a smallpox inoculation which proved to be infected, and died.

The First Continental Congress met from September 5 to October 26, 1774. The Second Continental Congress ran from May 10, 1775, to March 2, 1789. The Journals of the Continental Congress are the records of the daily proceedings of the Congress as kept by the office of its secretary, Charles Thomson. The Journals were printed contemporaneously in different editions and in several subsequent reprint editions. None of these editions, however, includes the "Secret Journals," confidential sections of the records, which were not published until 1821.

The Lee Family Digital Archive (LFDA), now housed at Stratford Hall, is an online repository of the collected papers of the Lee Family of Virginia. When complete, the LFDA will consist of a comprehensive annotated edition of all the known papers of the immigrant founder Richard Lee (c.1602-1663/4) and his lines of offspring (7-8 generations). This rich documentary legacy, spanning roughly the first three centuries of American history (from c.1640 to c.1920), is offered to the public free of charge for research and teaching purpose

As the primary catalyst for legislation, petitions played a vital role in Virginia politics before 1865. Legislative petitions serve as a vibrant register of popular opinion on matters both public and private. Additionally, they are a useful tool in historical and genealogical research, often containing hundreds of signatures as well as supplementary documents such as maps, wills, naturalizations, deeds, resolutions, affidavits, judgments, and other items. One of the most basic civil rights that English settlers brought with them to Virginia was the right to petition the government. Legislative petitions became the only form in which private or specific local or provincial matters could be introduced for deliberation in the House of Burgesses. With the adoption of the U.S. Bill of Rights in 1791, the right "to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" was guaranteed.

American colonists had struggled at least since 1763, the end of the Seven Years' War, with British regulations and taxes that they found unfair. The conflicts escalated, especially in Massachusetts (of which Maine was a part) until the Revolution began on April 19, 1775. In Maine, some colonists also demanded that residents comply with the embargo of British goods. Disputes then arose between patriots and loyalists, the latter group siding with the British government. In 1775, conflict erupted in Machias and Falmouth (Portland). In addition, Benedict Arnold and his troops marched through Maine on their way to Quebec, leaving a legacy of a failed mission to drive the British out of the north. Many more Mainers would become involved in the war after these opening battles, but the events of 1775 helped make clear what some of the pressures would be in Maine and on Maine people.

This Web site provides links to materials digitized from the collections of the Library of Congress that supplement and enhance the study of these crucial documents.

Site provides information on available microfilm not online documents.

"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. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. This site provides access to 267 monograph volumes and over 100,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints. The project represents a major collaborative endeavor in preservation and electronic access to historical texts."

MAKING THE REVOLUTION presents an expansive collection of primary sources to enhance classroom study of the American Revolutionary period from 1763 to 1791 (the end of the French and Indian War to the adoption of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights).

Explore how Americans voted for their legislators during the formative era of American politics, 1788–1825. Mapping Early American Elections provides interactive maps and tables of U.S. Congressional elections during the First Party System, contextual essays, open access data, and tutorials. Learn more.

Maps have for centuries played a key role in warfare, and the French and Indian War was no exception. Commanders on both sides relied on maps as they made their decisions about troop and fleet movements, where to engage the enemy, and what territory to try to hold. These maps served as tools for strategists who determined the destiny of empires.

MARTHA DANDRIDGE CUSTIS WASHINGTON was born into a world of elite social custom and privilege in the 1730s. Little did she know that she would marry twice, give birth to four children — losing two of them to illness in childhood — and bear witness to the Revolution and the creation of a new nation. This site will allow you to explore the contours of Martha Washington’s life while also providing you with a window on women’s lives during the 18th century, including women’s access to property and education, their role in the Revolution, their thoughts on the promises of rights called for in the founding documents, and their everyday experiences of marriage, motherhood, labor, sickness, and death.

The “Medford Slave Trade Letters” as they were called in their original accession are a series of letters spanning between the January of 1759 and October of 1765. A six-year correspondence between Timothy Fitch, a merchant and Medford resident, and his employee named Peter Gwinn. The letters are a direct and local link to the trafficking and sale of enslaved human beings from Africa.

Medicine in the Americas is a digital library project that makes freely available original works demonstrating the evolution of American medicine from colonial frontier outposts of the 17th century to research hospitals of the 20th century. Drawing on the collections of NLM's History of Medicine Division and including works from the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada, this initial release of Medicine in the Americas encompasses monographs dating from 1610 to 1865. Additional titles, dating up to 1920 and drawing further upon NLM's comprehensive collection of early American printed books and journals, will be available on an ongoing basis in the future.

Resources cover "The Founding Fathers Online", Pictures of the Revolutionary War, Records of the American Revolution, "The Rejection of Elizabeth Mason: The Case of a "Free Colored" Revolutionary Widow", "Revolutionary War Pension Records and Patterns of American Mobility, 1780–1830", "A Soldier of the Revolution: Or, Will the Real Isaac Rice Please Stand Up", The Stylistic Artistry of the Declaration of Independence, Teaching With Documents: Images of the American Revolution, "Will the Real Molly Pitcher Please Stand Up?", The American Revolution (MI University ), Lighting Freedom's Flame, Open Yale: The American Revolution, Revolutionary Money, Revolutionary War, Tea, Taxes, and the American Revolution.

The story of the African American presence in Hudson Valley history remains comparatively untold. African slaves churn the rich, fertile soils of the New York flats, While New York played a major role in the trading of coffee, sugar, and tobacco, our state also played a crucial role in the trafficking of human life. Through Photographs, Bills of Sale, Last Will and Testaments, Inventories, Vendues, Runaway Slave Notices, Court Cases, Slave Law Codes, Journals, Ledgers, and Correspondences, we can gain a deeper understanding of Slavery in New York in general and of the experiences and fates of specific African Americans.

Thomas Jefferson enslaved over six hundred people throughout his life. Learn about the men, women, and children who built Jefferson's home, planted his crops, tended his gardens, and who helped run his household and raise his children.

The collections at Mystic Seaport reflect the extraordinary scope and significance of America’s relationship with the sea and inland waterways. Housed in the Museum’s Collections Research Center, the collections represent a wide variety of materials, from manuscripts to fine art.

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.

The New York Slavery Records Index is a searchable compilation of records that identify individual enslaved persons and their owners, beginning as early as 1525 and ending during the Civil War.

The Northwest Territory Collection consists of papers relating to the exploration, settlement and administration of the Northwest Territory. The bulk of the papers are from the period 1780 through 1801 and relate to the U.S. Army in the West; the campaigns of generals Josiah Harmar, Arthur St. Clair and Anthony Wayne against the Indians; Indian relations; French settlers at Vincennes and elsewhere in the territory; the Ohio Company and other American settlers; and the administration of the territorial government.

Proceedings of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government : 1786 PROCEEDINGS OF COMMISSIONERS TO REMEDY DEFECTS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (1) ANNAPOLIS IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND SEPTEMBER 11th 1786

The ideals of individual liberty and limited government motivated the men and women who took part in the creation of the American Republic. The OLL includes critical primary sources that helped shape the nation’s cultural, religious, and historical tradition. These books reveal the character of American discourse about such crucial issues as the nature and importance of self-government, the purposes of federal union, and the role of religion in America’s drive for liberty.

The United States grew up on the water and remains a maritime nation to this day. For more than 300 years, waves of new Americans arrived by sea. In that time, the nation’s seacoasts, rivers, lakes, and canals became avenues of exploration, communication, and commerce. These waterways linked people and communities with the rest of the country. Stories of life and work on the water—from fishers to passengers to seafarers—unfolded at the same time, through immense challenges and achievements, and occasional disasters. Ships today connect Americans to a complex web of international trade. In the age of flight, it’s worth remembering that the nation still thrives on the water.

The Papers of John Jay is an image database and indexing tool comprising some 13,000 documents (more than 30,000 page images) scanned chiefly from photocopies of original documents. Most of the source material was assembled by Columbia University's John Jay publication project staff during the 1960s and 1970s under the direction of the late Professor Richard B. Morris. These photocopies were originally intended to be used as source texts for documents to be included in a planned four-volume letterpress series entitled The Selected Unpublished Papers of John Jay, of which only two volumes were published.

Papers of the War Department 1784-1800 presents this collection of more than 42,000 documents in a free, online format with extensive and searchable metadata linked to digitized images of each document, ensuring free access for a wide range of users. Readers will find evidence on many subjects in the history of the Early Republic, from the handling of Indian affairs, pensions and procurement to the nature of the first American citizens’ relationship with their new Federal government. The Papers offer a window into a time when there was no law beyond the Constitution and when the administration first worked out its understanding and interpretation of that new document.

The National Library of Spain, the Biblioteca Colombina y Capitular of Seville and the Library of Congress offer this bilingual, multi-format English-Spanish digital library site which explores the interactions between Spain and the United States in America from the fifteenth to the early nineteenth centuries.

United States History Revolution 1775-1783 Personal Narratives

On the evening of 5 March 1770, a confrontation between British soldiers and a boisterous crowd in front of the Custom House on King Street in Boston, Massachusetts had deadly results and the event quickly became known as the "Boston Massacre." In its aftermath, the commander of the 29th Regiment, Captain Thomas Preston, as well as the eight soldiers involved, were thrown in jail, while the five men who lost their lives became martyrs for the Patriot cause. In the days immediately following the event, the acting colonial governor, Thomas Hutchinson, struggled to maintain order, eventually electing to relocate the British troops, previously quartered in Boston, to Castle William (now Castle Island), a fortified island in Boston Harbor.

Manuscript petition (7 p.) signed by forty-six members of the Second Continental Congress on July 8, 1775, asking King George III to use his authority and influence to address grievances and restore harmony in the government's relations with the American colonies. The petition, drafted by John Dickinson, is considered the colonies' final effort to avert revolution against Great Britain. The document is also known as the Olive Branch Petition

A database of graphic political cartoons which includes the complete collection of over 500 political cartoons held by the Library. The subject matter focuses primarily on British responses to political events in the late-eighteenth century Atlantic world.

This series contains selected primary sources such as diaries, letters, manuscripts, etc.

"The Printed Ephemera collection at the Library of Congress is a rich repository of Americana. In total, the collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history."

Researchers at Gunston Hall Plantation, the colonial home of George Mason (1725-1792), collected 325 probate inventories from the Chesapeake region of Maryland and Virginia for the period of 1740 to 1810. These inventories were transcribed and the household items entered into a searchable database (view this originial database online or download it (requires Microsoft Access 2000 or later)) to provide insight into the household furnishings that might have been at Gunston Hall during Mason's lifetime. All probate inventories that met designated markers, namely the amount of food service items, including forks, necessary to serve a dinner to 10 persons, were included. The presence of forks indicated a more modern inventory, and the equipage reflected sufficient wealth, while proclaiming an individual's knowledge of the genteel manners and correct behavior essential to the proper execution of the complex social ritual of dining.

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) was the first corporate body in Britain and North America to fully condemn slavery as both ethically and religiously wrong in all circumstances. It is in Quaker records that we have some of the earliest manifestations of anti-slavery sentiment, dating from the 1600s. After the 1750s, Quakers actively engaged in attempting to sway public opinion in Britain and America against the slave trade and slavery in general. At the same time, Quakers became actively involved in the economic, educational and political well being of the formerly enslaved.

In the pre-dawn hours of February 29, 1704, a force of about 300 French and Native allies launched a daring raid on the English settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts, situated in the Pocumtuck homeland. 112 Deerfield men, women, and children were captured and taken on a 300-mile forced march to Canada in harsh winter conditions. Some of the captives were later redeemed and returned to Deerfield, but one-third chose to remain among their French and Native captors.

These civil and criminal records are an invaluable source for researching Louisiana's colonial history. They record the social, political and economic lives of rich and poor, female and male, slave and free, African, Native, European and American colonials.

Encompassing over 200 objects including early American books, manuscripts, letters, prints, paintings, artifacts, and music from the Library's collections and complemented by loans from other institutions, Religion and the Founding of the American Republic explores the role religion played in the founding of the American colonies, in the shaping of early American life and politics, and in forming the American Republic.

The Massachusetts Historical Society presents the complete four volume set of Revolutionary-era Boston newspapers and pamphlets collected, annotated, and indexed by Harbottle Dorr, Jr., a shopkeeper in Boston.

About 20 years ago, Bill Leap happened to visit the Hessian State Archives in Marburg, Germany. While there, he discovered some amzing maps that no one outside of Germany had seen in a long time. The maps depicted New Jersey and surrounding states at the time of the Revolution. In that pre-digital era all he could do was make some notes and then tell his friends at home what he had seen. Less that a year ago, Ed Fox checked through the online holdings list of the Hessian State Archives. He found the maps and asked the archives if it was possible to obtain digital copies.

The collection consists of 40 manuscript and 26 printed maps, and a manuscript atlas, the originals of which are in the Library of Congress' Geography and Map Division.

The Rochambeau Map Collection contains cartographic items used by Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1725-1807), when he was commander in chief of the French expeditionary army (1780-82) during the American Revolution. The maps were from Rochambeau's personal collection, cover much of eastern North America, and date from 1717 to 1795. The maps show Revolutionary-era military actions, some of which were published in England and France, and early state maps from the 1790s. Many of the items in this extraordinary group of maps show the importance of cartographic materials in the campaigns of the American Revolution (1776 to 1783) as well as Rochambeau's continuing interest in the new United States. The personal papers of Rochambeau were purchased by an act of Congress in 1883.

Samuel Adams (1722-1803) was an American revolutionary and post-revolutionary era political leader. Adams served as lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts from 1789 to 1793, and was governor from 1794 to 1797. The Adams papers contain letters to Adams and drafts of letters by him, chiefly on public affairs; as well as manuscripts of addresses, petitions, committee minutes, resolutions, and other documents. Much of Adams’ correspondence is with notable figures of the period in America and Europe including John Adams, Samuel Cooper, Christopher Gadsden, Horatio Gates, Elbridge Gerry, Joseph Hawley, Thomas Jefferson, Arthur Lee, Richard Henry Lee, James Lovell, Thomas Paine, and James Warren. There are also letters (1778-1781) to Adams’ wife, Elizabeth Wells Adams, on family matters, as well as letters neither to nor from Adams.

The Samuel Wyllys Papers, 1663-1728, undated, are a group of 88 court documents also known as Depositions on Cases of Witchcraft, Assault, Theft, Drunkenness, and Other Crimes Tried In Connecticut 1663-1728. The papers include 6 cases of witchcraft (42 documents), 12 cases concerning assault and battery, theft, adultery and other crimes (35 documents), and 11 other documents. Samuel Wyllys served as a magistrate in the General Court, 1654-1685, 1689-1692, and 1698, whose members also sat on the Particular Court and later the Court of Assistants on a rotating basis. Between 1658 and 1670 he sat on courts that tried witchcraft cases and as an Assistant in 1693 he was one of three judges that granted a stay to Mercy Disborough, who was later acquitted. Wyllys also was a Commissioner for the United Colonies in 1662, 1666, 1667, 1669, and 1671, a patentee and custodian of Connecticut's 1662 Charter.

On the commencement of actual war, the women of America manifested a firm resolution to contribute as much as could depend on them, to the deliverance of their country. [Recalling the patriotism of women.

Broadly conceived, the collection charts the definition and re-definiton of rights and liberties endemic to Western political traditions. The main focus is texts and documents relating to the American Revolution, its run-up dating back to the Commonwealth men, and coming down to documents of the early Federal government.

The Skipwith Revolutionary War Collection consists primarily of the papers of Nathanael Greene, Major-General of the Continental Army. During the latter years of the war, Greene commanded the Southern Army, which had suffered from weaker commanders.

The Buncombe County Register of Deeds office has kept property records since the late 1700’s. In our records one can find a wealth of information about the history of our community. On this page, we have compiled a list of the documents that record the trade of people as slaves in Buncombe County.

This site provides access to the raw data and documentation which contains information on the following slave trade topics from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: records of slave ship movement between Africa and the Americas, slave ships of eighteenth century France, slave trade to Rio de Janeiro, Virginia slave trade in the eighteenth century, English slave trade (House of Lords Survey), Angola slave trade in the eighteenth century, internal slave trade to Rio de Janeiro, slave trade to Havana, Cuba, Nantes slave trade in the eighteenth century, and slave trade to Jamaica. For information about the data sets, read the study descriptions for each data set.

The collection is comprised of various documents and letters from many sources which document slavery and the treatment of enslaved persons in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century, primarily in the United States. Documents include several bills of sale, a memorandum describing the slave trade in Havana (1783), estate inventories, public notices, letters, deeds, a will, and an indemnity bond. A few of the documents are facsimiles. Although acquired by the University Library from diverse sources they have been gathered into a collection as a matter of convenience.

The Hagerstown newspapers from 1790 to 1864 included many stories of African Americans in Washington County, Maryland. Primary source material that has survived from this time period is usually restricted to court documents like wills, jail records and manumissions and the small collection of church records that included African American births, deaths and marriages. Therefore the newspapers, which admittedly provide often a limited view of African Americans since no people of color wrote for these papers, at least provide an insight into the lives of this population over the years.

This collection consists of 105 library books and manuscripts, totalling approximately 8,700 pages drawn principally from the Law Library and the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress, with a few from the General Collections. The selection was guided in large part by the entries in Slavery in the Courtroom: An Annotated Bibliography of American Cases by Paul Finkelman (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1985), which was based on research in the Library collections. The documents comprise an assortment of trials and cases, reports, arguments, accounts, examinations of cases and decisions, proceedings, journals, a letter, and other works of historical importance. Most of the items date from the nineteenth century and include materials associated with the Dred Scott case and the abolitionist activities of John Brown, John Quincy Adams, and William Lloyd Garrison. Eighteenth-century cases include Somerset v. Stewart, decided in England a few years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which "underscored the great tension created by slavery in Anglo-American law." (Finkelman, p. 6)

This collection includes a diverse and valuable mix of 18th- and 19th-century South Carolina court records including estate inventories, appraisements books, bills of sale, and related court documents. Inventoried items may include household goods, furniture, plantation and farming implements, livestock, and slaves.

Over 2,000 documents and images dating from 1730 to 1842 on the history of Native Americans in the Southeastern U.S., letters, legal proceedings, military orders, and more.

From the very beginning of the war, a complex network of spies, double agents, and traitors began to emerge in an effort to learn the plans of the enemy before they were enacted. The preservation and availability of the Sir Henry Clinton collection at the Clements Library provides an amazingly complete look at the everyday intelligence operations of both the British and American armies. Many of the letters highlighted in this digital exhibit were pivotal to the success and failures of sieges, battles, and surprise attacks.

The papers of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), diplomat, architect, scientist, and third president of the United States, held in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, consist of approximately 25,000 items, making it the largest collection of original Jefferson documents in the world. Dating from the early 1760s through his death in 1826, the Thomas Jefferson Papers consist mainly of his correspondence, but they also include his drafts of the Declaration of Independence, drafts of Virginia laws; his fragmentary autobiography; the small memorandum books he used to record his spending; the pages on which for many years he daily recorded the weather; many charts, lists, tables, and drawings recording his scientific and other observations; notes; maps; recipes; ciphers; locks of hair; wool samples; and more.

Primary documents present America’s story in the words of those who wrote it. When students read these documents they have direct access to the minds of those, both great and humble, who shaped our nation’s history. They can see the challenges earlier generations faced, examine their intentions, and join the great debates that guided their choices. As a teacher in our programs put it, “reading primary documents allows students to ask questions of themselves, ask questions of each other, and ultimately ask questions of history.”

This archive assembles more than 1,600 primary sources, including letters, family papers, reports, and images, relating to the history of antebellum Tennessee. Visitors can browse the archive by collection or author, or they can use the simple keyword search or a variety of advanced searches to locate specific documents. Included in the collections are 142 letters, reports, and other documents, including the correspondence of Cherokee chiefs and officials such as John Ross. The archive also includes letters of such antebellum Tennessee figures as Sam Houston, James K. Polk, John Sevier, and Andrew Jackson, as well as letters to and from 12 antebellum Tennessee governors. The archive offers 79 images, many of various aspects of Cherokee village life in the mid-18th century. Though primarily focused on an audience of K-12 teachers of Tennessee history, academic historians and researchers in antebellum political and social history will also find this material useful.

The portion of the Emmet Collection housed in the Manuscripts and Archives Division consists of approximately 10,800 historical manuscripts relating chiefly to the period prior to, during, and following the American Revolution. The collection contains letters and documents by the signers of the Declaration of Independence as well as nearly every prominent historical figure of the period.

he bulk of the Ross Manuscript collection consists of letters and various manuscripts relating to Thomas Johnson (1732-1819), the first elected governor of Maryland. Most of the items are correspondence to Johnson from a variety of sources including letters from George Washington, Daniel Carroll, John Jay and others. Also included is the commission of Governor Johnson as one of the Justices of the United States Supreme Court. Only the notes and the draft of a letter are penned by Johnson.

The Trials Pamphlet collection of the Cornell University Law Library consists of pamphlets printed from the late 1600s to the late 1800s. They are contemporary accounts of trials that involved prominent citizens or that dealt with especially controversial or lurid topics. These pamphlets were produced quickly and inexpensively, and then sold on the street soon after the trial to a mass audience. The paper used to print the pamphlets was of a lower quality (ephemera) and they were not bound; the pamphlets were not meant to survive much past their initial use. They were sold to an eager public both as a form of entertainment and as cautionary tales. Some include the details and illustrations of scandalous crimes and others include "execution sermons," which were meant to serve as moral examples to the readers. Most include information not available elsewhere, such as verbatim transcripts of testimony and arguments of counsel, depositions of parties, and illustrations or copies of evidence used in the trial.

This research guide features unique primary source materials from the Library of Congress for presidential inaugurations, 1789 to the present, including inaugural addresses, letters, diaries, photographs, prints, and sheet music.

The Virginia Museum of History & Culture launched Unknown No Longer in 2011 to make accessible biographical details of enslaved Virginians from unpublished historical records in its collections. The site provided researchers with the ability to discover information on ancestors not found in other sources.

Transcriptions of advertisements for runaway slaves, documents, court records, etc. pertaining to slavery in Virginia.

The Library’s African American Narrative project aims to provide greater accessibility to pre-1865 African American history and genealogy found in the rich primary sources in its holdings. Traditional description, indexing, transcription, and digitization are major parts of this effort. However, and perhaps more importantly, this project seeks to encourage conversation and engagement around the records, providing opportunities for a more grassroots and diverse narrative of the history of Virginia’s African American people.

In 1764, a one-hundred ton brigantine called the Sally embarked from Providence, Rhode Island, to West Africa on a slaving voyage. The ship was owned by Nicholas Brown and Company, a Providence merchant firm run by four brothers – Nicholas, John, Joseph, and Moses Brown. The Sally's voyage was one of roughly a thousand transatlantic slaving ventures launched by Rhode Islanders in the colonial and early national period, and one of the deadliest. Of the 196 Africans acquired by the ship's master, Esek Hopkins, at least 109 perished, some in a failed insurrection, others by suicide, starvation, and disease.

The William Bollan Papers (Mss 1074), written between 1749 and 1757, consist primarily of petitions and memorials presented by colonial agent William Bollan to the British parliament and/or Lords Commissioners, and correspondence exchanged with British and American government officials. The government officials include William Wildman Barrington, Viscount Barrington; Thomas Hubbard (speaker of Massachusetts House, 1750-1758); Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle; George Montague-Dunk, Second Earl of Halifax (president of the British Board of Trade); and John Pownall (secretary to British Board of Trade and Plantations). Subjects include the sugar trade, colonial boundaries, the Louisburg Expedition, and British military forces in America.

Papers of William Bond (d. 1776), a Revolutionary Army officer and colonel in the 25th Regiment of Foot from Massachusetts. Bond led the regiment from July 1775 to August 31, 1776, when he died from an illness at Mount Independence near Fort Ticonderoga.

Historical documents of eyewitnesses to the American Revolution in and around New York City. The letters, newspapers, broadsides, legal records, and maps record events from the early years of the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam through British occupation during the Revolution.

ninety representative documents spanning from the fifteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Included are the papers of presidents, cabinet ministers, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, military officers and diplomats, reformers and political activists, artists and writers, scientists and inventors, and other prominent Americans whose lives reflect our country's evolution. Most of the selected items fall within one of eight major themes or categories which reflect the division's strengths. Each of these themes is the focus of a separate essay containing links to digital reproductions of selected documents. A detailed description accompanies each document, and additional information about the parent collections may be obtained by following links to catalog records and finding aids.

Links to Unites States History Chrological Periods, UA 20th Century, Historical Topics, Research aids, research Tools, Historical Associations, Museums, etc.

"One deviation has been made from the plan of including all of Washington's writing in this edition. The Diary has been recently published by a skillful editor ... [and] has therefore been left out of the new set."--Foreword.
"George Washington bicentennial edition."