History Research Guide

Key printed primary and secondary sources for the history of Britain and Ireland, with a primary focus on the period between 1300 and 1800.

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.

This website provides access to some of the remarkable materials digitized as part of the ongoing, multi-year Colonial North American Project at Harvard University.

Digital documents relevant to the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government from ancient times to the 21st century.

Information on almost 35,000 slaving voyages between the 16th and 19th centuries. Also includes, essays, maps, and images.

More than 1200 images, most of them dating from the period of slavery, that depict the experiences of Africans who were enslaved and transported to the Americas and of their descendants in the slave societies of the New World.

Digitized issues of the Virginia Gazette begin with William Parks' earliest known issue (September 10, 1736) and terminate with Clarkson & Davis' last issue printed in Williamsburg (December 9, 1780).

Martha Ballard lived in a time of dramatic change. See how her life fit into the age of the American Revolution, the beginnings of modern medicine, and other important changes.

In one open-source repository, all surviving pamphlets, broadsides, political cartoons, and correspondence related to the Paxton incident and also serves as a web-based critical edition and teaching platform.

The Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project consists of an electronic collection of primary source materials relating to the Salem witch trials of 1692 and a new transcription of the court records.

The Virtual Jamestown Archive is a digital research, teaching and learning project that explores the legacies of the Jamestown settlement and "the Virginia experiment." As a work in progress, Virtual Jamestown aims to shape the national dialogue on the occasion of the four hundred-year anniversary observance in 2007 of the founding of the Jamestown colony.

Provides Internet access to texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture. Includes sixteen thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs.

This electronic archive presents images of manuscripts and digital transcriptions from the adams Family Papers, one of the most important collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Digital documents relevant to the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government from ancient times to the 21st century.

Information on almost 35,000 slaving voyages between the 16th and 19th centuries. Also includes, essays, maps, and images.

More than 1200 images, most of them dating from the period of slavery, that depict the experiences of Africans who were enslaved and transported to the Americas and of their descendants in the slave societies of the New World.

Beginning with the publication of the first volume of The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution (DHRC) in 1976, editors have been publishing the definitive collection of primary source material related to the ratification debates. Editors draw on a body of more than 70,000 documents, including official materials, such as records of town meetings, legislative proceedings, convention journals and debates, and forms of ratification; personal papers, such as letters, memoirs, and diaries; diplomatic correspondence; and printed primary sources, such as newspaper articles, broadsides, and pamphlets.

Consists of 59 sound recordings of speeches by American leaders from 1918-1920. The speeches focus on issues and events surrounding WWI and the subsequent presidential election of 1920. Speakers include: Warren G. Harding, James Cox, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Samuel Gompers, Henry Cabot Lodge and John J. Pershing. Speeches range from one to five minutes.

This archive brings together material contributed by the public, national library collections, and film archives to offer a unique perspective of the First World War, showing it from every side of the battle lines and with insights from every point of view.

A collection of primary documents that mark the course of the war. Included are archive documents signed in the late 1830s which bore relevance to the outbreak of war some 75 years later, as well as memos, letters, treaties and the text of speeches throughout the war and beyond.

The League of Nations was established after WWI to promote international co-operation and to achieve international peace and security. This collection includes photos of individuals and groups associated with the League.

This collection contains the full text of 260 League of Nations document, with a focus on three areas: the founding of the League, international statistics published by the League, and the League's work toward international disarmament.

The site features a collection of war-themed postal cards produced during World War 1 (1914-1919).

The newspaper's mission was to provide scattered troops with a sense of unity and an understanding of their part in the overall war effort. Date coverage is February 8, 1918, to June 13, 1919.

Posters from government, commercial and charitable organizations. Subject matter is diverse, covering such topics as military recruitment, rationing, films/theatre, anti-war movements and many others.

"Provides a sampling of UW-Madison's World War I Special Collection...Most of these materials were acquired by the University during or in the immediate aftermath of the war and they represent a direct and often very passionate or partisan viewpoint of that conflict."

Contains full text, images, biographies, personal reminiscences and links to other web resources.

Features a collection of war-themed cards produced in Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, and the U.S. during World War One (1914-1918).

"Man-on-the-street" reactions of ordinary Americans to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declaration of war by the United States.

Comprehensive collection of declassified U.S. government documents on the atomic bomb and the end of the war in the Pacific.

"This collection focuses on The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb. It includes documents totaling almost 600 pages, covering the years 1945-1964."

This collection consists of nearly 150 bound volumes of Nuremberg trial transcripts and documents from the personal archives of General William J. Donovan (1883-1959). Selections from the collection are available online.

Four hundred political cartoons from 1941-1943, when Dr. Seuss was the chief editorial cartoonist for the New York newspaper PM.

Presents informational pamphlets, government reports, instructions, regulations, declarations, speeches and propaganda materials distributed by the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) during the Second World War.

Access to about 1 million pages of documents (trial transcripts, briefs, document books, evidence files, and other papers) relating to the trial of military and political leaders of Nazi Germany. Documents are in German and English.

Collected here are documents from the 23 volume, 40 part, 25,000 page report of "Hearings before the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Congress of the United States" which was released July 20, 1946.

Collection of over 300 posters issued by U.S. Federal agencies from the onset of war through 1945.

Collection of documents, speeches, photographs and other primary source material.

Created by a group of U.S. government photographers, these images show Americans in every part of the nation. Early years emphasize rural life and the negative impact of the Great Depression, farm mechanization, and the Dust Bowl. Later years focus on the mobilization effort for World War II.

A broad collection of the most significant documents of the presidency. Search here for public papers, State of the Union addresses, inaugural addresses, press conferences, executive orders, proclamations, signing statements, debates, convention speeches, and much more.

Personal and professional materials of Benjamin and Julia Rush, from 1766-1845, focusing on medical concerns, especially the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia.

Over 3,300 advertising items and publications dating from 1850 to 1920, illustrating the rise of consumer culture and the birth of a professionalized advertising industry in the United States

Collection of selected historical materials that document voluntary immigration to the US from the signing of the Constitution to the onset of the Great Depression.

Advertisements created by the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency for Ford Motor Company’s lines of consumer and commercial vehicles, tractors, auto parts, and dealerships.