U.S. history

Sources for Background Information

• American Biographical Archive (Via World Biographical Information System Online)
• American National Biography
• Dictionary of American History
• Great American History Fact-Finder
• Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military

Guides and Companions (Electronic Databases)

• Oxford Companion to United States History
• The Reader's Companion to American History
• Oxford Guide to the United States Government
• The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History
• The Reader's Companion to the American Presidency
• Oxford Companion to American Military History

Searching the Library Catalogue

Use the basic word(s) anywhere or advanced keyword search in the library catalogue. You can search using words like - Canada, Canad?, histor?, etc.

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Core and Additional Databases

History Periodical Indexes, Bibliographies, Full-text Articles

• America: History & Life (Ebsco)
• Annual Bulletin of Historical Literature 1913-
• Bibliography of British and Irish History

Multidisciplinary (Electronic Databases)

• Academic Search Premier (EBSCO)
• Expanded Academic ASAP
• Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective, 1907-1984 (Wilson)
• Humanities Full Text (Wilson)
• Humanities International Index
• JSTOR
• Project MUSE
• ProQuest Research Library 1971-
• Social Sciences Full Text (Wilson)

Primary Sources-Government Documents

• 19th Century Masterfile
• Digital National Security Archive
• LexisNexis Congressional
• U.S. Congressional Documents Library (Hein Online)
• US Congressional Serial Set 1817-

Primary Sources-Newspapers

• Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective
• Early American Newspapers
• Foreign Broadcast Information Service 1974-1996 (continued by World News Connection)
• World News Connection, 1994- (continues Foreign Broadcast Information Service)

Primary Sources-Early Journals

• American Periodicals Series Online, 1740-1900
• HarpWeek [Harper's Weekly] 1857-1912

Primary Sources-Other

• Early Encounters in North America (EENA)
• Evans Early American Imprints. Series 1, Evans, 1639-1800.
• North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories
• North American Women's Letters and Diaries
• Oral History Online
• Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, 1490-2007
• Transatlantic Slave Trade 1595-1866
• Women and Social Movements in the United States,1600-2000

Statistics

• Historical Statistics of the United States
• Statistical Abstract of the United States 1878-
• United States Historical Census Data Browser 1790-1970

Selected Internet Sites

• Government Information Service, McGill Library
  Links to US government sources.
• McGill University Department of History

Guides, Portals (Internet Resources)

• Library of Congress
  Access to Library of Congress catalogue, exhibits, THOMAS (for current status of legislation), American Memory project and a variety of online ready reference sources, including country studies and area handbooks.`
• H-USA: Links
• U.S. Diplomatic History Resources Index
• American Civil War Homepage
• The Sixties Project
• Psychedelic Sixties
• American Revolution and Its Era: Maps and Charts of North America and the West Indies, 1750-1789
  Part of U.S. Library of Congress American Memory project.
• American Women's History: A Research Guide
• Malcolm X: A Research Site

Primary Sources (Internet Resources)

• France in America/La France en Amérique
  Books, documents, prints and maps re history of the French presence in North America 16^th-19^th centuries. Sponsored by US Library of Congress and Bibliothèque nationale de France.

• Atlantic World: America and the Netherlands
  Original and interpretive texts re history of the Dutch presence in America and interactions between the US and Netherlands 1609 to post World War II. From US Library of Congress and Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Netherlands.
• Library Research Using Primary Resources
  Explanation of primary and secondary sources, by University of California at Berkeley.
• Historical Text Archive
  Contains full texts of speeches and other historical documents from all time periods.
• Avalon Project
  Federalist Papers, constitutions, treaties, etc.
• Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938
  More than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. American Memory Project.
• Accessible Archives Inc.
  Primary source material from 18th & 19th century American periodicals.
• American Memory Project (Library of Congress)
• Making of America
  Digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction, approx. 8,500 books and 50,000 articles from 19th century periodicals.
• American Colonist's Library
  Primary Source Documents Pertaining to Early American History
• Eighteenth Century Studies
• Petersburg Public Library Newspaper Index 1797-1877
  "One of the most complete local newspaper indexes in Virginia" for papers predominantly from the Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.A. area.
• Pentagon Papers
  Archive of declassified documents, including Nixon tapes and Supreme Court tape.
• Free Speech Movement Digital Archive
  Re Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi and California 1964, reform movements in higher education, and 1960s student protests at U.S. colleges and universities. Includes links to other sites.
• AMDOCS: Documents for the Study of American History
  15th century to the present.
• Foreign Relations of the United States
  Official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity in various administrations.
• Documenting the American South
  Sources on Southern history, literature and culture from the colonial period through the first decades of the 20th century, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• National Security Archive
  Digital copies of declassified US government documents re Nixon, Iraq, September 11, Middle East, Cuban Missile Crisis, Hungarian Revolution, Warsaw Pact, Japan, Mexico, etc.
• Presidential Recordings (Internet Archive)
  Public speeches made by US Presidents and secret recordings made in the White House 1940-1973.
• American Journeys
  "More than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration."
• Cold War Files: Interpreting History Through Documents
  Part of Cold War International History Project which disseminates new information and perspectives particularly from previously inaccessible Communist sources. Includes resources (links) page, biographies, audio-visual sources.
• Probing the Past: Virginia and Maryland Probate Inventories, 1740-1810
  These probate records (listings of possessions)provide valuable information about the lifestyle of people during the colonial and early national periods. This website makes available 325 different probate inventories in several different counties of Virginia and Maryland between 1740 and 1810.

Other Resources

Library Guides

• United States History: a selective list of reference sources
• United States Politics and Government: a selective list of reference sources
• Foreign Relations of the United States series at McGill University
• Finding U.S. Congressional Reports/Documents/Hearings in the McGill University
• United States Congressional Resources: a selective list
• United States History: A Guide to Reference Sources (1990)
  Print copy only, available at the McLennan Reference Desk.