LibGuides: United States History from 1865 to Present: Primary Sources

Primary Sources

New York Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
Digital archive for the New York Times dating back to 1851. An excellent database for history, including full-text and full-image articles. For most dates, the collection includes digital reproductions of every page from every issue--cover to cover--in downloadable PDF files.
Time Magazine Archive
The Time Magazine Archive presents an extensive collection of the prominent weekly news magazine dating back to its first issue in March 1923 through December 2000, presented in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format. Find more detailed information.
HarpWeek
The Civil War Era and Reconstruction I and II full text of Harper's Weekly, 1857-1877. Harper's Weekly was one of the most important serials of nineteenth-century America, because it provided detailed information about cultural, military, political, and social issues. Its illustrations helped readers visualize current events. Its editorials were a major force in shaping public opinion in the North. The three parts of HarpWeek, an indexed, full-text database of Harper^s Weekly, provide searchable access to the events, people, and culture of the Civil War Era, 1857-1865; Reconstruction I, 1866-1871; Reconstruction II, 1872-1877.

American Memory Project
Images, videos, and presentations compiled by the U.S. Library of Congress related to American history.

ARTstor Digital Library
The ARTstor Digital Library is a nonprofit resource that provides over 2 million digital images in the arts, art history, architecture, anthropology, history, humanities, foreign languages and literatures, religion, and sciences with an accessible suite of software tools for teaching and research. Find more information.
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American Rhetoric
Database of public speeches, sermons, legal proceedings, lectures, debates, interviews, other recorded media events.

CQ Historic Documents Series Online
Published annually since 1972, the Historic Documents Series now contains 38 volumes of primary sources. Each volume includes approximately one hundred documents covering the most significant events of the year. These documents range from presidential speeches, international agreements, and Supreme Court decisions to U.S. governmental reports, scientific findings, and cultural discussions Find more information.

Public Papers of the Presidents (National Archives)
Online versions of the papers of Presidents from Ronald Reagan to the present. Print copies of presidential papers back to the Teddy Roosevelt administration are in the library's General Collection J82.

Treaties and Agreements Library - United States
Includes all U.S. treaties, whether currently in-force, expired, or not-yet officially published. This is the world's largest and most complete online collection of U.S. treaties and agreements and includes such prominent collections as the United States Treaties and Other International Agreements set (commonly referred to as the "Blue set"), as well as famous sets from Bevans, Miller, Malloy and others.
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Foreign Relations of the United States (Department of State)
Resource provides access to U.S. foreign relation documents from the Department of State's website.

Making Of The Modern World
Provides digital facsimile images of primary sources that track the development of the modern, western world through the lens of trade and wealth. Full-text searching across millions of pages of works from the periods 1450-1850, 1851-1914, and 1890-1945 provides researchers access to material for research in the areas of history, political science, social conditions, technology and industry, economics, area studies and more. Includes books, serials, pamphlets, essays and more.

African American History by Paul Finkelman (Editor)
ISBN: 9781935306054
Publication Date: 2010-06-30
This set covers 125 iconic primary documents from the 1600s to the present. Each entry offers the full text of the document as well as an in-depth, analytical essay that places the document in its historical context. Among the sources included in the set are important legislative documents such as the Reconstruction era amendments; critical Supreme Court decisions; and iconic speeches and writings by leaders such as Sojourner Truth, Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Barack Obama.
American History by The Schlager Group
ISBN: 0979775809
Publication Date: 2008-07-30
Milestone Documents is a new series combining full-text primary source documents with engaging, readable analysis. Plus free online access to the full content of this great reference set is available.""Exploring the Primary Sources That Shaped America"" launches the Schlager Group's ""Milestone Documents"". This series brings primary source documents and insightful analysis to Salem's history offerings. The series is also a key part of Salem History, the new online database available free to purchasers of the print edition.Primary source documents have always occupied a central role in the study of history. Most existing reference sources, however, treat these documents as an afterthought. This new series - the focus of a new imprint by the Schlager Group, and available exclusively through Salem Press - fills the gap by offering students and researchers in-depth, analytical essays illuminating famous primary source documents from U.S. and world history.The first publication in this remarkable series is ""Milestone Documents in American History: Exploring the Primary Sources That Shaped America"". This fully illustrated, four-volume series will treat more than 130 iconic documents from the Revolutionary era to the twenty-first century.""Milestone Documents in American History"" offers an innovative approach to historical reference. Each entry includes the full text of the document in question as well as an in-depth, analytical essay that places the document in its historical context. With content aligned to the National History Standards and signed essays written by a team of nearly 100 esteemed historians, ""Milestone Documents in American History"" offers an unparalleled reference tool for students conducting primary source research.Among the documents included in the set are Revolutionary era standards such as Patrick Henry's ""Liberty or Death"" speech, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. Important presidential sources include Thomas Jefferson's first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, John F. Kennedy's 1963 address on integration, and George W. Bush's address on September 11, 2001. Influential decisions of the Supreme Court are also included, from Brown v. Board of Education to Bush v. Gore. Critical documents related to minority rights are also present: Andrew Jackson's message ""On Indian Removal,"" the Seneca Falls Declaration, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s ""I Have a Dream"" speech, and the Equal Rights Amendment.Special features include a general subject index, an index by category, and hundreds of photographs and other images. In addition, history educators will find eight detailed and useful teacher's guides containing dozens of student activities.