Research Guides: HIST 205: American History to 1865: Finding Primary Sources

Primary Sources

A primary source is a document or artifact created during the time period you are studying. It provides firsthand evidence, allowing you to analyze historical events, ideas, or experiences without outside interpretation.

Types of Primary Sources:

Personal Accounts: Diaries, letters, memos/emails, autobiographies, interviews
Speeches & Writings: Speech texts and recordings, manuscripts
Legal & Government Documents: Laws, legislation, court rulings, patents, official records from governments, agencies, and organizations
News & Media: Newspaper and magazine articles reporting events as they happened, news footage
Research & Data: Journal articles presenting original research or experiments, raw data
Artifacts & Material Culture: Buildings, clothing, jewelry, toys, fossils
Creative Works: Poetry, novels, drama, music, art, photography, movies, scripts, performances

To get started with primary source research, visit our list of recommended databases.

Use Search@UW to find primary sources in books

Searching Tip

Books are great places to look for primary sources! Historians may have already put together collections of primary sources in a book for you. You might try looking for books containing sermons, military histories, government publications, etc. You may even come across a book written by someone from the time period you are studying.

Recommended Databases

Early American Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Subjects covered include historic local, regional, & national news. Find news and primary sources.
Available here: Early American Newspapers, Series 1, 1690-1876; Series 1 (2009 ETC); Series 2, 1758-1900; Series 2 (2009 ETC); Series 3, 1829-1922; Series 3 (2009 ETC); Series 4, 1756-1922; Series 4 (2009 ETC); Series 5, 1777-1922; Series 5 (2009 ETC); Series 6, 1741-1922; Series 6 (2009 ETC); Series 7, 1773-1922 and Series 7 (2009 ETC).
Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Subjects covered include history, news, and a wide range of topics. Find primary sources: the full text and full image articles from the New York Times dating back to the 19th century.
Coverage from 1851 to present- most recent 3 years not available.
Times Digital Archive (Gale)
The Times (London, England) Digital Archive is an online, full-text facsimile of more than 200 years of The Times, one of the most highly regarded resources for the 19th – 20th Century history detailing every complete page of every issue from 1785-2009.
Lily (Accessible Archives)
The Lily is the first newspaper for women and was issued from 1849 until 1853 under the editorship of Amelia Bloomer (1818-1894).
African American Newspapers (1827-1998) This link opens in a new window
Subjects covered include cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies, news, and more. Find primary sources and news.
1827-1998 provides online access to approximately 270 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. This unique collection features papers from more than 35 states—including many rare and historically significant 19th century titles.
U.S. Newsstream
Subjects covered include news and current events. Find current and archival to 1980 U.S. news.
Includes The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Newsday, and Chicago Tribune as well as over 80 Gannett titles.
Newspapers.com Library Edition - World Collection
Historical newspapers archive from the 1700s - 2000s containing thousands of well-known regional, state, and small local newspapers in the United States and other countries.
This is a Badgerlink resource, if you are unable to access please visit the Badgerlink site: https://badgerlink.dpi.wi.gov/

American Indian History
Subjects covered include First Nations Studies, history, culture studies, law, art, and more. Covers over 600 regional cultures and over 15,000 years of First Nations history. Also includes a selection of primary sources.
Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures, and the Environment (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new window
Subjects covered include history, First Nations studies, cultural studies, and environmental studies. Find primary sources; both published and unpublished accounts, including narratives, diaries, journals, and letters.
It focuses on personal accounts and provides wide range of perspectives. Includes both published and unpublished acounts, including narratives, diaries, journals, and letters.Coverage: 1534-1850
North American Indian Thought and Culture
Subjects covered include First Nations Studies, history, biography, and cultural studies. Find autobiographies, biographies, Indian publications, oral histories, personal writings, photographs, drawings, and audio files.

Westlaw Campus Research This link opens in a new window
Subjects covered include law, government, and reference information. Find a wide range of legal materials including legislative histories, codes and regulations, and Federal and State case law.
ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Subjects covered include law, political science, government, and related fields. Find hearing transcripts and submitted testimony, Committee reports, Bills, Public laws, Selected committee prints, Congressional documents, Congressional Record, Federal Register, Current Code of Federal Regulations, and the current US Code.
This product was formerly Lexis-Nexis Congressional.

Note on Searching for Government Publications

These types of databases are not ideal or really meant for browsing. It works best if you have a certain publication you have in mind and are looking for. This could be a court case, amendment , congressional bill, etc. We recommend you identify the name of what you are looking for first (Google, Wikipedia, etc.) and then try looking up the primary source in these resources. This can be challenging so please refer to our guides listed below. If you are still have trouble, navigate to the research help page of this guide to connect with a librarian for assistance.

Government Publications
by Anna Merry Last Updated Apr 3, 2025 90 views this year

Finding Court Cases
by Anna Merry Last Updated Apr 2, 2025 50 views this year

History Vault: Civil Rights
Subjects covered include cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies, news, and more. Find primary sources, federal records, organization records, and more.
Contains the collection Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle. Features records of NAACP, SCLC, SNCC, CORE, and federal records.
Artstor on JSTOR
Subjects covered include art, design, architecture, fashion, maps, photography, and more. Find images from museums, archives, and other institutions.
Description: The Artstor Digital Library is a database of 2 million images for use in the humanities. Comprised of nearly 300 collections from museums, archives, scholars, and artists, the Artstor Digital Library makes available high-qualities images for download, along with tools for exporting images into PowerPoint and creating citations.
North American Immigrants Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new window
Subjects covered include history and related fields. Find primary sources: North American immigrant letters, diaries, and oral histories from the United States and Canada.
Coverage: 1840-present, with the majority of the coverage from 1920-1980.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries: Colonial to 1950 (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new window
Subjects covered include history and related fields. Find primary sources: letters and diaries that describe the immediate experiences of 107 women.
Coverage: Colonial to 1950
Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures, and the Environment (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new window
Subjects covered include history, First Nations studies, cultural studies, and environmental studies. Find primary sources; both published and unpublished accounts, including narratives, diaries, journals, and letters.
It focuses on personal accounts and provides wide range of perspectives. Includes both published and unpublished acounts, including narratives, diaries, journals, and letters.Coverage: 1534-1850
Early English Books Online This link opens in a new window
Subjects covered include literature, history, philosophy, humanities, and religious studies. Find digital copies of works printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700
Coverage from the first book printed in English by William Caxton, through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare and the tumult of the English Civil War. 1473-1700
U.S. History In Context
Subjects covered include United States history, including events, biographies, social movements, and politics. Find academic, trade, popular, and primary sources.

Online Resources

Library of Congress Research Guide: Indian Removal Act
This guide contains digital materials at the Library of Congress related to the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and its after-effects, as well as links to external websites and a selected print bibliography.
Massachusetts Historical Society: Maps of the French and Indian War
The maps in this exhibition constitute only a small sample of the hundreds drawn to depict North America during the French and Indian War. For historians looking at them today, they provide valuable information about the planning and conduct of the war.
Library of Congress Presidential Papers
Researchers will also find significant resources related to the social, political, and cultural life of Washington, D.C. within the Manuscript Division's Presidential papers
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database
This digital memorial raises questions about the largest slave trades in history and offers access to the documentation available to answer them. European colonizers turned to Africa for enslaved laborers to build the cities and extract the resources of the Americas. Analyze these slave trades and view interactive maps, timelines, and animations to see the dispersal in action.
Harvard Library Digital Collections: Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930
Documenting voluntary immigration to the United States from the signing of the Constitution to the start of the Great Depression.

Not Finding What You are Looking For?

If you still can't find what you are looking for, click on the research help page of this guide to connect with a librarian!

Otherwise, consider setting up a research appointment with Sarah, your course librarian. Send her an email at bakkens@uwgb.edu with dates and times to set up an appointment.