Defining Primary Sources
The use of primary sources is central to the study of history and the process of conducting historical research. Primary (also known as original) sources come in many forms, including artifacts, documents, diaries, correspondence, manuscripts, autobiographies, photographs, newspaper articles, etc. By definition, a primary source was either created during the time period being studied, or at a later date by a participant, or eyewitness to the events being studied.
Founders Online
Founders Online, launched by the National Archives in 2010, features over 180,000 historical documents in chronicling America's founding era.
Primary Sources - Early U.S. History
- Americana CollectionDatabases included in this collection: American History, 1493-1945; American Indian Histories and Cultures; American West; Everyday Life and Women in America, c1800-1920; Popular Culture 1950-1975; Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice; Virginia Company Archives.
- African American History OnlineCovering 500 years of African American history
- North American women's letters and diaries, colonial to 1950"Includes the immediate experiences of 1,325 women, as revealed in approximately 150,000 pages of diaries and letters....The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources in the database."
- ProQuest CongressionalProvides access to digital records, reports and documents created by the U.S. Congress spanning from 1789 to today. Includes information about members of Congress, legislation, articles from the National Journal, and selected articles from major U.S. newspapers, the Congressional Record, and text of Bills.
- Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantations RecordsThis ProQuest digital collection, consisting of one of the most expansive compilations of primary sources, documents the history of all aspects of plantation life in the southern states from the era of the American Revolution to the Civil War and the emancipation proclamation to the Great Migration.
- Virginia Company ArchivesThe Virginia Company Archives is an essential source for the study of the Atlantic World and Early Colonial Period. It documents the founding and economic development of Virginia as seen through the papers of the Virginia Company of London, 1606-1624.
Primary Sources in the Public Domain
- Thomas Jefferson PapersCurated by the Massachusetts Historical Society
- Alexander Hamilton PapersCurated by the Library of Congress
- Andrew Jackson PapersCurated by the Library of Congress, the Jackson archival collection contains more than 26,000 items dating from 1767 to 1874.
- Benjamin Franklin PapersThis collection, housed at the Library of Congress, contains over 8,000 items. Of particular interest are the materials documenting Franklin's diplomatic role as a colonial representative in England and France.
- Frederick Douglass PapersThis digital collection documents the public life of the great African American abolitionist who escaped from slavery and then risked his freedom by becoming an outspoken antislavery lecturer, writer, and publisher.
- George Washington PapersThe George Washington Papers, consisting of approximately 65,000 items accumulated by Washington between 1745 and 1799, include correspondence, diaries, and financial and military records.
- James GarfieldSpanning the years 1775-1889, this collection contains correspondence, diaries, speeches, records of Garfield's Civil War military service, legal records, genealogical material, college notebooks, tributes, printed matter, scrapbooks, and other material relating primarily to Garfield's career and death.
- James MadisonThe James Madison Papers consist of approximately 12,000 items, documenting the life of the man who came to be known as the “Father of the Constitution.”
- Documents from the Continental Congress and the constitutional Convention, 1774-1789Contains 277 documents relating to the work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution.
- James Polk PapersThe James Polk papers document struggles during Andrew Jackson’s administration over the Bank of the United States, Nullification Crisis, and internal improvements. For the period of Polk’s presidency, the papers cover the annexation of Texas, war with Mexico, the Oregon question, and the acquisition of the territories of New Mexico and California. Other subjects represented include slavery, tariff issues, patronage and office seeking, plantation matters, and family affairs.
- James Monroe PapersMonroe's papers document his presidency and also his prior careers as secretary of state, secretary of war, delegate to the United States Continental Congress, diplomat, and governor of Virginia.
Primary Sources - World History
- Empire OnlineImages of original manuscript and printed documents along with scholarly interpretive essays on empires (with emphasis on the British empire).
- Global Commodities, Trade, Exploration & Cultural ExchangeGlobal Commodities is a unique and especially rich resource that brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of global commodities in world history.
- Slavery & Anti-Slavery: A Transnational ArchiveThis vastly important archival collection features more than 5 million cross-searchable pages of primary and secondary sources on the rise and fall of the Atlantic slave trade and anti-slavery movement. It includes 12049 books, 170 serials, 71 manuscript collections, 377 supreme court records and briefs, and 194 reference articles from Macmillan, Charles Scribner's Sons and Gale encyclopedias.