Research Guides: HIST 4368 / HIST 5371: The Era of the American Revolution, 1763-1789: Find Primary Sources

Librarian

Contact:

936-294-1520
kclaunch@shsu.edu
Library (NGL) Room 223G

Tips for Searching

When searching digital collections of primary sources, try to use any search features that are relevant to your search and will help cut down the "clutter" that you have to sort through.

For instance, if you are researching a specific event, narrow the dates for your search.

If options are available to search only specific states or cities, use them (when they are applicable to your topic).

Primary Sources in Library Databases

America's Historical Newspapers 1690-1998 This link opens in a new window American and U.S. local newspapers from all 50 states, ranging from 1690 to 1998.
American Periodicals, 1740-1940 This link opens in a new window U.S. periodicals, including special interest, general, children's, women's, literary, and professional. Includes American independence and Civil War articles.
American State Papers 1789-1838 This link opens in a new window U.S. Congressional and Executive documents, 1789-1838. Covers many topics, such as Lewis and Clark expedition and trade with China.
Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection Series I This link opens in a new window U.S. Hispanic history, literature, and culture, all 50 states, circa 1610-2006. Periodical articles, books, pamphlets, broadsides, and more in full text.
Burney Collection: 17th- & 18th-Century Newspapers & More This link opens in a new window Early English newspapers, pamphlets, and books, 17th and 18th centuries.
British Periodicals I & II This link opens in a new window British periodicals, late 17th to early 20th centuries. History of Britain and its colonies, as well as a British view of events in America and the world.
Early American Imprints 1639-1819 (includes Evans and Shaw-Shoemaker) This link opens in a new window Virtually every book, pamphlet and broadside published in America from 1639-1819. Documents almost every aspect of life in colonial America and the early U.S.
Eighteenth (18th) Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window English-language and foreign-language titles printed in the United Kingdom, 1701-1800, and thousands of important works from the Americas. Books, pamphlets, broadsides, and ephemera.
Papers of Thomas Jefferson This link opens in a new window Search & view 37 volumes of Jefferson's papers, 1743 to his death in 1826. Includes all illustrations and bibliographical content of print edition, plus linked cross-references and indexes.

Primary Sources in the Thomason Room

Find primary source materials related to the American Revolution in the Thomason Room Special Collections department.

The Thomason Room is located on the 4th floor of the library. Its hours are 8:00am - 5:00pm, Monday - Friday (or by appointment). All students are welcome to visit the Thomason Room.

You can speak with the staff in the Thomason Room by heading upstairs to see them, or by calling 936-294-1619.

Revolutionary America: Primary Source Collections Online

American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-1776
(Northern Illinois Univ.)
American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and Settlement, 1000-1800
(Wisconsin Historical Society)
American Revolution and its Era: Maps and Charts
(Library of Congress)
American Revolution Portal
Revolutionary-era maps from leading cartographic collections around the world, ranging from the French and Indian War (1754-1763) to the early days of the new republic. The collection focuses on maps of European colonies in North America and the Atlantic world. Users can download them for research or classroom use. Levanthal Map Center, Boston Public Library
American Shores: Maps of the Middle Atlantic Region to 1850
1,852 historical maps, including regional, state, and city maps, land surveys, coast surveys, nautical charts, military maps, ornamental maps, maps revealing early transportation routes, and maps of American Revolution battle sites. (New York Public Library)
Benjamin Franklin Papers
"The papers of statesman, publisher, scientist, and diplomat Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) consist of approximately 8,000 items spanning the years 1726 to 1907, with most dating from the 1770s and 1780s. The collection's principal strength is its documentation of Franklin's diplomatic roles as a colonial representative in London (1757-1762 and 1764-1775) and France (1776-1785), where he sought to win recognition and funding from European countries during the American Revolution, negotiated the treaty with Britain that ended the war, and served as the first United States minister to France. The papers also document Franklin's work as a scientist, inventor, and observer of the natural world, and his relations with family, friends, and scientific and political colleagues." (Library of Congress)
Early Americas Digital Archive, 1492 ~ 1820
(Maryland Institute of Technology in the Humanities)
George Washington Papers
Letters and documents by Washington, as well as letters to him. Especially click "Documents & Articles" and then "Revolutionary War Series." (Univ. of Virginia)
Gilder Lehrman Collection
(Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)
Revolutionary-Era Boston Newspapers - The Annotated Newspapers of Harbottle Dorr, Jr.
Harbottle Dorr, Jr. (1730-1794) was a merchant and a member of the Sons of Liberty. Beginning in 1765, Dorr spent more than a dozen years purchasing newspapers, writing comments in margins, inserting reference marks in articles, and assembling indexes. His collection is available digitally on this site. (Massachusetts Historical Society)
Rochambeau Map Collection
French maps from Revolutionary era, largely military in nature. (Library of Congress)
Sources on Liberty and the American Revolution (Sid Lapidus '59 Collection)
Books, pamphlets and prints documenting the intellectual origins of the American Revolution; the Revolution itself; the early years of the republic; the resulting spread of democratic ideas in the Atlantic world; and the effort to abolish the slave trade in both Great Britain and the United States. (Princeton Univ.)
Spy Letters of the American Revolution
Images of letters from spies, double agents, etc., pertaining largely to military strategy. (Univ. of Michigan)
Congressional Documents and Debates, 1775-1875
(Library of Congress)
Witness to the Early American Experience
Letters, newspapers, broadsides, legal records, and maps that tell the story of New York from the early Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam up to the British occupation of the city during the American Revolution. (New York Univ.)

Primary Sources in Print

Often a variety of primary documents are collected together into a book (usually related to a time period, topic, or theme).

Below are just a few broad collections in the Library; each book may contain many original documents.

Voices of Revolutionary America
Call Number: Ebook, Read Online
The Revolutionary Era: Primary documents on events from 1776 to 1800
Call Number: Ebook, Read Online
The American Revolution
Call Number: E275 .A2 B87 2007, 4th floor
Focus especially on Appendixes A and C for Documents and Maps.
The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence
Call Number: E203 .A579 2001, 4th floor
Documents of the American Revolution, 1778-1783 (Colonial Office Series)
Call Number: E 203 .G68, v.1-v.21, 4th floor
British sources.
Reading the Early Republic
Call Number: Ebook, Read Online. Print also available: E209 .F46 2004, 4th floor
Sources of American Independence
Call Number: E203.M53 1978, v.1-v.2, 4th floor
The American Revolution Through British Eyes: A Documentary Collection
Call Number: E249.3 .A46 2013, vol. 1-2 - 4th floor
Publication Date: 2013
Letters written mostly by British military officers and diplomats reporting directly to their superiors in London, some engaged in fighting the Americans, others colonial administrators traveling through North America. The near-daily reports in this engrossing two-volume collection enable us to appreciate the familiar drama of American independence from a different standpoint.
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