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U.S. History

Research guide for sources in U.S. history

Primary Sources

What are primary sources?

Primary sources are original documents and objects created at the time being studied, such as diaries, newspaper accounts, letters, governmental records, or drawings. Any record that documents a past event can be considered a primary source.

Where can I find primary sources? 

You can find primary sources in libraries, museums, and archives, including McGill's Rare Books and Special Collections Library (located on the 4th floor of the McLennan Library building). You can also find digitized primary sources online in library databases, such as those linked below, as well as in digitized collections, such as McGill's Digital Exhibitions & Collections.

You can also find primary sources in print and eBooks through the library. Historians and other scholars often bring together (and, when necessary, translate) primary sources in collections called sourcebooks (sometimes spelled source books), readers, or anthologies. You can systematically search for these in the Library Catalogue by using subject headings. Try combining keywords on your topic with the word sources (which demarcate primary sources) in a subject heading search. For example:

  • su: United States History Revolution, 1775-1783
  • su: women United States history sources
  • su: United States history 20th century sources

Newspapers, Journals, and Magazines

Local newspapers provide insight into the social and cultural life of their communities. Several databases with historic American newspapers and journals are included below.

General & Thematic Collections

General

Thematic Collections

Colonial History and Revolutionary War

American Civil War

World Wars

WWI

WWII

20th Century

Gender and Sexuality

Indigenous Voices and Encounters

For more from Indigenous voices, please see the Indigenous Studies subject guide.

Slavery, Abolition, Emancipation, and Freedom

Primary sources in this group focus on Black experiences with slavery, abolition, emancipation, and freedom -- a phrase derived from the Harvard Library project linked below. Many primary sources included here are written about, rather than by, Black people; be sure to keep this in mind when analyzing these sources.

Settler and Immigrant Experiences and Perspectives

Government Documents

Statistics

Maps

McGill Rare Books & Special Collections

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