PRIMARY SOURCES ONLINE

A lot of students have been coming into the library researching lengthy history projects that require primary sources. However, many of them seem unclear as to exactly what constitutes a primary source. The Historian’s Handbook defines a primary source as one that "gives the words of the witnesses or the first recorders of an event. Primary sources include manuscripts, archives, letters, diaries, and speeches." Jacques Barzun in The Modern Researcher describes a primary source as "distinguished from a secondary by the fact that the former gives the words of the witnesses or first recorders of an event." The library does have primary sources in printed form, of course. But there are also many valuable websites that contain excellent examples of primary sources. This Gazette will mention a few of them.

The Early Americas Digital Archive (EADA), is a "collection of electronic texts and links to texts originally written in or about the Americas from 1492 to approximately 1820." You can search the (EADA) database by author or title or subject and be directed to a page which provides the texts available and a hyperlink to the actual texts. For instance, search for Lewis and Clark and you are linked to the full text of their journals. You can also browse an alphabetical list of early American authors whose texts are available on EADA or other sites.

From the Library of Congress, a web site for primary students is America’s Story from America’s Library.

At Archiving Early America, you can Explore the World of Early America through the newspapers, maps, magazines and writings of that time period. Subjects include the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Milestone Events, Maps, Famous Obits, Writings, Portraits, etc. Events covered include the Whiskey Rebellions, George Washington’s Journal, Paris Peace Treaty of 1783, and more. Pages from the Past offers actual pages from three newspapers--The Pennsylvania Gazette, January 2, 1750, published by Ben Franklin; The Boston Gazette, October 7, 1776; and the Massachusetts Centinel, April 14, 1790. You can join the Town Crier Forums or read The Early American Review, an online journal.

A collection in progress, Nineteenth Century Documents, from Furman College includes "accurate transcriptions" of representative primary texts from U.S. history. Sections include: Early National Politics, Slavery and Sectionalism, The Dred Scott Case, The Election of 1860, plus documents from the Civil War and Post Civil War. Another worthwhile resource for Civil War texts is the American Civil War Collections, which is notable for diaries and letters, and newspapers.