Research Guides: Civil War America, 1848-1877: Websites / Primary Sources

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Websites

Antietam on the Web

The Civil War, Primary Source Sets, Library of Congress

Civil War Primary Sources, Civil War Trust

The Civil War, National Park Service

Making of America: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies

Making of America: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies

Ulysses S. Grant Presdential Library, Mississippi State University

Evaluating Websites

Need to figure out if a website is offering scholarly, quality information?

Follow the 5 W's:

Who:

Who is responsible for the creation of the site? Do they have listed credentials? Are they associated with a reputable institution? Can you contact them?

What:

What is the purpose of this site? What is the URL of the site and what might that tell you about its purpose? What aspects of the site make it difficult/easy to use? (For example: typos, easy navigation, nice layout, images, too much advertising, etc.)

Where:

Where is this information coming from? Is there a bibliography or listed references? Is the site listed with an established institution?

When:

When was the site last updated? Does the site even have a date? Does the currency of the information directly impact your subject?

Why:

Why is this website useful for your research? Is it necessary for your research or could you find the information through a better source?

Diaries, Letters, Personal Papers

Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress

The Civil War Collection, Michigan State University

The Civil War Collection, Penn State University

Civil War Diaries and Letters, University of Iowa

Civil War Diaries and Letters Collections, Auburn University

Civil War Diary of Captain Edward Hill, St. Mary's College of California

Civil War Letters of Forrest Little, St. Mary's College of California

Civil War on the Western Border, Kansas City Public Library

The Civil War: Women and the Homefront, Duke University

First Person Narratives of the American South, University of North Carolina

Letters Home from the Civil War, The Civil War Arachive

Manuscripts of the American Civl War, University of Notre Dame

The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Rice University

South Carolina and the Civil War, University of South Carolina

The Valley of the Shadow, University of Virginia

Virginia Military Institute Archives

Wisconsin Goes to War: Our Civil War Experience, University of Wisconsin

Slavery and Abolitionism

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938

Frederick Douglass Papers, Library of Congress

North American Slave Narratives, University of North Carolina

Slavery and Aboliton in the U.S.: Select Publications of the 1800s, Millersville University and Dickinson College

Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860, Library of Congress

Always evaluate your sources - what Google considers to be scholarly may not be considered scholarly by your professor.

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources Research Guide

Locating Primary Sources in Catalogs and Databases

Subheadings for Locating Primary Sources

It is possible to locate some primary source materials that have been cataloged in library catalogs or indexed in databases. Using some key subheadings will help in this process. One such subheading is "Sources." Examples of subject headings that include this subheading are:

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Sources

African Americans--History--19th century--Sources

Other common primary source subheadings are "Personal narratives" and "Correspondence." Some examples of these might be:

Dakota Indians--Wars, 1862-1865--Personal narratives

Soldiers--Indiana--Correspondence

Still other subheadings are:

Anecdotes

Maps and Photographs

Civil War Maps, Library of Congress

Civil War Prints and Photographs, Library of Congress

Pictures of the Civil War, National Archives