History: Civil War & Reconstruction Databases

Multidisciplinary database of journal articles (including peer reviewed), books, book chapters, reports, conference proceedings, etc. Coverage: 1887-present.

Collections of 18th- and 19th-century resources. Collections include: African American Newspapers, African American Newspapers in the South, American County Histories, American Inventor, Anatomy of Protest in America (1701-1928), Colonial Newspapers, Frank Leslie's Weekly, Native Americans in History, North American Women's Magazines & Newspapers, Pennsylvania Genealogical Catalogue, Quarantine and Disease Control in American, The Civil War Collection, Women's Suffrage Collection, and World War I: Military Camp Newspapers.

These newspapers document the African American press in the South from Reconstruction through the Jim Crow era. Written by African Americans for African Americans, this collection provides a unique journalistic record of the African American experience in segregated southern America. Includes complete runs of representative newspapers from the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Broad coverage of African American history, culture, and daily life. Newspapers from over 35 states. Coverage: 1827-1998.

African Americans and Jim Crow, 1883-1922 contains more than 1,000 fully searchable printed works from the beginning of Jim Crow to post-World War I. These works provide insights into African American culture and life during this period of segregation and disenfranchisement and include such topics as African American identity, relationships with peoples of other nations, and literature.

African Americans and Reconstruction, 1865-1883 contains nearly 1,400 fully searchable printed works from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of Jim Crow. It includes documents related to African Americans and citizenship, voting rights, literacy, land rights, employment, and more, including the gaps between written law and practice.

Age of Emancipation includes numerous rare documents related to emancipation in the United States, as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. This collection supports the study of many areas, including activities of the federal government in dealing with former slaves and the Freedmen's Bureau, views of political parties and post-war problems with the South, documents of the British and French government on the slave trade, reports from the West Indies and Africa, and other topics.

Cross-searchable access to millions of pages of essential American history, literature and culture. Uncover captivating manuscript and typescript letters, diaries, notebooks, journals, newspapers, plus incredible art works, illustrations, photographs, video and 360-degree objects.

Newspapers from all 50 states with eyewitness reporting, letters, advertisements, obituaries, etc. Includes access to Series I (1690-1876), Series II (1758-1900), Series III (1829-1922), Series IV (1756-1922), and Series V (1777-1922). Coverage: 1690-1922.

Provides full text coverage of the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Includes nearly 200 journals and 100 books, selective indexing for over 1,700 journals, and abstracts in English of foreign language articles.

Provides digital access to a highly comprehensive collection of American periodicals published between 1691 and 1912. Subject coverage includes: advertising, health, women's issues, science, the history of slavery, industry and professions, religious issues, culture and the arts, and more. Produced by a partnership between EBSCO and the American Antiquarian Society (AAS).

Fully searchable facsimile images that capture daily life in America. Wide variety of items, including clipper ship sailing cards, early trade cards, theater and music programs, stock certificates, advertisements, menus, and social invitations. Coverage: 1760-1900.

This release contains 2,009 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of diaries, letters and memoirs. Includes 4,000 pages of previously unpublished manuscripts such as the letters of Amos Wood and his wife and the diary of Maryland Planter William Claytor.

Founded in New York City in 1857, The American Hebrew was established as the weekly source of news impacting international Jewish communities. Reports on the persecution of Jews in Romania and Russia, and the subsequent influx of Jewish immigrants to the U.S., were of intense interest to readers of the paper.

Contains books, maps, artwork, and other primary source materials from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. It is divided into two modules: Module 1 Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859; and Module 2 Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945.

A history database through music; formerly American Song. Streaming audio with songs by and about all Americans (immigrants, children, enslaved persons, etc.), and about all aspects of the American experience (civil rights, political campaigns, the Revolutionary War, etc.). Coverage: Precolonial period-present.

This database contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals.

Original manuscripts, maps, ephemeral material, and rare printed sources from the Graff Collection about the American West, including tales of frontier life, Native Americans, vigilantes, and outlaws, and the growth of urban centers and environmental impact of westward expansion and of life in the borderlands.

Collection of databases devoted to disciplines in history and the social sciences. See titles of individual databases for further information. Coverage: Varies by database.

This collection searches a unique set of primary sources from African Americans actively involved in the movement to end slavery in the United States between 1830 and 1865.

Comprehensive coverage of the African American experience from the early 18th century to the present. Sourced from more than 19,000 American and global news sources.

When the Cincinnati Enquirer printed its first issue 1841, the thriving city the nations 6th largest in the mid-19th century - was known as The Queen of the West. A remarkable period of rapid growth, epitomizing the expansive spirit of the country at large, gave The Cincinnati Enquirer a unique perspective to report on international, national and regional news. Coverage: 1841-2009

Coverage in relation to the Civil War is both informative and eclectic. Slavery is an important topic, and countless editorials discuss pre- and post-war attitudes from both sides, as well as troop movements during the war. Newspaper and e-book content is subdivided into these parts: A Newspaper Perspective, The Soldiers’ Perspective, The Generals’ Perspective, A Midwestern Perspective, Iowa’s Perspective, Northeast Regimental Histories, and Abraham Lincoln Library Abolitionist Books.

Army life 1861-1865 through regimental histories and first-person accounts. An Archives Unbound database. Coverage: 1865-1920.

These generals' reports of service represent an attempt by the Adjutant General's Office (AGO) to obtain more complete records of the service of the various Union generals serving in the Civil War. In 1864, the Adjutant General requested that each such general submit "a succinct account of your military historysince March 4th, 1861." In 1872, and in later years, similar requests were made for statements of service for the remaining period of the war.

The real and true history of (Southern) public opinion during the war. A mixture of issues and papers, some only single issues. An Archives Unbound database. Coverage: 1860-1865.

Debates over Slavery and Abolition sheds light on the abolitionist movement, the conflicts within it, the anti- and pro-slavery arguments of the period, and the debates on the subject of colonization. It explores all facets of the controversial topic, with a focus on economic, gender, legal, religious, and government issues.

Fold3 features premier collections of original military records. These records include the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served in the military. Many of the records come from the U.S. National archives, The National Archives of the U.K. and other international records.

Allows a user to search across all Gale historical digital collections that the library owns or subscribes to: 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection -- 19th Century British Newspapers -- Eighteenth Century Collections Online -- Indigenous Peoples: North America -- Nineteenth Century Collections Online -- Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers -- Picture Post Historical Archive -- Sabin Americana, 1500-1926 -- The Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003 -- The Making of the Modern World -- The Times Digital Archive, 1785-1985 -- Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive, 1902-2012.

Harpers Weekly, the news and literary journal published in New York City. Searchable full text, including news, illustrations, cartoons, literature, editorials, and advertisements. Coverage: 1857-1877.

Researchers can access digitized letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, diaries, and many more primary source materials taken from the University Publications of America (UPA) Collections. Includes multiple sub-collections in broad subject areas like Civil Rights; Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War; American Indians and the American West; American Politics and Society; International Relations and Military Conflicts; Women's Studies; and Workers and Labor Unions. Focus of American History primary sources is largely after 1775.

The Institution of Slavery explores, in vivid detail, the inner workings of slavery from 1492 to 1888. Through legal documents, plantation records, first-person accounts, newspapers, government records, and other primary sources, this collection reveals how enslaved people struggled against the institution. These rare works explore slavery as a legal and labor system, the relationship between slavery and religion, freed slaves, the Shong Massacre, the Demerara insurrection, and many other aspects and events.

Multidisciplinary full-text journal articles from 1,500 major journals. Please note: In many cases, JSTOR does not include the most recent 3 to 5 years of these journals. Please use other databases to retrieve recent articles, especially for current events topics. Coverage: Varies by title. Access is available to 2007+ alumni; requires W&M userid and password.

The Louisville Courier Journal is Kentucky's newspaper of record. The paper has become a progressive voice in southern politics, championing causes such as public education, equal rights for blacks and advocating for the poor of Appalachia. The Courier Journal became the first U.S. daily newspaper to appoint a woman managing editor, Carol Sutton in 1974.

Explore multiple perspectives on the history of injury, treatment and disease on the front line. Chart scientific advances through hospital records, medical reports and first-hand accounts, and discover the evidence of how war shaped medical practice across the centuries. Includes primary sources from 1850-1949.

Beyond major events covering nearly two centuries, including the states pivotal role in the American Civil War, and other national and

international news, the digitized pages of The Nashville Tennessean (18122002) provide unique historical insight into the regional issues and

concerns, such as local government, industrialization, prohibition, and racial struggles. Coverage: 1812-2002

This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Coverage: 1841-1962.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, one of the longest surviving daily newspapers in the United States, is known for its coverage of the American Civil War that was popular with readers on both sides; its published works by Charles Dickens and Edgar Allen Poe; and its reporting of breaking news in the city, country, and around the world.

This database covers a vast range of topics including the formative economic factors and other forces that led to the abolitionist movement, the 600,000 battle casualties and the emancipation of nearly 4 million slaves. Includes newspapers, advertisements, editorials, letters, obituaries, ephemera

Historic and current congressional information. Includes Committee Prints, Congressional Record 1789-2009, CRS Reports, Hearings 1824-present, Unpublished Hearings 1973-1992, House & Senate Documents and Reports, Legislative Histories, Executive Branch Documents 1789-1952, and the Serial Set. Coverage: 1789-present.

Slave Trade in the Atlantic World charts the inception of slavery in Africa and its rise as perpetuated on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, placing particular emphasis on the Caribbean, Latin America, and United States. This collection was developed by an international editorial board with scholars specializing in North American, European, African, and Latin American/Caribbean aspects of the slave trade. Includes customs records, court cases, shipping records, manuscripts, personal papers, letters, trade records, and other materials.

Includes collections on the transatlantic slave trade, the global movement for the abolition of slavery, the legal, personal, and economic aspects of the slavery system, and the dynamics of emancipation in the U.S. as well as in Latin America, the Caribbean, and other regions. Part 1. Debates over slavery and abolition; Part 2. Slave trade in the Atlantic world; Part 3. The institution of slavery; Part 4. The age of emancipation. Includes legal documents, plantation records, first-person accounts, newspapers, government records, and other primary sources Covers: 1492 to 1888.

Brings together, for the first time, all known legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world. This includes every statute passed by every colony and state on slavery, every federal statute dealing with slavery, and all reported state and federal cases on slavery. The library has hundreds of pamphlets and books written about slavery--defending it, attacking it or simply analyzing it. Covers 1450s to 1880s.

Slavery in Antebellum Southern Industries presents some of the richest, most valuable, and most complete collections in the entire documentary record of American slavery, focusing on the industrial uses of slave labor. The materials selected include company records; business and personal correspondence; documents pertaining to the purchase, hire, medical care, and provisioning of slave laborers; descriptions of production processes; and journals recounting costs and income.

Primary source documents of records and correspondence of southern plantations during the Antebellum period of U.S. History. These documents reflect the business and operation of plantations, including slavery records. Part of ProQuest's History Vault.

This database consists of nine modules: Slavery and the Law; Slavery in Antebellum Southern Industries; records focused on the Slave trade and other legal issues pertaining to slavery; four modules of Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantation Records; a module on the Civil War entitled "Confederate Military Manuscripts and Records of Union Generals and the Union Army"; and Reconstruction and Military Government after the Civil War.

The Southern Literary Messenger (1834-1864) was one of the most successful and influential literary magazines in the South. Published in Richmond, Virginia, it is a source on Southern history, European history, military history, secessionism, states rights, and slavery issues. Contributors included prominent southern authors Edgar Allan Poe, Philip Pendleton Cooke, William Gilmore Simms, and Henry Timrod. An Archives Unbound database. Coverage: 1834-1864.

Includes the Virginian-Pilot Historical Archives, 1865-1989; as well as the current newspaper issues from 1990 to present. Content can also be accessed from "Access World News."