History

See also CivilRights, Constitution, US, Defense, Democracy Documents, Early Documents, Exploration, Native Americans, Labor, Maps at CC, Maps Online, Military (History section), Museums, Slavery, Photography, War, and Women along with the various maps links and Indexes to early American Documents and the TIGER catalog to help locate other items in the Tutt Library collection.

 

General

Outline of U.S. History - 15 chapters on U.S. history: early America, the colonial period, independence, formation of a national government, westward expansion and regional differences, sectional conflict, the Civil War and reconstruction, growth and transformation, discontent and reform, war, prosperity and depression, the New Deal and World War II, postwar America, decades of change (1960-1980), new conservatism and a new world order, and bridge to the 21st century. (State Department)

 

Historians on America - looks at 11 developments that altered the course of U.S. history: the trial of John Peter Zenger and the birth of freedom of the press, the Constitutional Convention (1787), George Washington's concept of a limited Presidency, the Common School movement, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890, the Interstate Highway System (1939-1991), the GI Bill of Rights, the Marshall Plan, Brown v. Board of Education, Gideon v. Wainwright, and the Immigration Act of 1965. (Department of State)

 

American Memory - free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience {Library of Congress}

AND

Library of Congress Experience - primary sources and artifacts

 

Army Heritage Collection Online - publications, photos, manuscripts, and artifacts of "the unofficial history of the United States Army"

 

'Research in the Parks' - discover resources in our national parks through the eyes of archeologists. Click on a map of states to explore more than 120 national parks & monuments; learn about the Klondike gold rush, Andersonville, USS Arizona, Nez Perce, Antietam, Truman's home, Little Bighorn, Aztec ruins, Gila cliff dwellings, Fort Union Trading Post, Jamestown, Fort Sumter, Washington's birthplace, Yellowstone, & other important places & events.

 

History Explorer - a timeline of stories from exhibits, collections, and programs of the National Museum of American History.

 

Early History

• Cultures and History of the Americas - features 50 highlights from rare books, maps, paintings, and artifacts. The exhibit explores pre-Columbian cultures of Central America and the Caribbean, encounters between Europeans and indigenous peoples, the growth of European Florida, and piracy and trade in the American Atlantic. Highlights include Columbus's account of the 1492 voyage,Frances Drake's maps, the first natural history of the Americas, and a 7th century wooden box that recorded Mayan dynastic lineage.
• Texas Beyond History - exhibits, lessons, and interactive learning that covers 13,500 years of human history in Texas, from Clovis hunters to 20th century cotton farmers; explore archeological sites and historic landmarks; see rare photos, maps, artifacts, and reconstructed scenes of the past - more than 6,000 images.

 

Pre-Colonial and Colonial Life

• The Atlantic World: America & the Netherlands - explores the history of the Dutch in America: Henry Hudson, New Netherland, New Amsterdam, the sale of Manhattan, Native Americans & the Dutch, slavery in New Netherland, the patroon system, & Dutch place names.
• Jamestown, Québec, Santa Fe: Three North American Beginnings - commemorates the 400th anniversary of these three lasting settlements founded in North America between 1607-1609. See rare European and Native American artifacts. Learn about the settlements -- their economies and labor systems, populations, spiritual life, trade, diplomacy, and warfare
• Raid on Deerfield: the Many Stories of 1704 - tells the story that began when 300 French & Native allies invaded the English settlement of Deerfield, MA. They captured 112 Deerfield men, women, & children, who they marched 300 miles to Canada. Later, over one-third chose to remain among their captors. Events are examined from 5 perspectives: the Mohawk, Abenaki, Huron, French, & English. More than 100 artifacts, 13 interactive maps, 12 essays, & 100 illustrations are included.
• Smithsonian  Colonial America - primary sources and tools: watch an anthropologist examine skeletons for clues to daily life in Jamestown; find lessons on the Boston Massacre, Stamp Act, patriot women, Pocahontas, and money; use questions -- built around primary documents -- to explore the clashing views of revolutionary colonists and loyalist colonists; examine the political, religious, economic, and social reasons for the Revolution.
• At a Crossroads: The King of Prussia Inn - recounts the history of this inn, built originally as a farmhouse in 1719 at an intersection of two roads northwest of Philadelphia, not far from Valley Forge. The inn provided hospitality to travelers when the colony was just a scattering of farms. In part because of its location, it became a prosperous tavern, inn, and social center for the evolving community of the same name.
• A Colonial Family and Community
• American Notes: Travels in America, 1750 - 1920
• Food 1. Colonial Food in Colonial Williamsburg and 2. [http://www.cuisinenet.com/glossary/newengl.html"|Cooking in New England]
• Early America in particular: Maps, Movies, and Music
• Early Virginia Religious Petitions, 1764 - 1802
• American Revolution and Its Era: Maps and Charts of North America and the West Indies, 1750 - 1789
• Spanish Treasure Fleets of 1715 and 1733: Disasters Strike at Sea - discusses Spain's search for gold and silver in the New World (1500s-1700s) and its "treasure fleet system," which was intended to protect its treasure-laden ships from being seized by England, France, and the Netherlands. In 1715 and 1733, hurricanes devastated Spain's treasure fleets off the coast of Florida. Today, two of the sunken ships' remains are protected as Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves.

 

Alexis de Tocqueville

• The Alexis de Tocqueville Tour: Exploring Democracy in America
• American Institutions and Their Influence (via Project Guttenberg)
• Correspondence & Conversations of Alexis de Tocqueville with Nassau William Seni (via Project Guttenberg)
• Democracy in America (full-text from Project Guttenberg) Volume 1 and Volume 2 or the entire thing (University of Virginia)

 

New Nation

• Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820s) - includes documents and images for learning about the American Revolution, the Constitution, the creation of the U.S. Navy, Eli Whitney's patent for the cotton gin, Thomas Cooper's violation of the Sedition Act, and the Electoral College
• Congress, Law, and Politics - presents papers of members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, and key federal law cases. Learn about the creation of the U.S. by investigating the papers of our earliest lawmakers -- Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and others. See Calhoun's speech against the Compromise of 1850 and Webster's notes for his speech in favor of it, General MacArthur's "Old Soldiers Never Die" address to Congress (April 1951), and more.

 

Expansion

*European Explorations and the Louisiana Purchase - essay with 119 documents and maps; learn about Louisiana under French and Spanish rule before joining with the United States. (Library of Congress)

• Establishing Borders: The Expansion of the United States, 1846-48 - offers geography & history activities showing how two years in history had an indelible impact on American politics & culture. Students interpret historical maps, identify territories acquired by the U.S., identify states later formed from these territories, examine the territorial status of Texas, & identify political, social, & economic issues related to the expansion of the U.S. in the 1840s.
• Trails to Utah and the Pacific: Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869 - features 49 diaries of pioneers who traveled westward across America to Utah, Montana, and the Pacific between 1847 and the meeting of the rails in 1869; maps, photos, and published trail guides;; essays focus on the California Trail, the Mormon trail experience, trail guides, and maps and their use by overlanders. (Library of Congress)
• First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820 - consists of letters, journals, books, newspapers, maps, & images documenting the land, peoples, & exploration of the trans-Appalachian West. The first European travelers, their relations with Native Americans, new settlers' migration & acquisition of land, navigation down the Ohio River, planting of crops, trade in tobacco & horses, & the roles of African Americans, women, churches, & schools are documented.
• The Homestead Act of 1862 - recounts efforts to improve homesteading laws and make land ownership possible for more settlers. The distribution of government lands had been an issue since the Revolutionary War. "Preemption" (settling the land first and paying for it later) became national policy; however, supporting legislation was stymied until the secession of Southern states. See one of the first applications for land under this law.
• Travel and Westward Expansion - 50 books written in the 19th century that offer travelers' impressions of various parts of the U.S. or western territories. (LOC)
• Expansion and Reform (1801-1868) - features documents, maps, and images for learning about the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the growth of regionalism, the Amistad case, Lincoln's "spot resolutions," the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the petition of Amelia Bloomer regarding suffrage in the West, migration north to Alaska, and the Sioux Treaty of 1868.
• Gold Rush - companion to a PPBS American Experience program that "tracks the evolution of the California Gold Rush from the easy riches of the first few months to the fierce competition for a few good claims." Features a map with major "strikes," timeline, background about people (such as Mexicans and Chinese immigrants) and events, a special feature on Native Americans, and an online role playing game.
• The Old Mormon Fort: Birthplace of Las Vegas, Nevada recalls the individuals and events leading to the creation of Las Vegas. In 1855, Brigham Young sent 30 men to farm, convert Indians, and build a settlement along a trail to the Pacific. After the mission closed, a miner established a ranch, which grew to be the largest property in the county under later owner Helen Stewart. With the coming of the railroad, Las Vegas became a town. Railroad officials laid out a grid for the new city in 1905. (National Park Service)
• Bent's Old Fort examines the people and construction of Bent's Fort, and the Santa Fe Trail. Built originally in 1833, this adobe fort became a center of trade with Indians and trappers. For much of its 16-year history, it was the only major permanent white settlement on the Santa Fe Trail. It provided explorers, adventurers, and the U.S. Army a place to get supplies, wagon repairs, livestock, good food, water, company, rest and protection in this vast "Great American Desert." (National Park Service)
• San Antonio Missions: Spanish Influence in Texas explores a group of 18th-century missions in modern San Antonio to learn about the Spanish influence on native peoples and the patterns of Texas culture; learn about the psychological and cultural factors that led the Coahuiltecan Indians to accept mission life and how irrigation systems, such as acequias, assisted in the development of Texas farmland and other arid areas. (National Park Service)
• Californio to American: a Study in Cultural Change looks at an area that was once part of an Indian village, then an outpost shelter for vaqueros (cowhands), and then the site where Californios (Spanish settlers in what is now the state of California) built small adobe dwellings in the midst of their cattle ranges. Successive owners altered one dwelling into the elegant 18-room ranch house there today -- Rancho Los Alamitos. (National Park Service)
• The Hispano Ranchos of Northern New Mexico: Continuity and Change features the small subsistence farms, or ranchos, created by Hispanos, early Spanish settlers of New Mexico, during the 1800s in the mountain valleys of the Pecos and Mora rivers. Houses were built from the same adobe used to construct Indian pueblos and Spanish missions, with decorative details added based on architectural fashions brought to New Mexico after it became a U.S. territory in 1851. Irrigation ditches were dug and regulated by rules dating back centuries. (National Park Service)
• Glorieta & Raton Passes: Gateways to the Southwest examines the role of these two passes in ensuring that the Southwest would become & remain part of the U.S. Learn about traders & armies that depended on the passes, which were part of the Santa Fe Trail, as the best way to get through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The Santa Fe Trail was a key trade route until the railroad reached Santa Fe in 1880. Like the trail, the railroad & later highways ran through the two passes. (NPS,TwHP,NRHP)
• The Trail of Tears: The Forced Relocation of the Cherokee Nation tells about the removal of the Cherokee Nation from their ancestral homeland (NC, TN, GA, AL) to "Indian Territory", after passage of the Indian Removal Act & the discovery of gold on Cherokee lands (1830), about 100,000 American Indians living between the original 13 states & the Mississippi River were relocated to Oklahoma. The trails they followed came to be known as the Trail of Tears. (NPS,TwHP,NRHP)

 

19th Century

Development of the Industrial U.S. (1870-1900) - offers documents and images for learning about Bell's patent for the telephone, Edison's patent for the electric lamp, Glidden's patent application for barbed wire, the Homestead Act of 1862, maps of Indian territory, child labor, and the Chinese Boycott Case.

Slavery and Abolition - presents two dozen publications written in the 19th century about slavery in America. It includes first-person accounts from former slaves, judicial opinions, abolitionist pieces, and more. (LOC)

Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930) - features the 1897 petition against the annexation of Hawaii, political cartoons on progressivism and the 1912 election, woman suffrage and the 19th Amendment, the Zimmermann telegram (1917), photos of the 369th Infantry, posters from the Food Administration during World War I, the Volstead Act and prohibition documents, and the unfinished Lincoln Memorial.

1897 Petition Against the Annexation of Hawaii - recounts the struggle for control of Hawaii between native Hawaiians and American business interests in the late 1800s; the lobbying effort by native Hawaiians convincd the U.S. Congress not to annex the islands but Spanish-American War changed that. (NARA)

 

20th Century

After the Great Earthquake & Fire, 1897-1916 - provides 26 films of San Francisco from before & after the Great Earthquake & Fire. The earthquake struck on April 18, 1906, along the San Andreas Fault, damaging most central California cities & killing more than 3,000 people. These films show Market Street, Chinatown, a parade, San Francisco viewed from a balloon, & vast devastation from the 8.3 magnitude earthquake & 3-day fire.

 

The Great Pandemic - tells the story of the 1918 outbreak of the Spanish flu, which killed an estimated 675,000 Americans and 30 to 50 million people worldwide. Learn about life in the U.S. in 1918, the nation's health and medical care, and what happened when the pandemic struck. Find out how people fought it, the legacy it left, and what happened in your state. See photos, newspapers, and other primary documents. Read biographies of key individuals. (Department of Health and Human Services)

Influenza Epidemic of 1918 - swept the world killing an estimated 50 million people. (NARA)

America from the Great Depression to World War II: Color Photographs from the FSA and OWI (1939-1945) - offers 1,600 color photos from 1939-1945 of rural and small-town life, migrant labor, the Great Depression, railroads, military training, aircraft manufacturing, and mobilizing for World War II. 'Collection Connections' suggests ideas for studying New Deal work programs, farm workers, relief programs, military training, and women in the war effort.

 

Presidential Timeline of the 20th Century - multimedia exhibit of key events and decisions that U.S. presidents faced in the 20th century: the stock market crash, Pearl Harbor, the atomic bomb, Little Rock school integration, Gulf of Tonkin, trip to China, Berlin Wall, etc. (U of Texas & National Endowment for the Humanities)

 

The Great Depression and New Deal

• Bound for Glory: America in Color - an exhibit of 70 color prints (1939-1943) showing the effects of the Depression on people in rural America and small towns, the nation's subsequent economic recovery, and the mobilization for World War II. (LOC)
• Great Depression: Dust Bowl Migration - includes photos, a teachers guide, and other resources for learning about the largest migration in American history. This migration occurred in the 1930s when poor soil conservation practices and extreme weather in the Great Plains exacerbated the existing misery of the Great Depression.

 

New Deal Network - social programs of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Depressions of the 1930s; articles, speeches, letters, over 5000 photographs, lesson plans, web projects, and bibliographic materials, and a moderated discussion list for teachers and historians {Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute}

Social History

• Our Shared History: African American Heritage tells about the Underground Railroad, African Americans in the Civil War, historic places of the civil rights movement, the Delta blues of the Lower Mississippi Valley, and landmarks... (National Park Service)
• Temperance & Prohibition - essays, images, and other material on the history of prohibition in the U.S., "a measure designed to reduce drinking by eliminating the businesses that manufactured, distributed, and sold alcoholic beverages;" covers the U.S. brewing industry, the Woman's Crusade of 1873-74, the Anti-Saloon League, the Prohibition Party, and related topics. (Ohio State University)
• Historical Publications of the US Commission on Civil Rights - reports cover a range of issues: Title IX implementation, immigration, employment, migrant workers, access to health insurance, access to mortgage lending and the civil rights record of President Clinton; searchable PDF format (Thurgood Marshall Law Library)
• Maps of Indian Territory, the Dawes Act, and Will Rogers' Enrollment Case File a variety of documents to understand the impact of a particular piece of legislation and relates to the powers granted to Congress in Article I, Section 8 , of the Constitution, related to making laws. It correlates to the National History Standards and the National Standards for Civics and Government. It also has cross-curricular connections with with history, government, global studies, and music. (National Archives and Records Administration)
• Adventures in the Past - BLM state-by-state collection of scientific and technical research documents
• 'Within These Walls' - tells the stories of 5 families who lived in one house in Ipswich, Massachusetts, over a 200-year period. The 10-room Georgian-style house was built in the 1760s by a wealthy miller & maritime merchant; subsequent inhabitants fought in the Revolution, against slavery, & in World War II.
• Lakota Winter Counts - offers the world's largest database of Lakota "winter counts" - pictures drawn on cloth or buffalo hide to remember each year's key events (1701 to 1905). Ten Lakota bands' winter counts are shown side by side on a timeline. Compare how the bands depicted a particular year. Search for an image. Watch interviews with Lakota. Learn about the culture of this Sioux tribe of the northern plains that followed buffalo herds for food.
• 'Our Changing Voices' - a lesson in which students identify issues involved in a family or community's migration into Nebraska and then examine the history of their own families.

Donner Party - provides a transcript, map, and essays for a TV program that tells the harrowing tale of what tragically became one of the most famous of wagon trains. On the way to California, this group split off from the main body of the wagon train to take an untried shortcut; excerpts from the diary of a Donner party survivor. (National Endowment for the Humanities)

• 'America on the Move' - how transportation changed America - foods & families on the move (1880s), workers & products (1920s), early highways (1930-40s), suburban communities (1950-60s), & movement of the world's people & products (1970-2000). A collection of 1,000 artifacts & photos can be searched by region, time period, or type of transportation (air, road, water) or vehicle.
• Living a Tradition: Visit the Last of the Shakers - recounts a journey into Shaker country, including Sabbathday Lake in New Gloucester, Maine, where the last of the world's few Shakers keep the old ways; learn about Shaker worship, moral codes {hard work, celibacy}, their founder {a blacksmith's daughter born in Manchester, England, in 1736}, & their many inventions -- flat-edged brooms, a rotary harrow, & others; view Shaker works & recipes, & hear Shaker music.
• The Old Mormon Fort: Birthplace of Las Vegas, Nevada - recalls the individuals and events leading to the creation of Las Vegas. In 1855, Brigham Young sent 30 men to farm, convert Indians, and build a settlement along a trail to the Pacific. After the mission closed, a miner established a ranch, which grew to be the largest property in the county under later owner Helen Stewart. With the coming of the railroad, Las Vegas became a town. Railroad officials laid out a grid for the new city in 1905.

 

People

• Emma Goldman - a companion website for a film about this Russian immigrant who championed women's equality, workers' rights, & free universal education. Goldman (1869-1940) defined the limits of dissent & free speech in Progressive Era America. Although her anarchist activism let to her imprisonment & deportation from the U.S., she later denounced Soviet totalitarianism & praised American for its high level of freedom. - film transcript, speeches, & historians' views of Goldman.
• An American Success Story: The Pope House of Raleigh, NC - tells the story of Manassa Pope, the first black man to receive a medical license in North Carolina (1886). After practicing medicine and helping establish a drug store and insurance company in Charlotte, Pope moved his family to Raleigh. There he continued his medical practice, built an elegant house (equipped with the latest technologies) located in the best place allowed for a black family in a segregated city. He later ran for mayor.
• Ralph J. Bunche, 1903-71 - fought poverty and racism on his way to becoming one of the twentieth century's leading peacemakers; his remarkable legacy by focusing on his accomplishments in three main areas: as a student, a scholar, and a diplomat. Features illustrated essays covering topics such as his receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950. (UCLA Library)
• New Philadelphia - the story of the first African American to plat and register a town before the Civil War -- born into slavery in 1777 in South Carolina, Frank McWorter moved to Kentucky with his owner, where he married and earned cash as a laborer to purchase freedom for his wife and later himself. He bought a tract of military land in Illinois, where he and his wife planted and raised enough crops to eventually buy freedom for 16 children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. (National Park Service)
• Life After the Holocaust: Stories of Holocaust Survivors After the War - "Between 1945 and 1952 more than 80,000 Holocaust survivors immigrated to the US; this site documents the experiences of six Holocaust survivors and reveals the complexity of starting over." Features audio and transcripts of full oral history interviews, and an online exhibit with photos and audio about aspects such as arriving in New York and speaking out. (US Holocaust Memorial Museum)

 

Non-gov

 

• [www.footnote.com|Footnote] - worth mention with many governmental resources, primary docs including immigration records, census data, military records, court documents, civil war photos, etc. full text although not all is free