TSMUS 410: Researching the American Revolutionary Era

A guide to finding resources at the University of Washington, Tacoma Library
http://www.tacoma.washington.edu/library/

Learning about a particular year in history

Chronologies, or timelines, allow you to peruse the major events of a given year. Below is a selection of timelines available in the reference section at the UWT Library:

• Almanac of American History, E174.5 .A45 983b
• American Years: Chronologies of American History and Experience, v. 1, E174.5 G753 2003
• Chronology of African-American History, E185 H64 1991
• Encyclopedia of American Facts & Dates, E174.5 .C3 1987
• Encyclopedia of American History, E174.5 .E52 1996
• New York Public Library American History Desk Reference, E 174 N48 1997
• Timetables of African-American History, E185 H295 1996
• Timetables of American History, E18.5 .T553 1996
• Timetables of Women's History,HQ1121 G74 1994
  [Note: volume covers world history, but also includes U.S.]
  

Getting background information

Reference sources, such as specialized encyclopedias or dictionaries, can provide helpful background information and context on any topic, and may lead you to other sources and related articles on a topic. Below are just a few examples of reference sources at the UWT Library that may be helpful for this project:

• Americans at War: Society Culture, and the Homefront, v. 1 1500-1815 E181 A453 2005
• Dictionary of American History, 7 vols plus supplement, E174 D5 1876
• Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, 5 volss, E 185 E54 1996
• Encyclopedia of the American Revolutionary War, 5 vols, E208 E64 2006
• Encyclopedia of American Political History, E183 .E5 1984, v.1-3
• Oxford Companion to United States History, E174 094 2001
• Presidents: A Reference History, E176.1 .P918 1997
• Revolutionary America, 1763-1800 E162 P86 1995
  

 

Finding Secondary Sources

Secondary sources analyze a scholarly question and often use primary sources as evidence. Secondary sources include histories about a topic or books and articles that explain or review research-based works.

These databases will help you identify secondary articles in scholarly journals or books on a particular topic.

• America, History and Life
  http://www.lib.washington.edu/types/databases/
  Provides citations to journal articles, book reviews, dissertations, etc. on United States and Canadian history from prehistory to the present.
• UW Libraries Catalog
  http://catalog.lib.washington.edu/search/
  Use the UW Libraries Catalog to identify and locate books and reference sources (including many secondary sources) throughout the UW system. To find books by a particular author, perform an author search; to find books about a particular subject or author, try keyword and subject searches.

 

Finding Primary Sources

Primary sources include documents or artifacts created by a witness to or participant in an event. They can be firsthand testimony or evidence created during the time period that you are studying. Primary Sources may include diaries, letters, photographs, newspaper articles, government documents, poems, novels, plays, and music. The collection and analysis of primary sources is central to historical research.

Newspapers

 

More Primary Sources

UW Libraries Catalog
http://catalog.lib.washington.edu/search/

To locate books written during a specific time period, published collections of correspondence, memoirs, etc, start with the UW Libraries Catalog. See the handout Using the UW Libraries Catalog to Find Primary Sources in US History for suggestions for searching the catalog to locate primary sources. Below are a few examples (all available for checkout from the Tacoma Stacks):

• The Federalist Papers, KF4515. F4 1981
• Selected Writings and Speeches of Alexander Hamilton, E302 .H22 1985
• Thomas Jefferson's Selected Writings, E302 .J442 1987
• The Mind of the Founder: Sources of Political Thought of James Madison, E302. M185 1981
• The Adams Papers. Series III. General Correspondence and Other Papers of the Adams Statesmen, E302. A275 1977, v. 1-8
• Documents of American Constitutional and Legal History, KF 4502 .D635 1986, v. 1-2
• The Papers of George Washington Presidential Series, E312.72 1987, v. 1-3

American Periodicals Series Online (1740-1900) http://www.lib.washington.edu/types/databases/
Includes full-page images of 18th and 19th century American magazines.

Early American Imprints (1639-1800) http://www.lib.washington.edu/types/databases/
Database of full-page images of more than 30,000 works published in America between 1639 and 1800; documents a broad spectrum of life in 17th- and 18th-century America, including literature, music, religion, foreign affairs, diplomacy, and much more.

Internet Sites for Primary Resources

American Memory Project
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/
Developed by the Library of Congress, American Memory provides 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.

American History to 1865 http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/History/tm/american1.html

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