TSMUS 410A Early American Politics and Law: The Civil War Era, 1848-1877
Getting started
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
- 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, E 185 H295 1996
- Timetables of American History, E18.5 .T553 1996
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. IMPORTANT: You will not cite reference sources in your paper. Below are 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. 1-4 E181 A453 2005
- Dictionary of American History, 7 vols plus supplement, E 174 D5 1876
- Encyclopedia of American Political History, E183 .E5 1984, v.1-3
- Encyclopedia of the American Civil War : a Political, Social, and Military History, v1-5 E468 .H47 2000
- Encyclopedia of the Underground Railroad, E450 .H555 2006
- Women During the Civil War: an Encyclopedia E628. H37
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.
Databases help you identify articles in scholarly journals or books on a particular topic. Below is a selection of online databases that will help you locate secondary articles and books for your assignment.
- America, History and Life
- Provides citations to journal articles, book reviews, dissertations, etc. on United States and Canadian history from prehistory to the present.
- UW Libraries Catalog
- 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
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Available in the Tacoma microfilm collection.
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Available through library web site at http://www.lib.washington.edu/mcnews/articles.html:
Full image resources: Full-text (not full image) African American newspaper: Select African American Newspapers. From search page, check box next to paper title to limit to this paper. |
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Available on the web:
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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 electronically of for checkout from the Tacoma Stacks):
- Black Congressmen During Reconstruction : a Documentary Sourcebook E185.6 .B623 2002
- The Civil War in North Carolina : Soldiers' and Civilians' Letters and Diaries, 1861-1865 E464 .C484 2003
- Civil War Women [electronic resource] : on-line archival collections
- Diary of a Union Lady, 1861-1865 E601 .D155 200
- A Documentary History of the Negro People in the United States E185 .A58 1990
- The Lincoln Mailbag : America Writes to the President, 1861-1865 E457.962 1998
- The Loyal West in the Times of the Rebellion [electronic resource], 1865
- Reluctant Witnesses : Children's Voices from the Civil War E468.9 .W47 1998
American Periodicals Series Online (1740-1900)
Includes full-page images of 18th and 19th century American magazines
Internet Sites for Primary Resources
- American Memory Project
- 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.
- History on the Web
- Includes U.S. to 1865 and U.S from 1865
