Henry Buhl Library: U.S. History 1: Colonial Times through Reconstruction: Antebellum & Slavery

Encyclopedias & Books

The World of Antebellum America: a Daily Life Encyclopedia
Call Number: Ref E 165 .W84 2018 v.1-2
"This set provides insight into the lives of ordinary Americans free and enslaved, in farms and cities, in the North and the South, who lived during the years of 1815 to 1860."
The Early Republic and Antebellum America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History
Call Number: Ref E 301 .E146 2010 v.1-4
Includes entries covering a wide variety of topics, as well as primary documents (v.4), chronologies (v.4), and a few essays (v.1). Featured entries: education & schools; Lewis & Clark Expedition; secession; slavery, life & culture; westward expansion; women
Encyclopedia of the United States in the 19th Century
Call Number: Ref E 169.1 .E626 2001 v.1-3
An A to Z reference of articles covering topics such as education, slavery, women, cities, the Civil War, naval technology, politics, and the South.
The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery
Call Number: Ref HT 861 .H57 1997 v. 1-2
Provides an in depth portrayal of human bondage and the slave trade from ancient times to the present. Featured entries: Domestic slave trade in the U.S.; Emancipation Proclamation; Frederick Douglass, manumission laws; Middle Passage; proslavery argument, slave narratives
The Underground Railroad
Call Number: Ref E 450 .S65 2008 v.1-2
Explores the people, places, writings, laws, and organizations that made this network possible.
Encyclopedia of Race and Racism
Examines the anthropological, sociological, historical, economic, and scientific theories of race and racism in the modem era. Delves into the historic origins of ideas of race and racism and explores their social and scientific consequences.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History
Includes topics ranging from the westward movement of settlers and farmers in the 18th and 19th centuries, the transformation of work over time, the women's suffrage movement, counterculture, leisure activities, to the issues of voting habits, population movements and racial divides.

Salem History Online This link opens in a new window
Collection of key reference eBooks on historical and cultural topics, including several primary sources and biographical series.

American National Biography This link opens in a new window
Contains over 19,000 biographies of significant, influential, or notorious figures from American history written by prominent scholars. The American National Biography (ANB) is the successor to The Dictionary of American Biography (DAB).
Salem History Online This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to the Great Lives & Great Events encyclopedias as well as the Decades in America series (1920's through the 2000's), and the Defining Documents series.

Suggested search terms

African Americans -- History -- To 1863
Antislavery movements -- History
Slavery -- History
Slavery -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
Slavery -- Southern States -- Justification
Slavery -- United States
United States -- Civilization -- 1783-1865
United States -- History -- 1783-1865
United States -- History -- 1815-1861

Journal Article Databases

America: History and Life This link opens in a new window
Covers the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present with indexing for 1,700 journals from as far back as 1910
Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Contains citations and abstracts for articles from 2,300+ academic journals back to 1955 for world history (excluding US and Canada) from 1450 to present
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Archival Database of full text scholarly journal articles
Military & Government Collection This link opens in a new window
Offers full text of 300+ journals providing current news and information pertaining to all branches of the military and government.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Large collection of full-text scholarly articles and books supporting research in the humanities and social sciences.
Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
Covers a wide range of subject matter in both popular and scholarly periodicals.
Academic Search Complete is a comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 4,600 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 9,500 journals and nearly 10,000 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. This scholarly collection offers unmatched full text coverage of information in many areas of academic study including: animal science, anthropology, area studies, astronomy, biology, chemistry, civil engineering, electrical engineering, ethnic & multicultural studies, food science & technology, general science, geography, geology, law, materials science, mathematics, mechanical engineering, music, pharmaceutical sciences, physics, psychology, religion & theology, veterinary science, women's studies, zoology, and many other fields. Academic Search Complete offers critical information from many sources unique to this massive collection. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for 1,000 journals.

Journal articles are very specific.

Finding articles is easier after you have read up on your topic.

Use more than one article database.

No database searches everything.
For thorough research, use more than one database and try different search terms.

A to Z List of Journals
Always check the A to Z list to see if we have access to the journal title and date of publication you need!

Need an article that isn't full text? Access the request form below.

Document Delivery Forms

Remember, scholarship is international.

You may come across some great articles in which the titles (and thus the articles) are not in English.

So, when you can, it is a good idea to limit your searches to articles in English.

Primary Sources

The Antebellum Era
Call Number: E 301 .D43 2003
Firsthand accounts offer students, scholars, or anyone interested in the pivotal period preceding the Civil War a look at how America's press covered important national issues and events of the day, from the passage of the Missouri Compromise through John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry.
The Old South
Call Number: F 213 .O43 2001
The Old South is a collection of primary documents and previously published essays introducing students to recent themes found in scholarship on the social and cultural history of the Old South. The documents are drawn directly from the essays not only to vividly illustrate the events, but also to show students how historians construct arguments based on archival evidence.
Voices of the African American Experience
Call Number: Ref E 184.6 .V65 2009 v. 1-3
This collection of primary sources includes excerpts from slave narratives; letters, diaries, and other correspondence; government documents, press coverage, and more.

Defining Documents in American History: Manifest Destiny & the New Nation
Call Number: E 338 .M25 2013 v.1-2
Includes primary documents related to Antebellum law and politics, manifest destiny, women's rights, slavery, religious expansion, and Native American land issues.
American Antislavery Writings: Colonial Beginnings to Emancipation
Call Number: E 441 .A5767 2012
This is the first anthology to take the full measure of a body of writing that spans nearly two centuries and, exceptionally for its time, embraced writers black and white, male and female. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Phillis Wheatley, and Olaudah Equiano offer original, even revolutionary, eighteenth century responses to slavery.
Antislavery Political Writings, 1833-1860
Call Number: E 449 .A62374 2004
Includes selections drawn from speeches, editorials, pamphlets, books, and fiction - some of which have never before been reprinted. Includes both black and white, male and female abolitionists, including well known figures such as William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglas as well as lesser known names.
Proslavery and Sectional Thought in the Early South, 1740-1829
Call Number: E 449 .P9495 2006
This title includes primary source writings of 12 individuals, including sermons, addresses, letters, etc.
Southern Debate over Slavery
Call Number: E 446 .S7 2001 v. 1-2
Offers a representative sampling of the thousands of petitions about issues of race and slavery that southerners submitted to their state legislatures between the American Revolution and the Civil War.
Voices of the African American Experience
Call Number: Ref E 184.6 .V65 2009 v. 1-3
This collection of primary sources includes excerpts from slave narratives; letters, diaries, and other correspondence; government documents, press coverage, and more.
Witness for Freedom
Call Number: E 449 .W84 1993
In these compelling texts African Americans tell their own stories of the struggle to end slavery and claim their rights as American citizens, of the battle against colonization and the 'back to Africa' movement, and of their troubled relationship with the federal government.

Visualizing Emancipation
Visualizing Emancipation is an ongoing mapping project, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, that sheds light on when and where men and women became free in the Civil War South. Uses official military correspondence, newspapers, and wartime letters and diaries.

American Presidency Project
Call Number: Search HENRY by President as AUTHOR for call numbers
Search the papers of the presidents from George Washington through Joe Biden. Users can search by president, date, keyword, document type, and more.
Defining Documents in World History: The 19th century (1801-1900)
Call Number: D 351 .A19 2018 v. 1-2
These volumes highlight important historical documents from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, including speeches, letters, manifestos and more -from influential figures during this century.
Milestone Documents in American History
Includes important primary sources related to American history from 1763 to 2003.
Milestone Documents in American History, 2nd ed.
Call Number: Oversz E 173 .M62 2020 v. 1-4
Includes documents from African American history, women's history, immigration history, as well as 21st-century issues ranging from terrorism to campaign finance to LGBTQ rights. Vol. 1 1619-1831. -- v.2 1832-1898. -- v.3 1901-1956. -- v.4 1957-2019.
Milestone Documents of American Leaders
Call Number: Oversz E 173 .M62 2009 v.1-4
Milestone Documents of American Leaders features important full-text sources written by presidents, jurists, legislators and other influential people who helped shape the nation.

Military & Government Collection This link opens in a new window
Access to journal and magazine articles, books, government documents, speech transcripts, etc. relating to the military and government. Both primary and secondary sources are available here.

Documenting the American South
"Includes sixteen thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs" (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).

Search Across Multiple Titles

Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window
Collection of primary and early sources for American history, including historical newspapers and county and regimental histories. In particular, it contains important resources for the study of African American history, the Civil War, American regional history (including Pennsylvania), and women’s suffrage.
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 1-5 This link opens in a new window
Collection of over 7,500 early American periodical titles published from the seventeenth through the late nineteenth century.
The New York Times (1851-current) (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text of the complete run of the New York Times, including full page and article images (1851 - current)
Coverage dates: 1851-current

19th Century U.S. Newspaper Digital Archive
Provides access to primary source newspaper content from the entire 19th century, from a range of urban and rural regions throughout the U.S.
Chronicling America
"Search America's historic newspapers pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present."

Individual Journals & Magazines

Harper's
Access the Harper's Archive, 1850 - present. Full text availability.
more...less...
Harper’s is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S., beginning in June 1850 when it was launched as Harper's New Monthly Magazine

Suggested search terms

African Americans -- History -- To 1863 -- Sources
Antislavery movements -- United States -- History -- 18th century -- Sources
United States -- Politics and government -- 1783-1865 -- Sources
Slaves -- Emancipation -- United States -- Sources

Simply add "primary source to your search using the Note field.

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HENRY
The Library Catalog