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Primary Sources: United States & Canadian History
Primary sources for research on the history of the United States and Canada.
Full text of papers that were presented to the Privy Council and the Board of Trade between 1574-1757, and that relate to the governance of, and activities in, the American, Canadian and West Indian colonies of England.
Contains letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts of early encounters from 1534-1850. Effective browsing and searching capabilities allow, for example, to identify all encounters between the French and the Huron between 1650 and 1700.
A bilingual digital library made available by the Library of Congress, in partnership with Bibliothèque Nationale de France. It explores the history of the French presence in North America from the first decades of the 16th century to the end of the 19th century.
Comprehensive collection of historic and current congressional information, including bills & laws, hearings, CRS reports, committee prints, reports, and the Congressional Record
HeinOnline's U.S. Presidential Library resource includes such titles as Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Public Papers of the Presidents, CFR Title 3 (Presidents), Weekly Compilation of the Presidential Documents, and other documents relating to U.S. presidents. Messages and Papers of the Presidents is a 22-volume set beginning with George Washington and concluding with Herbert Hoover.
The messages of the presidents of the United States annual, veto, and special are among the most interesting, instructive and valuable contributions to the public literature of our Republic. They discuss from the loftiest standpoint nearly all the great questions of national policy and many subjects of minor interest which have engaged the attention of the people from the beginning of our history, and so constitute important and often vital links in their progressive development. Public Papers of the Presidents begins with Herbert Hoover and concludes with George W. Bush. They have been compiled and published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration since 1957 in response to a recommendation by the National Historical Publications Commission. Noting the lack of uniform compilations of messages and papers of the presidents before this time, the Commission recommended the establishment of an official series in which presidential writings, addresses and remarks of a public nature could be made available. The CFR Title 3 series contains the full text of presidential proclamations, executive orders, and certain other presidential documents promulgated during 1936-2001. This series of presidential compilations is published under Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations and designed to cover the text of formal presidential documents under the Federal Register Act.
The James Madison Papers from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress consist of approximately 12,000 items captured in some 72,000 digital images.
This library offers the only complete coverage of the official U.S. Reports from 1754 onwards, as well as Preliminary Prints from 2002 onwards and Slip Opinions from 2002 to date. The collection also includes a variety of resourceful books and periodicals such as, the Supreme Court Economic Review and the Supreme Court Review.
1938-2011 The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations (sometimes called administrative law) published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government of the United States
1908-2002 (strongest 1940s-1970s) This collection is made up of U.S. government documents obtained from presidential libraries. These libraries receive declassified documents from various government agencies, including the White House, the CIA, the FBI, the State Department, and others. As researchers visit these presidential libraries and request documents, the libraries photocopy and provide them to Gale for filming. The result is a collection of more than 75,000 documents, consisting of more than 465,000 pages.
coverage varies by collection Collection of significant primary documents central to U.S. foreign and military policy since 1945. Declassified government documents obtained through use of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Each collection contains a diverse range of policy documents including presidential directives, memos, diplomatic dispatches, meeting notes, independent reports, briefing papers, White House communications, email, confidential letters and other secret material. Additionally, contextual and reference supplements are provided for each collection, including general introductory material, a chronology, glossary and bibliography.
1994-current The official website of the Government Printing Office (GPO). GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) provides free online access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
The Foreign Relations of the United States series is the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions that have been declassified and edited for publication.
Digital access provided by the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections.
Initial volumes document the origins of the modern intelligence establishment, followed by detailed coverage of foreign relations from 1952 through 1980.
Online versions of the FRUS volumes provided by the Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State.
Established by Congress in 1966, the National Register of Historic Places is the nation's official list of significant historic properties. Each state has a historic preservation office which is responsible for nominating buildings, sites, districts, etc.
The world's most-comprehensive online collection of image-based U.S. treaties and other international agreements can be found in HeinOnline's Treaties and Agreements Library.
For most provinces, includes the census returns of 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1906, 1911 and 1916, and list each person by name with the following details: age; sex; country or province of birth; religion; racial or ethnic origin; occupation; and marital status.
