History : American: Home

A research guide to primary and secondary sources for American history. Also see the African American & Asian American history guides.

Welcome!

Drawing by Alfred Bellard, c. 1860s, Gordon Parks 1942 photo of a Washington, DC charwoman & 1950s Coca-Cola ad

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Citation & Writing Help

Historians generally use the Chicago Style format. For information to other citation formats see the Citation Styles & Tools guide.

Writing help is available via zoom.

Starting Points: Books & eBooks

Advanced Search | FAQ | Known Issues

See the eBook FAQ for directions to limit your search to ebooks only.

By Topic - Type in the keywords that broadly describe your topic. For example: california dust bowl history
By Title - Type in the first few words of the book title in quotations. For example: "american exodus the dust".
By Author - Type in the last name followed by the first name of the author in quotations. For example: "o'mara margaret"

Starting Points: Journal Articles

The following research databases will help you identify articles on American history. Additional research databases are listed under Articles.

America: History & Life with Full Text
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Best database to articles written on American & Canadian history
Black Studies Center
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Scholarly and general interest sources on the Black experience

Oxford Bibliographies: Atlantic History
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Scholar recommended articles and books related to Atlantic history (late 15th to mid 19th centuries) including the slave trade, exploration & colonialism

JSTOR
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Scholarly journals & books in all disciplines

Starting Points - Primary Sources

This is a small sampling of primary sources dealing with American history. Additional sources are listed under the various Primary Sources sections of this guide.