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

Related Research Guides

Citation & Writing Help

Historians generally use the Chicago Style format. For information to other citation formats see the Citing Sources guide.

Writing help is available in person and via zoom. You can schedule an appointment online.

Starting Points: Books & eBooks

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 This link opens in a new window
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Best database to articles written on American & Canadian history
Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
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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 This link opens in a new window
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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.