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American History Resources

Early American History

Civil War and Reconstruction

Early American History

Library Catalogs

• Melvyl® Catalog provides access to the book, film, sound recording, map, archive file and microform library collections at all nine UC campuses. However, the Melvyl® Catalog does not list the contents of journals.  See Indexes to locate article citations.
• Cruzcat is a catalog of books, video and audio materials, documents, serials, and other items in McHenry and S&E Libraries. CRUZCAT shows circulation status and receipt of  items. CRUZCAT list journal titles and holdings information but does NOT index journal articles.
• RLIN Bibliographic database contains citations for books, serials, archives, manuscripts, maps, music scores, sound recordings, films, photographs, posters, computer files, etc., held by Research Library Group members.
• WorldCat database includes citations for books, journals, manuscripts, maps, music scores, sound recordings, films, computer files, newspapers, slides, videotapes, etc., in a variety of languages.

Indexing and Abstracting Databases

• Expanded Academic ASAP - database contains records for articles from popular magazines, general interest journals, and scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and general sciences since 1988.  Some full-text is included.
• English Short Title Catalogue - ESTC describes works printed in any language in England or its dependencies from the beginning of printing through the end of the eighteenth century, as well as works printed in English anywhere else in the world during that period.  Listings from Evan's American Bibliography are included.
• America: History and Life - Historical coverage of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. Contains citations and abstracts. Articles written 1964 - present.
• Arts and Humanities Citation Index via Web of Science. Citations to 1,100 arts and humanities journals. Cited Reference Search finds articles that cite an author or article specified by the searcher. Covers: 1975 - present.
• Periodicals Index Online - Formerly titled Periodicals Contents Index (PCI). A searchable database of citations for articles published in 4,079 periodicals in popular literature, as well as the humanities and social sciences.
  Covers: 1770-1995.
• Periodicals Archive Online (PAO) - Formerly titled PCI Full Text. This searchable database contains citations for articles in over 230 periodicals in the humanities and social sciences. Full text is available for all articles. Technical note: Internet Explorer for Macintosh does not properly display full text of PCI articles. Please use Netscape or another browser on Mac computers. Covers: 1770 - 1995.

Reference Books

McHenry  Z1236.P781994 Reference
Handbook for research in American history : a guide to bibliographies and other reference works / Francis Paul Prucha.  2nd ed., rev.  Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, c1994.

McHenry E188.E63 1996 Reference
The encyclopedia of colonial and revolutionary America / general editor, John Mack Faragher.  New York : Da Capo Press, 1996

McHenry   HB3505.G43 1989 Reference
A retrospective bibliography of American demographic history from colonial times to 1983 / compiled by David R. Gerhan and Robert V. Wells.  New York :  Greenwood Press, 1989.

McHenry   E174.A43 1976  v. 1-8, Supplement 1996 v. 1-2
Dictionary of American history.  Rev. ed.  New York : Scribner, c1976-c1978.

McHenry Z1237.I79 2000 Reference
Books on early American history and culture, 1991-1995 : an annotated bibliography /Raymond D. Irwin. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2000.

McHenry HQ1416 .W67 1998
Women's voices, women's lives : documents in early American history / edited by Carol Berkin and Leslie Horowitz.  Boston : Northeastern University Press, c1998

McHenry PS531.L58 2001
The literatures of colonial America : an anthology / edited by Susan Castillo and Ivy Schweitzer.  Malden, Mass. : Blackwell Publishers, 2001

McHenry Z1238.F46 Reference
Confederation, constitution, and early national period, 1781-1815 / compiled by E. James Ferguson. Northbrook, Ill. : AHM Pub. Corp., [1975]

Subjects and Call Numbers

Internet Gateways and Digital Libraries

• DoHistory - an interactive case study.
• American and British History Resources on the Internet  - Rutgers University's listing of briefly annotated American and British history sites, electronic texts, guides and indexes, among others.
• American Studies Web - Georgetown University's gateway historical and contemporary resources.
• Archiving Early America : American History  newspapers, maps and writings from 18th century America.
• American Memory (Library of Congress) Collection Finder - specific collections include:
• Early Virginia Religious Petitions, 1774-1802
• Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1764-1789
• George Washington Papers
• Thomas Jefferson Papers
• U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1873
• American Periodical Series - Digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals published from 1741 to 1900.
• Avalon Project - Yale Law School's electronic versions of important United States historical documents relevant to the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government. Documents are listed by title, by date category (pre 18th century, 18th century, 19th century, 20th century), and by major collection.
• Evans Digital Edition: Early American Imprints, Series I - The Early American Imprints Collection includes virtually every non-serial title published in America between 1639 and 1819; indexed by subject, full-text pdf files. UCSC also owns 131 boxes of microforms containing the full text of the documents (located at the NRLF (call number PS503.E37 1974; Evans series only). Print index to Evans: McH Ref Z1215.E924. UCSC has online access to the second part of EAI : Shaw-Shoemaker (Early American Imprints, Series II) (1801-1819).
• Early Encounters in North America - Searchable and browsable database of primary documents from early recorded history of North America. Includes transcriptions of letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts of early encounters.
• Early English Books Online (EEBO) - searchable database covering years 1475-1700, containing over 125,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640) and Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700) and their revised editions, as well as theThomason Tracts (1640-1661) collection.  Images for many works are available.
• Founders' Constitution - specific phrases, clauses, sections, and articles of the Constitution are linked to primary source materials reflecting the intent and goals of the founders. See also KF4502.F68 (5 vols.).
• The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents - Jesuit missionary-explorers' detailed records about travels in what is now New England and the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada. Covering the years 1610 to 1791, their writings provide a rich source of material for studies in history, religion, geography, and ethnology.
• JSTOR History Journals  searchable, full-text versions. Select "Browse" and then select "History" to view journal titles.
• The Making of America University of Michigan and Cornell University joint digital project. Over 5,000 volumes with imprints between 1850 - 1877.
• Pennsylvania Gazette - full text of the newspaper, 1728 - 1800. The Pennsylvania Gazette is considered the New York Times of the 18th century.
• Project MUSE searchable, full-text humanities journals.
• United States Historical Census Data Browser - covers 1790 to 1960.
• Voice of the Shuttle: History Page UCSB's humanities gateway.
• WWW Virtual Library : History : United States - site founded by Dr. Lynn H. Nelson, University of Kansas, maintained by the European University Institute.

Civil War and Reconstruction                                       Top of Page

Getting Started: Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

E487.E55
Encyclopedia of the Confederacy / Richard N. Current, editor in chief ; editorial board, Paul D. Escott ... [et al.]. New York : Simon & Schuster, 1993.

E185.96 .F64
Freedom's lawmakers : a directory of Black officeholders during Reconstruction / Eric Foner. Rev. ed., Louisiana pbk. ed. Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, 1996.

E426.G147
A cultural encyclopedia of the 1850s in America / Robert L. Gale. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, c1993.

E468.H57
Historical times illustrated encyclopedia of the Civil War / Patricia L. Faust, editor ; Norman C. Delaney ... [et al.], associate editors; Marsha L. Larsen, editorial assistant. 1st ed. New York : Harper & Row, c1986.

E668.T66
Historical dictionary of reconstruction / Hans L. Trefousse. New York : Greenwood Press, 1991.

E468.E53
Encyclopedia of the American Civil War : a political, social, and military history / David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, editors ; foreword by James W. McPherson ; David J. Coles, associate editor ; Gary W. Gallagher, James M. McPherson, Mark E. Neely, Jr., editorial board.   Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, c2000

Bibliographies

Z1251.S7C68
Coulter, E. Merton (Ellis Merton), 1890-
Travels in the Confederate States, a bibliography. [1st ed.]. Norman, Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1948.

Z1242.D6
Military bibliography of the Civil War. [alternate title: Regimental Publications and Personal Narratives of the Civil War.]  Compiled by C. E. Dornbusch. New York, New York Public Library, [1961-

Z1242.F74
Microbes and minie balls : an annotated bibliography of Civil War medicine / Frank R. Freemon. Rutherford : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, c1993.  [See also: E621.F84, Gangrene and glory : medical care during the American Civil War / Frank R. Freemon,  Madison [N.J.] : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press ; London : Associated University Presses, c1998.

Z1242.N35
Civil War books; a critical bibliography, edited by Allan Nevins, James I. Robertson, Jr. [and] Bell I. Wiley. Baton Rouge, Published for the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission by Louisiana State University Press [1967-

Z1242.5.P37
Confederate imprints : a bibliography of Southern publications from secession to surrender : expanding and revising the earlier works of Marjorie Crandall & Richard Harwell / by T. Michael Parrish & Robert... Austin, Tex. : Jenkins Pub. Co. ; Katonah, N.Y. : G.A. Foster, [ca. 1984].

Z1242.U547
US Army Military History Research Collection.
The Era of the Civil War--1820-1876 / by B. Franklin Cooling ; with accompanying essays by Richard Sommers and Gordon Chappell. Carlisle Barracks, Pa. : US Army Military History Research Collection, 1974.

Guides and Handbooks

E491.D99
Dyer, Frederick H. (Frederick Henry), 1849-
A compendium of the War of the Rebellion. New York, T. Yoseloff [1959].
-- Also available in:
Disk 945 MERC
The Civil War CD-ROM : the War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies / developed by Philip Oliver.  Version 1.55.  Carmel, Ind. : Guild Press of Indiana, c1997.

E468.3 .L6
The Civil War day by day; an almanac, 1861-1865 [by] E. B. Long with Barbara Long. Foreword by Bruce Catton. [1st ed.]. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1971.

E467.S56 McHenry Reference
Who was who in the Civil War / by Stewart Sifakis. New York, N.Y. : Facts on File, c1988.

CD3047.A25 McHenry Reference
United States. National Archives and Records Service.
Military operations of the Civil War; a guide-index to the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861-1865. [Compiled by Dallas Irvine] Published Washington; For sale by Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1968-1980.

G1201.S5U6 S&E Stacks
United States. War Dept.
The official atlas of the Civil War. New York, T. Yoseloff, 1958.

Internet Gateways

Library Catalogs / Abstracting and Indexing Databases

Primary Sources : major sets at UCSC

E464.A45
The American civil war : literary sources and documents / edited and with an introduction by Jon Roper. Mountfield, East Sussex : Helm Information, c2000.

CT3260.A44
American women's diaries. Southern women.  New Canaan, CT : Readex Film  Products, [1988-1990].

CT275
American women's diaries (New England).  New Canaan, CT : Readex, [1984?].

Disk 1753 MERC
Freedman's Bank records [computer file].  Salt Lake City, UT : Intellectual Reserve, Inc. : Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, c2000.  The Freedman's Bank was created to assist newly freed slaves during and after the American Civil War. Records cover approximately 1864-71 and document names and relationships of those who used the bank. Although the records contain limited genealogical information, they are a valuable source of family history information for those with African-American ancestry. This compact disc contains approximately 480,000 names.

E185.2.F88
Freedom, a documentary history of emancipation, 1861-1867.  Cambridge [England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1982-

E468.7.M5
The photographic history of the Civil War : thousands of scenes photographed  1861-65, with text by many special authorities / Francis Trevelyan Miller, editor-in-chief ; Robert S. Lanier, managing editor.  New York : Review of  Reviews Co., 1911.

HT816 .S65
Slavery, source material and critical literature.  Louisville, [Ky.] : Lost Cause Press, 1971-

E464 .U6
The War of the Rebellion : a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies / prepared under the direction of the Secretary of War by Robert N. Scott.  Harrisburg, Pa. : National Historical Society : distributed by Broadfoot Pub. Co., Historical Times, Inc., Morningside House, 1985, c1971.  See also Disk 945 (CD-Rom version).

Primary Sources: Guide at UCSC, set within UC System

F213.R43
Records of ante-bellum southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War / General editor, Kenneth M. Stampp.  Frederick, Md. : University Publications of America, 1985-.  At UCI

Z1251.S7C4
Travels in the old South I, II, III.  Louisville, Ky. : Lost Cause Press, 1959-1961.  At UCD.

Primary Sources: UC Berkeley

Butler plantation papers : the papers of Pierce Butler (1744-1822) and successors from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.  Marlborough, Eng. :  Adam Matthew Publications, 1996.
       UCB   NewsMicro MICROFILM 77814 1-22 (22 reels)

Slavery in ante-bellum Southern industries. Series B, Selections from the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. / editorial advisor, Charles B. Dew .  Bethesda, Md. : University Publications of America, c1993.
       UCB   NewsMicro MICROFILM.71277 v.B

Internet Sites

The American Civil War Homepage 

American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology

American Memory (Library of Congress) Collection Finder - specific resources include:

• Civil War Maps Collection
• African American Odyssey
• Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938
• African American Perspectives: Pamphlets from the David A. P. Murray Collection
• First Person Narratives of the American South
• Selected Civil War Photographs
• Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860
• Abraham Lincoln Papers and Mr. Lincoln's Virtual Library
• The Nineteenth Century in Print: Books
• The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals
• Civil War Washington, D.C.: the Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865
• Civil War Treasures from the New York Historical Society
• Sunday School Books: Shaping the Values of Youth in Nineteenth-Century America
• Band Music from the Civil War Era

Digital Scriptorium Projects from Duke University - includes:

• Civil War Women
• Slave Voices from the Special Collections Library
• African American Women

Jim Crow Museum

Making of America

Nineteenth Century Documents Project

Race and Place: African American Community Histories

United States Civil War Center

United States Historical Data Census Browser (covers 1790 to 1960)

The Valley of the Shadow: The War Years
 

Electronic Journals -- UCSC subscriptions

Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective full text of major articles gleaned from over 2,500 issues of The New York Herald, The Charleston Mercury, and the Richmond Enquirer, published between November 1, 1860 and April 15, 1865.

American Civil War: Letters and Diaries database of first-person accounts of the American Civil War.

JSTOR searchable full-text, page images of scholarly journals from their first issues through ~1998.  Includes Journal of Military History, Journal of Southern History...

Project MUSE  searchable full-text JHUP journals ~1996+.  Includes Reviews in American History, American Quarterly ...

UCSC Electronic Full-text Journals  searchable file