History 

About America

This publication includes the complete text of the U.S. Constitution, as well as an updated introduction.

American History Guide from Best of History Websites

This website aggregates websites on American history and is in particular targeted towards history teachers. Good resource to check for new resources. Provided by EdTechTeacher Inc.

American History Online

This website aggregates historical digital collections on various issues of US history, provided by the Andrew W. Mellon foundation and the University of Illinois. This is a good meta-search engine for online exhibitions.

American Memory

This site provides free and open access to historic maps, photos, documents, audio and video. American Memory is provided by the Library of Congress and that it provides materials on various historic subjects.

Basic Readings

The site includes letters, essays, surrender speeches and poems on different events in U.S. history.

Cultural Maps in American Studies

Cultural Maps is dedicated to the graphical presentation of non-graphical information. The website features cultural and historical maps and lists further repositories. Provided by the University of Virginia.

Digital Collections at Michigan State University (website/ebook)

The Digital and Multimedia Center at the MSU Library makes special items from the library available online. This includes scanned ebooks (in .pdf format) and various online exhibitions on topics of American history, including, but not limited to, historic cookbooks and sunday school books

Digital Collections at the University of Pittsburgh (D-scribe)

D-scribe contains over 100 thematic digital collections.

DigitalCommons at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln (website/ebook)

A collection of electronic texts of documents, primary texts, and literature associated with the history and culture of the United States, sorted by date. All materials are open-access, full-text PDF editions, and are presented for the use of teachers, students, and researchers.

Digital History (website/ebook)

Extensive website about US history from the Colonial Period to the present (2012) featuring primary sources, an online history textbook, an interactive timeline, classroom handouts, and more, hosted by University of Houston.

Early Motion Pictures from the Library of Congress’s American Memory Collections (website/video)

Several hundred early motion pictures are viewable in the Library's American Memory collections.

Historians on America (ebook)

A series of individual essays that selects specific moments, decisions, and developments and explains how they altered the course of U.S. history. This website is provided by the US State Department.

Historical Census Browser (maps/.pdf)

Browse historical Census data from historical volumes of the U.S. Census of Population and Housing and automatically create downloadable maps visualizing selected information (in .pdf format). Provided by the University of Virginia.

History Guide at the University of Göttingen Library

The History Guide is a subject catalogue of recommended websites for historians. Currently, the catalogue includes metadata of about 11.000 websites including the web directory of Clio-Online. Also features a tutorials section with articles in German on using the catalog. Provided by the Goettingen State and University Library.

History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web

Designed for high school and college teachers and students of U.S. history survey courses, this site serves as a gateway to web resources and offers unique teaching materials, first-person primary documents, and guides to analyzing historical evidence. Provided by the American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning (Graduate Center, CUNY) and the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (George Mason University).

History: United States

A research guide to primary and secondary sources for American history, provided by the University Libraries at the University of Washington.

Images of American Political History

Collection of about 500 historical images, documents, paintings, and photographs, from the Colonial Period to the 1990s, provided by Stetson University.

MOA

Making of America Collection is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction.This resource has an archive of many popular magazines from the nineteenth century, including Atlantic Monthly and Harper’s. Provided by Cornell University.

New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Online exhibitions covering various issues in US history, provided by the New York Public Library as part of its digitization project.

Online Exhibits at the National Archives

Online exhibitions at the National Archives covering a variety of topics of American history. Please also consider the National Archive’s Today’s Document Blog.

Online Exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. offers several “Virtual Exhibitions” covering various areas of American history and culture. Use the “Search by Museum” function to select your field of interest. This site offers a meta-search for online exhibits at the various museums that are part of the Smithsonian, such as the American Art Museum, the American History Museum, or the American Indian Museum.

U.S. History (ebook)

A chronological look at how the United States took shape. This website is provided by the US State Department.

Today’s Document from the National Archives (blog)

Daily featured documents from the holdings of the U.S. National Archives.

History in Brief

This publication summarizes the history of how the United States was founded and the forces and events that shaped the dynamic and varied country it has become.

Series I: Evans, 1639-1800

Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans (1639-1800) is a comprehensive collection of digitized publications that were originally published in the US between 1639 and 1800. The collection of ebooks is based on Charles Evans’ bibliography (American bibliography, Volumes 1-16, 1903-1967) and the publisher’s microfiche edition. It is an important source for all aspects of research on American culture in the early modern period (history, literature, philosophy, theology, etc.). After the conclusion of the digitization process, the collection will include more than 36,000 titles and more than 2.4 million images.

Series II: Shaw/Shoemaker, 1801-1819

Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw/Shoemaker (1801-1819), a sequel to Series I: Evans, is a comprehensive collection of digitized publications that were originally published in North America between 1801 and 1819. The collection of ebooks is based on Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker’s bibliography (American Bibliography: A Preliminary Checklist ... 1801-1819, New York 1958-1983) and the publisher’s microfiche edition. It is an important source for all aspects of research on American culture in the early nineteenth century (history, literature, philosophy, theology, etc.). The collection contains more than 47,000 titles and more than 4.1 million images.

Civil War Bookshelf at Project Gutenberg

A gigantic collection of ebooks of texts that deal with the American Civil War (1861-1865), from speeches of major figures to works of fiction.

The Freedmen's Book (1865) by Lydia Maria Child

This one has a great letter “To My Old Master” from a former slave, wherein he argues that it would not do him any good to return to his former master
(blogpost about it here: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/01/to-my-old-master.html

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow (website/podcast)

Online exhibition on the Jim Crow Era between 1863 (Emancipation Proclamation) and 1954 (Brown v. Borad of Education). Provided by PBS.

Slavery Bookshelf at Project Gutenberg

Various ebooks of texts that deal with slavery in the US, ranging from abolitionist tracts to slave narratives, to works of fiction dealing with slavery.

New Deal Network

At the core of the New Deal Network is a database of primary source materials—photographs, political cartoons, and texts gathered from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Library of Congress, and other sources. Features many online exhibitions.Provided by the Roosevelt Institute.

Atomic Archive

This site explores the complex history surrounding the invention of the atomic bomb. It features a large collection of digital assets, such as original texts, eyewitness accounts, rare photographs, videos and full color maps. Provided by AJ Software & Multimedia, a company that also produces a CD-Rom on the same topic.

Cold War International History Project (CWIHP)

The Project supports the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War, and seeks to accelerate the process of integrating new sources, materials and perspectives from the former "Communist bloc" with the historiography of the Cold War which has been written over the past few decades largely by Western scholars reliant on Western archival sources. Provided by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Free at Last (ebook)

The book recounts how African-American slaves and their descendants struggled to win the civil rights enjoyed by other Americans. This website is provided by the US State Department.

Understanding 9/11: A Television News Archive

The 9/11 Television News Archive is a library of news coverage of the events of 9/11/2001 and their aftermath as presented by U.S. and international broadcasters. Provided by the Internet Archive.

Digital Collections at the Immigration History Research Center

Browse through digitized immigrant letters and pictures. Provided by the University of Minnesota Library.

Ellis Island

Website of the Ellis Island Museum in New York City, the port of entry for millions of immigrants from Europe in the nineteenth century.

Immigrant Letters

This site includes 2,162 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of information, so providing a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950.

History: Labor

A research guide to primary and secondary sources for labor history, provided by the University Libraries at the University of Washington.

Documenting the American South (DocSouth)

This project provides access to texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture. It features thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs. Provided by the University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Chicago History in Pictures (blog)

Photographs from the Chicago History Museum Collection.

Primary Sources for Educators and Students at the National Archives

Digital copies of primary source documents and photographs from the National Archives grouped by time periods and topics.

Teacher’s Resources at the Library of Congress

Classroom materials on various topics of US history and tips for teachers on how to use the Library of Congress’s resources.