Research Guides: HIST 211: The Early Modern Atlantic World (Fall 2022): Picking A Primary Source Database: Where to Start?

It's OKAY to skim

Some databases allow you to skim by topic, so if you're not sure what you want to examine, these can be a great starting point. This databases include:

Colonial America
American History 1493-1945
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice
American Indian Histories and Cultures
America's Historical Imprints
American Broadsides & Ephemera

Still not sure were to look? Try the main catalog

Main Library Catalog
Search for your topic (ex. Pirates, trade, religion, etc) and then limit the publication date the exclude items before 1776. The catalog will search many of our major primary source databases for you, as well as Hathi Trust and other resources.
Example: Search for slaves AND religion AND africa limiting results to publications before 1800
Pulls up results from the databases Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice
Using keywords like "sources" or "correspondence" to find primary sources
In the main library catalog, you can also find primary sources on your topic by including the terms:
advertisements
autobiography/autobiographies
correspondence
description and travel
diary/diaries
documents
early works to 1800
interview/interviews
journal
letters
pamphlets
personal narratives
trials
sources
speeches

Example "Virginia settlers" AND correspondence

Really Stuck?

Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
Use this database to search all our gale databases at once. Be sure to limit the search results to documents before the late 18th century.

Allows a user to search across all Gale historical digital collections that the library owns or subscribes to: 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection -- 19th Century British Newspapers -- Eighteenth Century Collections Online -- Indigenous Peoples: North America -- Nineteenth Century Collections Online -- Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers -- Picture Post Historical Archive -- Sabin Americana, 1500-1926 -- The Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003 -- The Making of the Modern World -- The Times Digital Archive, 1785-1985 -- Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive, 1902-2012.

So, so many options

The W&M Libraries has a Massive number of excellent primary source databases, which makes it very difficult to know where to start.

Our library guide to primary source databases can be navigated by subject & material type, and as you progress into your studies you're encouraged to skim the list more fully. For this class, however, several databases have been highlighted below for you examination.

Highlighted Databases for HIST 211

Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
Explore five centuries of journeys across the globe, scientific discoveries, the expansion of European colonialism, conflict over territories and trade routes, and decades-long search and rescue attempts in this multi-archive collection dedicated to the history of exploration.
America's Historical Imprints This link opens in a new window
American history, literature, culture, and daily life. Choose this database to search the following as one file: American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series 1, 1760-1900; Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800; Supplement from the Library Company of Philadelphia (LCP) 1670-1800; Supplement from the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) 1652-1800. Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819; Supplement from the Library Company of Philadelphia (LCP) 1801-1819; Supplement from the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) 1801-1819. Coverage: Varies.
American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series I This link opens in a new window
Fully searchable facsimile images that capture daily life in America. Wide variety of items, including clipper ship sailing cards, early trade cards, theater and music programs, stock certificates, advertisements, menus, and social invitations. Coverage: 1760-1900.
American History, 1493-1945 This link opens in a new window
Contains books, maps, artwork, and other primary source materials from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. It is divided into two modules: Module 1 Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859; and Module 2 Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945.
American Indian Histories and Cultures This link opens in a new window
A wide-ranging digital resource presenting a unique insight into interactions between American Indians and Europeans from their earliest contact, continuing through the turbulence of the American Civil War, the on-going repercussions of government legislation, right up to the civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century. This resource contains material from the Newberry Library's extensive Edward E. Ayer Collection. Includes manuscripts, artwork and rare printed books, photographs and newspapers. Browse through a wide range of rare and original documents from treaties, speeches and diaries, to historic maps and travel journals.
AM Explorer: Americana This link opens in a new window
Cross-searchable access to millions of pages of essential American history, literature and culture. Uncover captivating manuscript and typescript letters, diaries, notebooks, journals, newspapers, plus incredible art works, illustrations, photographs, video and 360-degree objects.
Colonial America This link opens in a new window
Colonial America makes available all 1,450 volumes of the CO 5 series from The National Archives, UK, covering the period 1606 to 1822. CO 5 consists of the original correspondence between the British government and the governments of the American colonies, making it a uniquely rich resource for all historians of the period. Access: Modules 1 - 5
Sabin Americana, 1500-1926 This link opens in a new window
Early American history and culture. Books, pamphlets, serials, and other works and print matter about North, Central, and South America. Documents also cover the Caribbean and the Atlantic World. Coverage: 1500-1926.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, 1490-2007 This link opens in a new window
This digital collection documents key aspects of the history of slavery worldwide over six centuries, with 16 key areas of focus: slavery in the early Americas; African coast; the Middle Passage; slavery and agriculture; urban and domestic slavery; slave testimony; spiritualism and religion in slave communities; resistance and revolts; the Underground Railroad; the abolition movement and the slavery debate; legislation and politics; freed slaves, freedmen and free black settlements; education; slavery and the Islamic world; varieties of slave experience; slavery today and the legacy of slavery. Documents include legal materials and court cases, broadsides, court records, maps, pamphlets, lists of enslaved peoples, ship's logs, registers, and reports. The collection also includes case studies from America, the Caribbean, Brazil, and Cuba.
Making of the Modern World This link opens in a new window
Economic and business activity in the West, including agriculture, commerce, finance, social conditions, politics, trade, and transportation. Fully searchable. From the Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature. Coverage: 1450-1945.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
English- and foreign-language titles printed in Great Britain from 1701-1800, along with thousands of important works from the Americas. Searchable full text. Includes books, pamphlets, and broadsides. Coverage: 1701-1800.

Historical News Papers & Magazines (Highlighted)

America's Historical Newspapers (includes Early American Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Newspapers from all 50 states with eyewitness reporting, letters, advertisements, obituaries, etc. Includes access to Series I (1690-1876), Series II (1758-1900), Series III (1829-1922), Series IV (1756-1922), and Series V (1777-1922). Coverage: 1690-1922.
British Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Offering comprehensive full-run coverage for popular periodicals, this growing resource will offer facsimile page images and searchable full text for nearly 500 British periodicals published from the seventeenth through the early twentieth centuries, totaling almost five million pages.
17th & 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Newspapers and news pamphlets from the United Kingdom from the collection of the Reverend Charles Burney. Coverage: 1619-1800.
Early American Newspapers Series, 1-5, 1690-1922 This link opens in a new window
Digital archive of over 1000 U.S. historical newspapers published during the past four centuries. Includes titles from all 50 states. Coverage: 1690-1922.
Collections include: African American Newspapers ; Series 1, From Colonies to Nation Early American Newspapers; Series 2, The New Republic ; Series 3, From Farm to City; Series 4, The Rise of Industry ; Series 5, An Emerging World Power
Hartford Courant: Historical Newspapers 1764-1995 This link opens in a new window
America's longest continuously published newspaper, the Hartford Courant is older than the nation. It provides historians and other researchers a front-row seat from which to view the birth of an independent nation.
Performing Arts in Colonial American Newspapers, 1690-1783 This link opens in a new window
Music, dance, theater, and poetry. Citations to articles in American newspapers from the earliest extant copy (1690) through the end of the Revolutionary War (1783), including those in the French and German languages.
American Periodicals Series Online This link opens in a new window
This database contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals.