Research Guides: HIST 150: Transatlantic Slave Trade (Spring 2024): Specialized Primary Source Databases

Where to Start

As noted earlier, W&M Libraries has a LOT of primary source databases.

Full list of primary source databases
Full list of our databases.
HINT: use the search button to keyword search through all out database descriptions to find databases related to your topic.
Databases relating to Slavery

The reason we have so many different primary source databases is because they all do different things and cover different time period.

Some are full of old scanned booked published before 1800.

Some are scanned collections of letters.

Others are full of newspapers and broadsides.

Others are government and trade records.

It's unlikely that any 1 database will meet all your needs, so it's important to spend a bit of time search several of them.

Read the database summaries to see what each contains, and to decide if it relates to your topic.

Important Tip!

Keep your searches basic, no more than 2 or 3 keywords.
Then limit those results by publication, location, type.
Let the database filters do the work.

Example: Debates about the Slave Trade AND abolition in the late 18th century.

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.

Search in the main library catalog
Limit to time period of interest in the publication date field

Highlighted Primary Source Databases for this class.

Wide range of material (correspondence, journals, notes, etc)

Slavery & Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
Includes collections on the transatlantic slave trade, the global movement for the abolition of slavery, the legal, personal, and economic aspects of the slavery system, and the dynamics of emancipation in the U.S. as well as in Latin America, the Caribbean, and other regions. Part 1. Debates over slavery and abolition; Part 2. Slave trade in the Atlantic world; Part 3. The institution of slavery; Part 4. The age of emancipation. Includes legal documents, plantation records, first-person accounts, newspapers, government records, and other primary sources Covers: 1492 to 1888.
Debates over Slavery and Abolition This link opens in a new window
Debates over Slavery and Abolition sheds light on the abolitionist movement, the conflicts within it, the anti- and pro-slavery arguments of the period, and the debates on the subject of colonization. It explores all facets of the controversial topic, with a focus on economic, gender, legal, religious, and government issues.
Includes letters, personal papers, United States government records, and missionary papers.
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.
Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law This link opens in a new window
Brings together, for the first time, all known legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world. This includes every statute passed by every colony and state on slavery, every federal statute dealing with slavery, and all reported state and federal cases on slavery. The library has hundreds of pamphlets and books written about slavery--defending it, attacking it or simply analyzing it. Covers 1450s to 1880s.
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.
Institution of Slavery This link opens in a new window
The Institution of Slavery explores, in vivid detail, the inner workings of slavery from 1492 to 1888. Through legal documents, plantation records, first-person accounts, newspapers, government records, and other primary sources, this collection reveals how enslaved people struggled against the institution. These rare works explore slavery as a legal and labor system, the relationship between slavery and religion, freed slaves, the Shong Massacre, the Demerara insurrection, and many other aspects and events.
Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantations Records (History Vault) This link opens in a new window
Primary source documents of records and correspondence of southern plantations during the Antebellum period of U.S. History. These documents reflect the business and operation of plantations, including slavery records. Part of ProQuest's History Vault.
Slave Trade in the Atlantic World This link opens in a new window
Slave Trade in the Atlantic World charts the inception of slavery in Africa and its rise as perpetuated on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, placing particular emphasis on the Caribbean, Latin America, and United States. This collection was developed by an international editorial board with scholars specializing in North American, European, African, and Latin American/Caribbean aspects of the slave trade. Includes customs records, court cases, shipping records, manuscripts, personal papers, letters, trade records, and other materials.
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.
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.
Black Life in America This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive coverage of the African American experience from the early 18th century to the present. Sourced from more than 19,000 American and global news sources.

PRINTED MATTER (BOOKS, BROADSIDES, ETC)

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.
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.
European Views of the Americas, 1493-1750 This link opens in a new window
Citations to printed records about the Americas written in Europe before 1750. Based on the bibliography European Americana: A Chronological Guide to Works Printed in Europe Relating to The Americas, 1493-1750, by John Alden and Dennis Landis. Coverage: 1493-1700.

Magazines and Popular Periodicals

American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection This link opens in a new window
Provides digital access to a highly comprehensive collection of American periodicals published between 1691 and 1912. Subject coverage includes: advertising, health, women's issues, science, the history of slavery, industry and professions, religious issues, culture and the arts, and more. Produced by a partnership between EBSCO and the American Antiquarian Society (AAS).
Eighteenth Century Journals This link opens in a new window
Bringing together rare journals printed between c.1685 and 1835, this resource illuminates all aspects of eighteenth-century social, political and literary life. Topics covered are wide-ranging and include colonial life, provincial and rural affairs, the French and American revolutions, reviews of literature and fashion throughout Europe, political debates, and London coffee house gossip and discussion.
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.
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.

Government Records

East India Company This link opens in a new window
East India Company offers access to a unique collection of India Office Records from the British Library, London. Containing royal charters, correspondence, trading diaries, minutes of council meetings and reports of expeditions, among other document types, this resource charts the history of British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent and beyond from 1599 to 1947.
British History Online This link opens in a new window
Primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles. Includes the Calendar of State Papers, Colonial; Calendars of State Papers, Domestic; the Calendars of State Papers for Scotland and Ireland; the Calendar of Close Rolls; and the official records of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Coverage: 1500-1850, some earlier coverage. Access to premium content.
State Papers Online This link opens in a new window
Early modern British and European history. English government, including social & economic affairs, law & order, religious policy, exploration, crown possessions & intelligence gathering, as well as Britain's international relations and foreign policy. Includes English government documents, such as Privy Council Office records and letters of notable British political figures. Coverage: 1509-1714.
Virginia Company Archives Online This link opens in a new window
Includes fully searchable previously unpublished transcripts of over 500 documents from the Virginia Company Archives; records of the Virginia Company of London; complete Ferrar Papers from Magdalene College, Cambridge; and a wide range of maps, illustrations, and other works. Coverage: 1590-1790.
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

HISTORIC NEWSPAPERS

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.
Caribbean Newspapers, 1718-1876 This link opens in a new window
Caribbean Newspapers, 1718-1876—the largest online collection of 18th- and 19th-century newspapers published in this region—will provide a comprehensive primary resource for studying the development of Western society and international relations within this important group of islands. This unique resource is essential for researching colonial history, the Atlantic slave trade, Atlantic World research, international commerce, New World slavery and U.S. relations with the region as far back as the early 18th century.
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.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers This link opens in a new window
This database allows you to search and view public domain newspaper pages (1690-1963) and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
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.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Historical Newspapers 1786-2003 This link opens in a new window
The Post-Gazette is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh. Reporting news in a city that was once considered the industrial center of a nation, and now considered an education and medical hub, this newspaper offers researchers valuable regional perspectives on international, national and local news.

Plantation Records

Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantations Records (History Vault) This link opens in a new window
Primary source documents of records and correspondence of southern plantations during the Antebellum period of U.S. History. These documents reflect the business and operation of plantations, including slavery records. Part of ProQuest's History Vault.

Plantation Records in Print at WM Libraries
Includes Plantation Records that are held in the library in print or microform