HIST 311: Becoming America, 1688-1776 (Fall 2024)

NOTE:

Most of your searches will only yield under a dozen results.

That is a Good thing! The reason we use subject databases is to help filter the superfluous content. 

Example:

If I'm interested in using Pehr Kalm, Travels in North America, 1770 as a historic document, I can search ("pehr kalm" OR "peter kalm") and nothing else in America: History and Life for ~13 history-related results. Compare this to results from PRIMO, JSTOR, and GoogleScholar

1. Start by writing out your question or topic.
2. identify key terms
3. identify potential synonyms
4. Use AND OR NOT to create search phrases. 
5. Conduct several searches, revising keywords backed on subject terms & commonly used language in the articles/books.

• The inoculation debate in Boston, 1721
  • "inoculation" AND Boston
• The Walking Purchase in Pennsylvania, 1737
  • "Walking Purchase"
• The Zenger Affair in New York, 1734-39
  • ("Zenger" AND "new york") OR "John Peter Zenger"
• The 1741 New York slave conspiracy
  • 1741 AND "New York" AND slave* AND conspiracy
• The Albany Conference, 1754
  • ("Albany Conference" OR "Albany Congress" OR "albany convention") AND 1754
• The Parson’s Cause in Virginia, 1758
  • "Parson’s Cause" OR "two-penny act" OR "two penny act"
• Tacky’s War in Jamaica, 1760
  • Tacky AND (rebellion OR war OR revolt)

• Identify themes from the work, and following the steps above: use basic keywords, don't over think the search.

EXAMPLES:

• Benjamin Franklin, A Modest Enquiry into… Paper Currency, 1729.
  • Franklin AND "paper currency"
• Jonathan Edwards, Some Thoughts Concerning…Religion in New England
  • "jonathan edwards" AND "religion" AND "new england"
• Gottlieb Mittelberger, Journey to Pennsylvania, 1756.

If you're really stuck, another option is to search the title of the document itself in JSTOR and see what other scholars have written about the material.

Example: Mittelberger AND "Journey to Pennsylvania"