Practice of History: Revolutions & Civil Wars

Course Number:

HST 290

Instructor:

Pollard

Starting Points

American Revolution, 1775-1783 : an encyclopedia

Encyclopedia of the American Civil War : a political, social, and military history

Encyclopedia of war & American society (ebook)

Articles & eResources

These databases will help you identify and access articles and other resources on your topic. Those marked as EbscoHost databases can be searched simultaneously by going to the EbscoHost page and selecting the databases you wish to search.

America: History & Life

Indexes 1,700 journals from 1964 to present. (EbscoHost)

JSTOR

Full-text access to Full-text searching of an archive of over 165 history and 58 law journals. Typically excludes the latest 3-5 years of publication.

Project MUSE

Includes cfulll-text of over 300 journals (including 66 in history). Has the current issues of many titles in JStor.

WorldCat

This union catalog of 9,000 libraries contains over a billion records. Includes a direct link to the Illiad interlibrary loan service.

Academic Search Complete

A great database for any topic, this database indexes over 5,600 journals, with full-text access for 4,600. (EbscoHost)

HeinOnline

HeritageQuest

Using the Library Catalog

Click here to search the Library Catalog

The library catalog and WorldCat use Library of Congress Subject Headings. The list of authorized subject headings is available online from the Library of Congress Classification/Subject Headings database. However, you can also start with keyword searches to gather some relevant titles, then look at their subject headings to discover the official terms to use.

Using these Library of Congress Subject Headings will aid your searches. Here are some examples of subject headings to use for the Revolutionary War and the Civil War:

Revolutionary War headings:

United States [or specific state name] -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 [browse for further subdivisions]
United States -- Foreign relations -- 1775-1783
[Names of battles, campaigns, seiges, etc.], e.g., Moore's Creek Bridge, Battle of, N.C., 1776
American loyalists
Evacuation Day, Boston, Mass., 1776
Minutemen (Militia)
Tea Tax (American colonies)
Writs of assistance
[place name] -- Burning by the British
[place name] -- British conquest

Civil War

United States [or specific state name] -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [browse for further subdivisions]
United States -- Foreign relations -- 1861-1865
[Names of battles, campaigns, seiges, etc.], e.g., Bull Run, 1st Battle of, Va., 1863 [not Manassas]
Confederate States of America
Diplomatic and consular service, Confederate
Seccession -- Southern States
Propaganda, Confederate
Sherman's March through the Carolinas
Sherman's March to the Sea
Stone fleets
Unionists (United States Civil War)

Books & Library Materials

Use the catalog and WorldCat to find books and other materials. The items listed below are ebooks.

Daily life during the American Revolution

Daily life in Civil War America

Videos, DVDs & Music

You will find videos in the catalog as you search for books and other materials. To limit your search to videos, go to the "Advanced Keyword Search" option and use the "Material type" box to select videorecordings. Or, after performing a search, click the "Modify Search" or "Limit/Sort" button and select the material type videorecordings option there. You can also browse the documentary section by the same call number ranges mentioned under Books above.

The following PBS videos are available as streaming video online:

Liberty! The American Revolution. [Episode 1], The reluctant revolutionaries. [Episode 2], Blows must decide.

Liberty! The American Revolution. [Episode 3], The times that try men's souls. [Episode 4], Oh, fatal ambition!

Freedom, a history of US. Episode 1, Independence. Episode 2, Revolution

John & Abigail Adams

Freedom, a history of US. Episode 5, A fatal contradiction Episode 6, War to end slavery

Civil War. Episode one, 1861-- the cause

Civil War. Episode two, 1862-- a very bloody affair

Civil War. Episode three, 1862-- forever free

Civil War. Episode four, 1863-- simply murder

Civil War. Episode five, 1863-- the universe of battle

Civil War. Episode six, 1864-- valley of the shadow of death

Civil War. Episode seven, 1864-- most hallowed ground

Civil War. Episode eight, 1865-- war is all hell

Civil War. Episode nine, 1865-- the better angels of our nature

War letters

Websites

A very selective list of websites. Websites that are primary sources are listed below in the Primary Sources category.

Internet Modern History Sourcebook

American Revolution (National Parks Service)

Guide to the American Revolution (Library of Congress)

Liberty! The American Revolution (PBS)

African American Women Writers of the 19th Century

American Civil War Homepage

Antietam on the Web

Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War

Statistics

Historical Statistics of the United States

Historical Census Browser

Primary Sources

See the guide "Finding Primary Resources for Historical Research" for a more complete discussion of the library's resources.

Search the Randall Library catalog and WorldCat (see below for links) for history makers' names as authors. This should retrieve their memoirs, diaries, correspondence and other papers.

As you search subject topics in the catalog and WorldCat, note that the following subdivisions indicate primary source:
Archives*
Caricatures and cartoons
Correspondence*
Diaries*
Early works to 1800
Facsimilies
Interviews
Newspapers [e.g., African Americans -- Newspapers]
Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc.
Pamphlets
Personal narratives (used in relation to specific events only)
Photographs
Pictorial works
Songs and music
Sources
Speeches, addresses, etc.*
Treaties

*Used with individuals' names,classes of persons (e.g., soldiers), and organizations.

Here are some primary source collections to consider. Resources that encompass both the Revolutionary War and Civil War are listed first, followed by Revolutionary era sources and then Civil War sources.

Boston African Americana Project

Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation

From the Library of Congress American Memory Project, this provides US and Confederate Congressional Documents, 1774-1875.

Documenting the American South

This website from UNC Libraries provides full text access to first-person narratives, including slave narratives, Colonial Records of North Carolina and literary works.