Eighteenth-Century Studies: Online Resources: 4. North American History

This collection documents the relationships among peoples and the environment in North America from 1534 to 1850. The collection includes both published and unpublished accounts, narratives, diaries, journals, and letters.

Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800 is the definitive resource for information about every aspect of life in 17th- and 18th-century America, from agriculture and auctions through foreign affairs, diplomacy, literature, music, religion, the Revolutionary War, temperance, witchcraft, and just about any other topic imaginable. This resource consists of more than 37,000 books, pamphlets, and broadsides.

Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans-the definitive resource for researching every aspect of 17th- and 18th-century America-has been dramatically expanded. From the acclaimed holdings of the Library Company of Philadelphia comes a broad range of recently uncovered books, pamphlets and broadsides, most of which were not included in either Charles Evans' monumental work or Roger Bristol's supplement. Printed during a 130-year period spanning the colonial era and the formation of the new nation, these nearly 1,000 rare and unique items represent a remarkable enrichment of the Readex digital edition of Early American Imprints.

Covering every aspect of American life during the early decades of the United States, Early American Imprints, Series II (1801-1819) provides full-text access to the 36,000 American books, pamphlets and broadsides published in the first nineteen years of the nineteenth century. The continuation of Readex's Early American Imprints: Series I, this rich primary source database, based on the authoritative bibliography by Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker and now supplemented by thousands of new items, allows students and scholars to explore the development of the American nation as never before. Designed for researchers of varying skill levels, the intuitive interface of this long-awaited digital edition offers both simple and advanced searching as well as in-depth browsing within sixteen carefully indexed subject categories.

From Aaron Burr to Zebulon Pike, from abolitionism to Tippecanoe, this unique Web-based collection thoroughly chronicles the people, ideas and events behind the early political, social, cultural and geographic growth of the United States. Researchers can study the emergence of American arts and literature, follow the progression of American economic, religious and scientific thought, track the westward expansion, and much more. Specific topics covered include the Adams-Onis Treaty, Bible societies, canals, the Embargo Act, fur trade, Hartford Convention, Lewis & Clark expedition, Louisiana Purchase, nationalism, Panic of 1819, romanticism, Seminole War, Treaty of Ghent, 12th Amendment, U.S. Military Academy, War of 1812, widows and wives, and thousands of others. Also included are the works of many European authors reprinted for the American public.

In addition to its books, pamphlets and broadsides, this comprehensive collection features many state papers and government materials, including published reports; presidential letters and messages; congressional, state and territorial resolutions.

Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw- Shoemaker-the definitive resource for researching the opening decades of 19th-century America-has been dramatically expanded. From the acclaimed holdings of the Library Company of Philadelphia comes a broad range of recently uncovered books, pamphlets and broadsides, most of which were not included in Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker's American Bibliography. Printed during the Early Republic, spanning the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson and passage of the Indian Civilization Act, these nearly 1,000 rare and unique items represent a remarkable enrichment of the Readex digital edition of Early American Imprints.

Includes:
Books, pamphlets, and broadsides published during the early 19th century from the bibliography by Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker; Published in cooperation with the American Antiquarian Society

Includes:
Books, pamphlets, and broadsides published during the early 19th century from the bibliography by Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker; Published in cooperation with the American Antiquarian Society

This resource covers the historical experiences, cultural traditions & innovations, and political status of Indigenous Peoples in the United States and Canada. The archive includes monograph, manuscript, newspaper, periodical and photograph collections. Includes:
Indigenous Peoples of North America, Part I
Indigenous Peoples of North America, Part II: The Indian Rights Association, 1882-1986

Joseph Sabin’s Bibliotheca Americana: A Dictionary of Books Relating to America from Its Discovery to the Present Time has been heralded as a cornerstone in the study of the history of the Western Hemisphere. Gale’s Sabin Americana, 1500-1926 takes the works currently captured from that bibliography and makes them available online. These are works about the Americas, but published elsewhere in the world. Look here for accounts of exploration, pioneering, settlement, military actions, Native Americans, etc.

Delve into the earliest voyages of Vasco da Gama, the opening of trade with the Spice Islands, the colonisation of the Americas and Australasia, the search for the Northwest and Northeast Passages, and finally the race for the Poles with this robust primary source collection. Featuring rare manuscript and early printed material, highly illustrated maps and documents, diaries and ships' logs from some of the most well-known voyages in history, this collection provides access to key events in the history of European maritime exploration from c.1420-1920.

Bringing together unique primary sources drawn from world-class maritime archives and heritage collections Life at Sea takes a sociocultural approach, focusing on the individual experiences and personal narratives of seafarers. Through a broad range of sources, from journals and memoirs to ships’ logs and court records, the lives of ordinary seamen, merchants, whalers and pirates can be explored. This resource offers exciting new insights into three centuries of the Anglo-American maritime world. Covers c1650-1850

This electronic resource documents the founding and economic development of Virginia as seen through the papers of the Virginia Company of London, 1606-1624. Has searchable text of the 4 volume set Records of the Virginia Company of London, published by the U.S. Government Printing Office, 1906-1933, the complete Ferrar Papers from Magdalene College Cambridge, and previously unpublished transcriptions from the Virginia Company Archives by Dr. David Ransome. Useful for studying the Atlantic world and early colonial period, London’s economic history, tensions between Native Americans and colonists, and the demography of early Virginia.

MODULE I: EARLY SETTLEMENT, EXPANSION AND RIVALRIES
The first module of Colonial America documents the early history of the colonies, and includes founding charters, material on the effects of 1688’s Glorious Revolution in North America, records of piracy and seaborne rivalry with the French and Spanish, and copious military material from the French and Indian War of 1756-63.

MODULE II: TOWARDS REVOLUTION
This module focuses on the 1760s and 1770s and the social and political protest that led to the Declaration of Independence, including legal materials covering the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party. It is also particularly rich in material relating to military affairs and Native Americans.

MODULE III: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
This module charts the upheavals of the 1770s and 1780s which saw the throwing off of British rule in the Thirteen Colonies. Contents include volumes of intercepted letters between colonists, the military correspondence of the British commanders in the field and material produced by the Ordnance Office and the office of the Secretary at War, as well as two copies of the ‘Dunlap’ edition of the Declaration of Independence printed on the night of the 4th-5th July 1776.

MODULE IV: LEGISLATION AND POLITICS IN THE COLONIES
The material in this module consists mostly of the text of acts of assembly and the minutes of assembly and council sessions, building up to a comprehensive picture of the colonies’ legislative and political evolution.

MODULE V: GROWTH, TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
The preponderant part of this module consists of correspondence with the Board of Trade. There are also details of land grants, financial accounts and documents focusing on American Indian relations, as well as George Vancouver’s despatches to London from his 1791 expedition to the Pacific Northwest. The module contains a number of shipping returns, accompanied by a video interview with Hannah Knox Tucker (PhD candidate, University of Virginia), who discusses these documents and their value for researchers in detail.