U.S. History Primary Sources via the Web:
Main Focus: U.S. Civil War Era
by Susannah U. Bruce

SHSU Thomason Room Special Collections

Letters, Oral Interviews, and other materials in the SHSU Thomason Room Digital Archive
Go to http://unicorn.shsu.edu/

• then click on "Digital Collections" on the far right of the gray bar near the top of the screen
• click on "Browse" on the gray bar near the top of the new screen
• click on "Special Collections"

Thomason Room Special Collections Page (includes links to Walker County Treasures, Texas Tides, Portal to Texas History, etc.
http://library.shsu.edu/about/specialcollections/thomasonroom.php

Newspapers

The Valley of the Shadow Project -- read newspaper articles from a northern (Franklin County, PA) vs. southern perspective (Augusta County, Virginia). You can read from the pre-war, war, and postwar years. Click here to browse by topic: http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/xml_docs/valley_news/html/topics.html   or just go to the Valley of the Shadow site and explore.

        Topical Newspaper coverage: Fort Sumter, April 1861 (do Google Searches for more):

Richmond Enquirer  (Page 1, Column 3)                                       April 15, 1861
http://richmondthenandnow.com/Newspaper-Articles/Sumter-Celebration-in-Richmond.html

Richmond Dispatch (Page 1)                    April 15, 1861
http://richmondthenandnow.com/Newspaper-Articles/Surrender-of-Fort-Sumter.html

The Illustrated London News, vol. 38, no. 1088, p. 436.  May 11, 1861
http://cti.library.emory.edu/iln/browse.php?id=iln38.1088.110

Vicki Betts' Newspaper and General 19th Century U.S. Primary Sources
http://www.uttyler.edu/vbetts/   for general listings and search tips; also try her list of Civil War newspapers at http://www.uttyler.edu/vbetts/newspaper_titles.htm

Secession Era Editorials Project -- read newspaper editorials from across the United States addressing the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Caning of Sumner, Dred Scott, and Harper's Ferry Raid.  Go to: http://history.furman.edu/benson/docs/index.htm

Harper's Weekly -- see especially "Education at HarpWeek"

Speeches relating to "What Caused the U.S. Civil War?"

President Abraham Lincoln's First and Second Inaugural Addresses

President Jefferson Davis's Inaugural Address

Vice President (CSA) Alexander Stephens's Cornerstone Speech

Constitution of the Confederate States of America (plus analysis)

Some articles and books mentioned in break-out sessions:

Edward L. Ayers, What Caused the Civil War? (W.W. Norton, 2006) -- also available in brief article format in North & South Vol. 8, No. 5, September 2005.

Mark H. Dunkelman, Gettysburg's Unknown Soldier: The Life, Death, and Celebrity of Amos Humiston (Praeger, 1999). (Great source for the Humiston children's photograph and the story I shared with you. If you're limited on time, though, click here for a brief article-length account of this story: http://www.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/20030706get_amosl3.asp)

John W. Thomason Jr., Lone Star Preacher: Being a Chronicle of the Acts of Praxiteles Swan, M.E. Church South Sometime Captain, 5th Texas Regiment Confederate States Prov.... (TCU Press, 1992, Reprint).

Recommended websites:

American Heritage Archives--great history articles that read like a story that can capture your students' imagination--many of the older issues have articles by very prominent historians.  Some of my favorites for students:

• "How to Write History" by Dixon Wecter
• "In the Name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress"
• "Children of Darkness" The Nat Turner Rebellion
• "Hayfoot, Strawfoot" Civil War Soldiers by Bruce Catton
• "Sacco Guilty, Vanzetti Innocent?" by Francis Russell
• "Pearl Harbor: Who Blundered?" by Trevor Dupuy
• "The Week the World Watched Selma" by Stephen Oates
• "Would JFK Have Pulled Us Out of Vietnam? A Tantalizing Archival Discovery Suggests the Perils of Historical Evidence" by Sheldon M. Stern
• NOTE: This article (above) is excellent for document analysis, understanding the process of historical research

Digital History at University of Houston—Dr. Steven Mintz  http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs online: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html

Battles and Leaders  Primary Source accounts of the American Civil War (four of the six volumes are available here online. The 5^th and 6^th volumes are can be purchased via amazon, etc.) http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/books/battles/index.cfm

Lincoln-Douglas Debates http://www.nps.gov/liho/debates.htm

The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (all of the official government/military reports relating to the US and CS armies filed during the American Civil War) http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/browse.monographs/waro.html

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion (just like above, but for the navies): http://0-cdl.library.cornell.edu.source.unco.edu/moa/moa_browse.html

Making of America  “Materials accessible here are Cornell University Library's contributions to Making of America (MOA), a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. This site provides access to 267 monograph volumes and over 100,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints. The project represents a major collaborative endeavor in preservation and electronic access to historical texts.”  http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/ 

Documenting the American South (UNC Chapel Hill) -- primary source documents from the American South; includes lesson plans for teachers http://docsouth.unc.edu/classroom/

American Memory Project, Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/

 C.S.S. Hunley Project (includes lesson plans and information on buying "Queenie's Coin") http://www.hunley.org/

General Veterans’ Records Information http://www.archives.gov/veterans/index.html

Veterans' Records Pre-WWI: http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/pre-ww-1-records.html

 U.S. Army Military History Institute Photo Database: http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usamhi/PhotoDB.html

 "Gettysburg: The Face of Battle": A Distance Learning Program from Gettysburg National Military Park.   This includes primary source materials on several units at the battle, lesson plans, etc.   http://www.nps.gov/gett/getteducation/bcast01/gettcast01.htm   NOTE: Check out any of the National Park Service battlefield sites. I really like what’s available at the Gettysburg and Antietam websites, but there are websites for nearly every battlefield park and many are outstanding.

11^th Texas Cavalry Reenactment Group you worked with at the Museum, led by Wil Gibson  http://11texascav.org/

Abraham Lincoln Assassination http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln.html

PBS “The Civil War”   http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/

Website for James McPherson’s Ordeal By Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/history/usa/mcpherson/

Organization of American Historians (OAH) Teaching Resources  http://www.oah.org/teaching/index.html