LibGuides: HIS300 American Beginnings Research Guide: Print Primary Sources

Tips for finding primary sources

Tips for Finding Primary Sources

Identify the topic words you will use for your search

For example, if you were conducting research on slaves taken from Ardra in the Bight of Benin during the late 17th century, you may want to start with the following topic words:
- slaves
- slavery
- slave trade
- Ardra
- Benin
- West Africa
- 17th century

Locate background information

Use encyclopedias and other background resources to identify key participants, dates, and publications (reports, newsletters, magazines, pamphlets, etc.) associated with your topic
Click on Reference in this guide for examples of resources in which to search for encyclopedias

Locate books and eBooks that contain primary sources

Use Libsearch (Advanced Search) to search for books and eBooks on your topic

Put your topic words (people, places, events) in the first search boxes with the All Fields Search Type selected (the default)
- Examples:
  - southampton insurrection
  - (slaves OR slavery) AND "united states"
  - (women OR wives OR wife) AND "united states"
Put the type of primary text or texts you are looking for in the subsequent search box and select the Subject Terms Search Type.

NOTE: You must use one of the words listed below since primary text catalog records generally use one of these words as part of their Subject Heading(s):
- sources (one of the most common words that identifies primary texts)
- document* (note the truncation character at the end of this term)
- personal narratives
- correspondence
- letters
- diaries
- interviews
- speeches
- quotations
- periodicals (identifies newspapers, magazines, or journals)
- manuscripts
- reports
You may want to combine some of the above words using OR

Example:
sources OR "personal narratives" OR correspondence OR diaries

(Skip this step when looking for literary works not covered by any of the terms above)
For example:
If you enter the following Advanced Search in Libsearch...

     Any Field:   (slaves OR slavery) AND "united states"
     Subject: sources OR "personal narratives" OR correspondence OR diaries
     Material Type: Books

...you will obtain results that include:
Slave Testimony: Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, Interviews, and Autobiographies

(NOTE: These tips are adapted with permission from Sarah Shoemaker, Archives & Special Collections Librarian at Brandeis)

Examples of Books with Primary Source Materials

Below are examples of the many books in the Bethel University Library that contain primary source materials.

Use the Tips for Finding Primary Sources on this page to find more like them.

America Before the Refolution, 1725-1775
Call Number: BU Library Main Collection 973.2 V364a
American History Told by Contemporaries
Call Number: BU Library Main Collection 973 H325a Vol .1-4
American Indians
Call Number: BU Library Main Collection 970.1 A51249 2001

"Pairing well-chosen primary sources with the best in contemporary scholarship, Nancy Shoemaker has devised an extraordinary book. Using treaty speeches, government documents, memoirs, and oral history, she matches Native voices with those of colonizers, bureaucrats, and historians. Lively and accessible introductions frame questions of method, evidence, historiography and analysis, making American Indians a compelling classroom book."
American Reader, from Columbus to Today; Being a Compilation or Collection of the Personal Narratives, Relations and Journals Concerning the Society, Economy, Politics, Life and Times of our Great and Many-tongued Nation...
Call Number: BU Library Main Collection 973.082 A589a
American Republic: Primary Sources
Call Number: BU Library Reference Collection 973 A51276 2002

This book provides, in a single volume, critical, original documents revealing the character of American discourse on the nature and importance of local government, the purposes of federal union, and the role of religion and tradition in forming America's drive for liberty.
Annals of America (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Call Number: BU Library Main Collection 973 A615a Vol. 1-20

This 20 volume set contains primary documents from America's history from its beginnings through the middle eighties.
Debating the Issues in Colonial Newspapers: Primary Documents on Events of the Period
Call Number: BU Library Main Collection 973.2 C7824d 2000
Documents Illustrative of the Slave Trade to America
Call Number: BU Library Main Collection 326.1 D68 (Vols. 1-4)

I. 1441-1700.--II. The eighteenth century.--III. New England and the middle colonies.--IV. The border colonies and the southern colonies.
Encounters in the New World: A History in Documents
Call Number: BU Library Main Collection 970.00497 E5626 2000

Lepore provides a wealth of primary-source materials to describe the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. The result is an eye-opening look at the "discovery" of the New World.
Exploration & Colonial America (1492-1755) (Defining Documents in American History)
Call Number: BU Library Reference Collection 973.2 E9665 2013 (Vol. 1-2)
Milestone Documents in American history: Exploring the Primary Sources that Shaped America
Call Number: BU Library Main Collection 973 M6438 2008

"Milestone Documents" is a new series combining full-text primary source documents with engaging, readable analysis. Plus free online access to the full content of this great reference set is available.
Race Relations in America: A Reference Guide with Primary Documents
Call Number: BU Library Main Collection 305.800973 D2647r 2006

Contains a narrative overview of each event, expert analysis, the text of primary sources contemporary to the time of the event, and ready reference materials. Over 90 primary documents.
Role of Religion in American life: An Interpretive Historical Anthology
Call Number: BU Library Main Collection 200.973 R7455 2002

Contains documents pertaining to the role of religion in American culture throughout its history.
Story of America as Reported by its Newspapers, 1690-1965
Call Number: BU Library Oversize Collection 973.08 E52s