Research Guides: HIST 136A: Global Wars and Revolutions in the Eighteenth Century: More Primary Sources

Tips for Searching Digitized Primary Sources

If you are using a database with an Advanced Search form, try using the Advanced Search features to refine your search.

Since these databases cover many decades, it can be helpful to limit your search to a specific date range.

Think about what terms that might have been used to in articles about your topic during the time period. For example: the name of a specific person or organization or even a term that wouldn't be used today.

Some databases allow you to limit your search to articles from a specific geographic area. Try doing this when researching events from a specific region.

These databases often sort results in chronological order. In some cases, it might be helpful to sort by relevance/best matches first.

In addition to searching, try browsing these collections to learn about sources that you wouldn't have necessarily thought of searching for.

Recommended Digitized Collections

Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
Collection of significant English-language and foreign-language titles printed in the UK, along with thousands of important works from the Americas, during the 18th century. Includes of books, pamphlets, broadsides, ephemera. Example document: The true state of the case, respecting the insurrection at St. Domingo (1792)
U.K. Parliamentary Papers: House of Commons 19th Century (1801-1900) This link opens in a new window
Full text of U.K. Parliamentary papers issued by the House of Commons between 1801-1900. Also included is the full text backfile from Hansard, the Official Report of debates in Parliament, from both the House of Commons and House of Lords, covering 1803 to 2005. Hansard provides an edited record of parliamentary debates and questions, including written ministerial statements and answers to parliamentary questions as well as the transcripts of debates.
Database available through at least May 31, 2024, as part of ProQuest's Evidence-Based Acquisition Program.
HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
A digital repository for the nation’s great research libraries. It contains a wealth of scanned out-of-copyright materials. To search for primary source materials from a specific time period, try using Advanced Search and limiting by publication date. HathiTrust content, including online versions of print materials owned by Brandeis, can also be found when you search Brandeis OneSearch using Articles & More or All OneSearch.
American History, 1493-1945 This link opens in a new window
Collection of digitized primary source materials covering American history from 1493 to 1945. The collection is sourced from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Search tip: Try entering a search and then filtering your results by "theme," such as the American Revolution or the French & Indian Wars. Examples of documents about spying during the American Revolution.
European Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750 This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive guide to printed records about the Americas written in Europe before 1750. It includes sources about the history of European exploration, portrayals of Native American peoples, natural disasters, disease outbreaks and slavery. While the database doesn't link directly to the full text of documents, you can search for a document title in All OneSearch to see if digitized version of the document is available online through another source.
Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500–1926 This link opens in a new window
An online collection of books, pamphlets, serials and other works about the Americas, from the time of their discovery to the early 1900s. Example document: An enquiry into the causes of the alienation of the Delaware and Shawanese Indians from the British interest (1759)
Women and Social Movements in the United States (1600-2000) This link opens in a new window
A collection of document projects--comprised of essays with supporting documents, images, and web links--focused on the history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000. Example document: Ideas, Relative to the Manner of Forwarding to the American Soldiers, the Presents of the American Women by Ladies Association of Philadelphia (1780)
British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Searchable and indexed pages of women's letters and diaries from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Complements North American Women's Letters and Diaries, Colonial-1950.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Includes the correspondence and diaries of women, covering colonial times to 1950.

Revolutionary War and Early America: Collections from the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1721-1860
Focuses on the Colonial Era, the Revolutionary War, and the Early National Period. Among the collections on the Colonial Era, one notable collection is the Pre-Revolutionary Diaries, 1635-1774.

Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law (HeinOnline) This link opens in a new window
This collection brings together significant legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world. This includes every statute passed by every colony and state on slavery, every federal statute dealing with slavery, and all reported state and federal cases on slavery.

Primary Sources in the Library Catalog

This page includes suggestions for many digitized collections of primary source materials, but remember to consider sources that may not have been digitized. Try searching the Library Catalog. Search by an author from the time period or enter a subject in combination with any of the subject headings used to define primary sources:

Autobiographies
Correspondence
Diaries
Documents
Early works to…
Government documents
Interviews
Legal documents
Letters
Manuscripts
Memoirs
Narratives
Pamphlets
Photographs
Reminiscences
Sources
Speeches

To search primary source collections beyond Brandeis:

WorldCat
Use the menu options to the left of your search results to limit to archival materials
Archive Grid
Archive Grid searches thousands of repositories worldwide that hold unique collections relevant to your research and information about their holdings.

Boston Public Library

The Boston Public Library has a number of excellent databases withe primary source materials, including:

Slavery and Anti-Slavery
Making of the Modern World

You can sign up for a BPL ecard which will allow you to use these databases.