Primary Sources: Databases & Websites - HSS 300 - Indian Removal Act of 1830 and its after-effects in the US

Finding and Identifying Primary Sources

Primary Source vs. Secondary Source

A primary source is a document that shows direct, immediate or firsthand knowledge of a subject or event. It is a document written at the time or on the scene where an event occurred. These include:

Autobiographies
Diaries/Journals
Letters
Speeches
Travel Accounts
Messages and Papers
Government Documents
Magazine/Newspaper Articles
Manuscripts
Photographs
Other Non-Text Materials

Secondary sources are those writings without direct knowledge of a topic or event. These include biographies, monographs, and general periodical articles. Secondary sources are written by people who did not witness or experience an event but have a great deal of knowledge about the topic. Writers often use primary sources in their writing of secondary sources!

Primary Source Databases

Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window
This is a primary source-centric database that covers American history from the 19th century through the early 20th century. Search for newspapers, eyewitness accounts, and more for events such as the Civil War, women's suffrage, and the abolitionist movement. It also contains a collection of African American newspapers from 1827-1909.
Infobase American History This link opens in a new window
This source features thousands of reference articles on American political, military, social, and cultural history over the past 500 years. Some primary sources may also be found here.
Infobase American Indian History This link opens in a new window
This source provides reference articles on over 15,000 years of Native American culture and history, and includes biographies, legends, treaties, and more. Some primary sources are included.
ProQuest American Periodicals This link opens in a new window
This database contains over 1,100 periodicals that first began publishing between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children’s and women’s magazines, and many other historically-significant periodicals.
America’s Historical Newspapers Series: 1690-1922 This link opens in a new window
This database contains American newspaper articles from the late 17th century through 1922.
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
Search across 19th Century US Newspapers, Liberty Magazine Historical Archives (1924-50), Smithsonian Collections, The Illustrated London News Historical Archive (1842-2003) and The Times Digital Archive (1785-2009).
Infobase Issues & Controversies in History This link opens in a new window
Check out the "Indian Removal Act: Necessary to Protect the Indians or Atrocity Against Them?" section

Websites of Primary Sources

Indian Removal Act: Primary Documents in American History
This guide contains digital materials at the Library of Congress related to the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and its after-effects, as well as links to external websites and a selected print bibliography.
The Trail of Tears and the Forced Relocation of the Cherokee Nation
Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears (DPLA primary source set)
Arkansas Primary Source Sets: American Indian Removal
The project’s goals are to increase utilization of Library of Congress primary source materials, to develop primary source sets of LOC materials based on the Arkansas state social studies frameworks for use in teaching United States and Arkansas History, and to disseminate primary source sets through an accessible website.
IDA Treaties Explorer
The Indigenous Digital Archive’s Treaties Explorer, DigiTreaties.org, was created by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico, in partnership with the US National Archives Office of Innovation and National Archives Foundation. Thanks to a generous anonymous donor, the US National Archives conserved and digitized the 374 Ratified Indian Treaties in its holdings.

HSS 300 - Indian Removal Act of 1830 and its after-effects in the US: Primary Sources: Databases & Websites

Finding and Identifying Primary Sources

Primary Source Databases

Websites of Primary Sources