From the Carleton College History Department web site: When you analyze a primary source, you are undertaking the most important job of the historian. There is no better way to understand events in the past than by examining the sources--whether journals, newspaper articles, letters, court case records, novels, artworks, music or autobiographies--that people from that period left behind.

100+ bibliographies curating essential citations about interactions between different peoples and cultures on four continents and many islands (Africa, Europe, North America and South America and many islands, from the Canary Islands near Africa to the Caribbean islands and to Bermuda in the North Atlantic) in the period between Columbus’ voyages to the New World in the late fifteenth century and the end of slavery in the Americas in the late nineteenth century.

The US National Archives holds 374 of the treaties, where they are known as the Ratified Indian Treaties. Here you can view them for the first time with key historic works that provide context to the agreements made and the histories of our shared lands.

(Formerly named the Yale Indian Papers Project; some images available at Yale) Digitized primary source materials relating to the history of Native Americans in the Northeast, which are transcribed and annotated.

A database identifying individuals who were enslaved, owned slaves, or participated in slave trading.

Includes state and town level records (1635-1820). NOTE: some links to databases at the bottom of this page may not work for you!

Provides access to thousands of images, documents, and sound recordings about the history of Massachusetts.

Congregational church records offer a rich and remarkable view of life in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New England. They document: births, deaths, and marriages, and also show ordinary people making decisions about property, taxation, and their representation in the larger affairs of the Commonwealth.

Since its founding in 1791, the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) has been devoted to the collection and preservation of documents pertaining to American history. With vast manuscript holdings, the MHS is an important research center, as well as home to the Adams Papers project and a variety of other editorial and publication ventures. Its attractive and well designed Website, with numerous and impressive online exhibits, archive

Connecticut's colonial public records, published in the late nineteenth century. Also available (along with Blue Laws) in the Internet Archive.

"Virtual Jamestown" offers visitors the opportunity to delve into the history of English exploration and colonizing efforts in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. With the spotlight on Jamestown as the four hundredth anniversary of its settlement nears, sites such as this one can serve a useful function as online archives and sources of curriculum materials for teachers.

With the four hundredth anniversary of the founding of Jamestown rapidly approaching, commemorations of that event will gain new attention. A Website that functions as a clearing house for all matters Virginian, "Virginia 400" combines several resource sites: an annotated guide to Websites on Virginia history; "Teaching Virginia History," offering lesson plans and teaching strategies.

The result of a joint venture between the Library of Congress and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, this fully bilingual digital project documents the role of France in American history from the colonial era through the nineteenth century. The site features a range of documents, including travel narratives, missionaries’ accounts, maps, and print.

Blends historical materials, teachers’ resources, and commercial outreach. The production standards are high, with visually pleasing interactive materials, flash-driven presentations, and audio files, from interviews to fife music. Perhaps of most interest is the "Explore and Learn" section, which reveals several links, including multimedia features, such as slide shows, video clips, and re-enacted speeches.

"full transcriptions and images of all runaway and captured ads for slaves and servants placed in Virginia newspapers from 1736 to 1790"

The digital collections of the Library of Congress: photos, interviews, gov docs, letters, personal narratives, and more.