Here are various primary source collections of possible interest (below). If you are looking for something specific, try searching for it on the web. For instance, if you would like the text of Andrew Jackson's speech on Indian removal, go to your favored search engine, and put your search in quotes like this: "andrew jackson" and indian and speech. The results will be links to the text of the speech. Always put the named object in quotes to keep the words as a phrase. Obviously, only do this if you know what the source is called! This is a great way to find government documents of all sorts, speeches, interviews, and even contemporary news stories if someone has scanned said stories and placed them on the web. Please do ask for help if you can't find what you are looking for!
There are thousands of websites that offer primary sources for this era of American history. Scroll down for headings for Colonial America, Early Republic and Revolutionary America, and Early California
American Colonist's Library: Primary Source Documents - Find the full text of literature and documents that would have been read, studied, and influenced the colonists.
Colonial North American Project at Harvard University - Over 150,000 scanned documents as of 2015.
Virtual Jamestown - A "work in progress," this site is dedicated to bringing to life the "Virginia experiment" in what was to be the United States. Included are maps, labor contracts, public records, first hand accounts and letters, newspapers, and a reference center.
Witchcraft in Salem Village - From the University of Virginia, a collection of electronic texts, such as court documents, concerning the Salem Witch Trials. Includes some contemporary essays.
Adams Papers Online - Letters, diaries, from the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Black Freedom Struggle in the United States - primary sources from 1790 to the present relating to the civil and human rights of African Americans.
Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1764-1789 - Over 250 documents are here. Includes the George Washington Papers, Jonathan Elliot's debates, and much more.
George Washington Papers - Selected documents and articles on the Father of Our Country. Some are dispatches written during the war by the future president.
Papers of James Madison - Texts of correspondence and papers of President James Madison. Sponsored by the University of Virginia.
Papers of the War Department, 1784-1800 - Browse by year, author, and recipient, as well as searchable. Some images difficult to read due to fading. This is a reassembling of documents long believed to have been lost to fire in 1800. Reassembled and maintained by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.
Spy Letters of the American Revolution - Texts of letters from the wrong side of the American revolution. Includes a timeline, and context of the letters. From the Clements Library.
Early California Population Project - Public access to all information contained in California's mission registered, including baptisms, marriages, and some burials. Covers the years 1769 to 1850-- a valuable look at Alta California and mission history.
Web De Anza - "An interactive study environment on Spanish Exploration and colonization of 'Alta California' 1774-1776". Diaries of Juan Bautista de Anza, and other explorers. Searchable. From the University of Oregon.
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