History of the United States and Canada

The Readex/NewsBank collection of American State Papers are legislative and executive publications of Congress between 1789 and 1838. The documents cover the historical period before the first U.S. Congressional Serial Set volume in 1817 and includes some items omitted from the early Serial Set between 1817 and 1838. The collection is full text and fully searchable.
[Coverage: 1789-1838]

Full text Congressional committee reports and documents originally published in the Serial Set from the 15th through the 96th Congresses, 1817-1980. Also includes the American State Papers (a retrospective collection of materials originating from 1789 through 1838 but published in the second quarter of the 19th century). The U.S. Congressional Serial Set is the bound, sequentially numbered set of volumes of all the Reports, Documents and Journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Many early agency reports were published originally in congressional editions. The Serial Set constitutes an incomparably rich collection of primary source material on all aspects of American history and government.
[Coverage: 1817-1980, with American State Papers 1789-1838]

Provides detailed indexing from 1789 forwards for publications of Congress: documents, reports, hearings. Modules include: Proquest Congressional digital U.S. Congressional hearings collection from 1824-1979; and Digital U.S. Bills and Resolutions from 1789-present. Full text for congressional committee documents and reports is included from 1990 to current. Selected hearing testimony and transcripts are available from 1988. Congressional Research Service Reports module included from 2004-2010. For full text historical serial set (committee documents & reports) from 1817-1980 see U.S. Congressional Serial Set by Readex. Formerly titled LexisNexis Congressional.
[Coverage: dates vary]

The American Founding Era collection includes the edited papers of key early figures in the history of the United States including: John Adams and his family; Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, Dolley Madison, James Madison, John Marshall, Eliza Lucas Pinckney, Harriott Pinckney Horry and George Washington. It also includes a documentary history of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, People of the Founding Era (a biographical dictionary) and more.

American Politics and Society consists of a wide range of 19th and 20th century material.
Coverage: 1830-1975

This category currently focuses on workers and the American labor movement since the Civil War as well as other progressive and radical social movements. Taken as a whole, this category documents the efforts of labor unions and other organizations to impact American and international politics. Notable collections are records of the Knights of Labor; the AFL, CIO, and AFL-CIO; Socialist Party of America, Students for a Democratic Society, Americans for Democratic Action, and the American Jewish Congress.

This collection of nearly 150 newspapers and magazines documents Communist, Socialist and Marxist thought, theory and practice. Most of the publications from the U.S. or U.K, but Europe and other parts of the world are also represented. Issues covered include workers’ rights, organized labor, labor strikes, Nazi atrocities, McCarthyism’s rise after WWII, Civil Rights, and modern-day class struggles .[Coverage 1845-2015]

The Black Freedom Struggle provides documents from the most well-known and also unheralded events of the Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century from the perspective of the men, women, and sometimes even children who waged one of the most inspiring social movements in American history. It includes NAACP Papers and federal government records, organizational records, and personal papers regarding the Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century.

Latino Civil Rights during the Carter Administration module gives insight into the efforts of the Executive Branch of U.S. government to reach out to the Latino population during the last 2 years of the Carter administration

Full-text digital collection of publications of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, 1957 to current. All publications are PDF image documents and may be searched by title, subject and date. The project is a collaboration between the Thurgood Marshall Law Library at the University of Maryland, the Government Printing Office, and the USCCR.
[Coverage: 1957-present]

Primary source collections covering protest, advocacy, and political demonstration activities of American college students in the 20th and 21st centuries, ranging from the most conservative to the most radical.

The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity. The series, which is produced by the State Department's Office of the Historian, began in 1861 and now comprises more than 450 individual volumes. The volumes published over the last two decades increasingly contain declassified records from all the foreign affairs agencies. All volumes have not yet been digitized by the State Dept. Also in print: Shields Library JX233 .A3.
[Coverage: 1861-present]

Collections in the International Relations and Military Conflicts category span from 1911-1975, offering a detailed view of U.S. foreign relations during the period from the years immediately before the outbreak of World War I through to the end of the Vietnam War.

The Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) is a United States government agency which monitors and translates current news and commentary from foreign political speeches, radio and television broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, and periodicals. These translations, or transcriptions in the case of English language materials, make up the Daily Reports from 1941-1996. The UCD subscription includes Part 1: Middle East, Africa, Near East and South Asia (MEA, NES); Part 2: Sub-Saharan Africa & South Asia (SSA, SAF, AFR, SAS); Part 3: China (CHI); Part 4: Asia, Pacific and East Asia (APA, EAS); Part 5: Latin America (LAT, LAM); Part 6: Eastern Europe (EEU); Part 7: Soviet Union and Central Eurasia (SOV), Part 8: Western Europe (WEU). FBIS Annexes are excluded.
[Coverage: 1941-1996]

The Digital National Security Archive contains the most comprehensive set of declassified government documents available. The resource now includes 44 collections consisting of over 104,000 meticulously indexed documents, with more than 733,000 total pages. Each of these collections, compiled by top scholars and experts, exhaustively covers the most critical world events, countries, and U.S. policy decisions from post World War II through the 21st century. Together, these collections offer unparalleled access to the defining international strategies of our time. Glossaries, chronologies, bibliographies, overviews, and photographs are included.

The collection is the most comprehensive compilation of declassified documents from the executive branch. The types of materials include intelligence studies, policy papers, diplomatic correspondence, cabinet meeting minutes, briefing materials, and domestic surveillance and military reports. The collection editors have actively monitored the release of formerly classified documents from presidential libraries. They have also added numerous major releases of declassified documents from the Department of State, Department of Defense, Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other executive agencies.

Published records of the American colonies; federal, state, territorial, and municipal codes; constitutional conventions and compilations; law dictionaries and other resources. Part 1 materials date from the 17th century through 1920 covering the American colonies' documents published by state constitutional conventions, state codes, city charters, law dictionaries, digests and more.” Part 2 covers materials cover 18th century through the 1960's including constitutional convention, U. S. state, territorial and municipal codes. Content is searchable by either Part 1 or 2 or as an entire collection. The contents of this collection are available for text analysis and data mining through Gale's Digital Scholar Lab. Access is courtesy of the UC Davis School of Law, Mabie Library.
[Coverage: 1620-1970]

The Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978 contains the world’s most comprehensive online collection of records and briefs brought before the nation’s highest court by leading legal practitioners, many who later became judges and associates of the court. It includes transcripts, applications for review, motions, petitions, supplements, and other official papers of the most-studied and talked-about cases, including many that resulted in landmark decisions. This collection serves the needs of students and researchers in American legal history, politics, society, and government, as well as practicing attorneys.

This is a collection of the most highly cited cases from the U.S. appellate court system's first ninety years. [Coverage: 1891-1980]

The American Civil Liberties Union Papers, Part I, 1912-1990 consists of two major collections comprising myriad subseries. The Roger Baldwin Years, 1912-1950, contains subseries with clippings and files on academic freedom, censorship, legislation, federal departments and federal legislation, state activities, conscientious objectors, injunctions, and labor and labor organization correspondence. Years of Expansion, 1950-1990, encompasses foundation project files on the Amnesty Project, 1964-1980; the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee, 1964-1976; and subject files on freedom of belief, expression, and association; due process of law; equality before the law; international civil liberties; and legal case files, 1933-1990.

American Civil Liberties Union Papers, Part II: Southern Regional Office documents the ACLU’s legal battle to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in thirteen Southern states. This collection is an indispensable resource for understanding the complete history of the civil rights movement. Consisting of case files, correspondence, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, and more, this collection offers a primary source perspective on civil rights issues from voting rights to the dismantling of the Jim Crow system.

This Full-text legal database includes many distinct historical collections in addition to its contemporary content.