Primary Sources - History - Native American - University Libraries at Coastal Carolina University

Primary Source Collections

Early Encounters in North America This link opens in a new window
This collection documents the relationships among peoples in North America from 1534 to 1850. The collection focuses on personal accounts and provides unique perspectives, including traders, slaves, missionaries, explorers, soldiers, native peoples, and officials, both men and women. Source types include narratives, diaries, journals, and letters.

Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842
The documents are comprised of letters, legal proceedings, military orders, financial papers, and archaeological images relating to Native Americans in the Southeast.

North American Indian Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Collection of autobiographies, biographies, Indian publications, oral histories, personal writings, photographs, drawings, and audio files. Presents the entire spectrum of native peoples' experiences from their own point of view.
Indian Claims Insight This link opens in a new window
Search Indian claims content by keyword, full text, docket number, and more. Content includes decisions, transcripts, docket books, journals of the Indian Claims Commission (a judicial panel for relations between the U.S. Government and Native American tribes), and related statutes and congressional publications from 1789-current.
History Vault This link opens in a new window
American Indians and the American West (1809-1971)
Collections focusing on the interaction between American Indians and the U.S. government in the 19th and 20th Centuries, such as the Indian Removal, Indian Wars, material from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and records from the Major Council Meetings of American Indian Tribes. Source types include digitized letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, diaries and more.
War Department and Indian Affairs, 1800-1824 This link opens in a new window
Letters of correspondence received by and sent to the War Department. Attachments include vouchers, financial statements, speeches to Indians, proceedings of conferences with Indians in Washington, licenses of traders, passports for travel in Indian country.

Newspaper, Magazine and Books as Primary Sources from the period

Newspapers:

Americas Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
American newspapers from 1690 to 1876. Search by presidential era or periods in American history.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Searchable content of American historic newspapers from 1777-1963, as well as U.S. Newspaper Directory for finding information about American newspapers published between 1690-current.

Magazines:

American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals, Series 1-5: 1684-1912 This link opens in a new window
Digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals, documenting the life of America's people from the Colonial Era through the early 1910's.
American Periodicals This link opens in a new window
American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the dawn of the 20th century

Books:

Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
More than 180,000 English-language and foreign-language books, pamphlets and broadsides in all subjects from the United Kingdom and the Americas, between 1701 and 1800.

Hathi Trust
E-text of books, many are full-text with no restrictions. Excellent source for books published after conflicts prior to 1950. Largest collection is pre-1923. Search by topic or keyword to locate books. Also includes government reports.

U.S. Government Sources

Papers of the War Department 1784-1800
Between 1784 and 1800, the War Department was responsible for Indian affairs, veteran affairs, naval affairs (until 1798), as well as militia and army matters.

Proquest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Indexes and abstracts of congressional committee publications, including hearings, committee prints, reports, documents, and public laws. It includes the full text of Congressional reports and documents (1789-1969), Executive branch documents (1789-1942), bills and resolutions (1789-present), hearings (1824-), Congressional Record (1985-1997), CRS Reports (1916-present), Statutes at Large (1789-), bill text (1989-), the Serial Set (1789-), Federal Register (1980-) and the current U.S. Code and the Code of Federal Regulations.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set (HeinOnline) This link opens in a new window
The United States Congressional Serial Set (1817-1994) includes House and Senate documents, House and Senate Reports, and much more. The reports are usually from congressional committees dealing with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. Documents cover a wide variety of topics, including reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations.

History - Native American

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Primary Source Collections

Newspaper, Magazine and Books as Primary Sources from the period

U.S. Government Sources