Collins Memorial Library: ENGL 234: American Literature &amp; Culture: Hamilton: Primary Sources

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Finding Primary Sources with Primo

Library of Congress Subject Headings are also quite useful for discovering primary sources. The following subheadings usually are added to indicate that the material is a primary source: sources, personal narratives, correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, "early works to 1800" or notebooks. Once you've discovered the subject heading for secondary sources, try adding one of the primary source subheadings to see what you find. Here's an example:

Secondary source subject heading: United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
Primary source subject heading: United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Sources

Primary Source Collections

American Eras: Primary Sources by Gale (Editor)
Call Number: Click on the title above for online access
ISBN: 9781414498294
Publication Date: 2015
Each volume of the series offers full or excerpted primary sources representing a diversity of views that provide insight into the seminal issues, themes, movements, and events from each era. Also included are concise contextual information, notes about the author, further resources, and full color photos and illustrations. This volume covers The Revolutionary Era, 1754–1783.
American Eras: Primary Sources by Gale (Editor)
Call Number: Click on the title above for online access
ISBN: 9781414498287
Publication Date: 2015
This volume tracks the Development of a Nation, 1783-1815.

Writings & Correspondance

The Papers of Alexander Hamilton by Alexander Hamilton; Harold C. Syrett (Editor); Jacob Cooke (Editor)
Call Number: E302 .H247 Print Books
ISBN: 9780231089159
Includes letters, speeches, essays, reports, and other documents.
Alexander Hamilton: documents decoded by Christina Villegas
Call Number: Click on the title above for online access
ISBN: 9781440857638
Publication Date: 2018
Introduces, provides notes on, and critically evaluates key documents that Hamilton wrote from his youth in the Caribbean through his leadership of the Federalist Party in the 1800s, and provides historical context.
Political Correspondence and Public Papers of Aaron Burr by Mary-Jo Kline; Joanne Wood Ryan
Call Number: E302 .B92 Print Books
ISBN: 9780691046853
Publication Date: 1984
An immensely complicated figure, 1000 letters, state papers, and other documents reveal Burr as neither devil nor saint.
The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799 by George Washington; John Clement Fitzpatrick, editor; George Washington Bicentennial Commission.
Call Number: E312.7 1931 Print Books
Papers of Thomas Jefferson by Thomas Jefferson; Julian P. Boyd (Editor)
Call Number: E302 .J463 Print Books
ISBN: 9780691045337
Containing not only the 18,000 letters written by Jefferson but also, in full or in summary, the more than 25,000 letters written to him. Including documents of historical significance as well as private notes not closely examined until their publication in the Papers.
The Letters of Lafayette to Washington, 1777-1799 by Louis Gottschalk (Editor); Shirley Bill (Editor)
Call Number: E207.L2 L185 1976 Print Books
ISBN: 9780871691156
During the course of their correspondence Lafayette discussed all manner of public & private events & aspirations with Washington. A new preface presents revised interpretations of some of the letters.
Madison - Writings by James Madison; Jack N. Rakove (Editor)
Call Number: E302 .M192 1999 Print Books
ISBN: 9781883011666
Publication Date: 1999
Contains 197 essays, addresses, speeches, private memoranda, and letters written between 1772 and 1836.
Papers of John Adams, September 1755-April 1775 by Robert J. Taylor (Editor); Mary-Jo Kline (Editor); Gregg L. Lint (Editor); J. Adams
Call Number: E302 .A275 1977 Print Books
ISBN: 9780674654419
Includes Adams's letters to and from friends and colleagues, legal writings, reports of committees on which he served, polemical writings (published and unpublished), newspaper writings, and state papers to which he made a contribution.
The Book of Abigail and John by Abigail S. Adams; L. H. Butterfield (Editor); Marc Friedlaender (Editor); Mary-Jo Kline (Editor)
Call Number: E322.1 .A293 Print Books
ISBN: 9780674078550
The correspondence between Abigail and John Adams that concentrates on the years of the Revolution.
Writings by Benjamin Franklin; J. A. Lemay (Editor)
Call Number: E302 .F82 1987 Print Books
ISBN: 9780940450295
Publication Date: 1987
A collection of many pieces by Franklin that reflect the life and times of Colonial and Revolutionary America.

Primary Source Collections (Print)

Voices of Revolutionary America by Carol Sue Humphrey (Editor)
Call Number: E203 .H89 2011 Print Books
ISBN: 9780313377327
Publication Date: 2011
Primary source collection that documents the everyday lives of people during the American Revolution as they adapted to the political and military conflicts of the time.
Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution, 1760-1791: documents and essays by Richard D. Brown; Benjamin L. Carp
Call Number: E208 .M335 2014 Print Books
ISBN: 9780495913320
Publication Date: 2013
Combines primary sources, analytical essays, chapter introductions, and headnotes to encourage students to think critically about the revolutionary era.
Black Americans in the Revolutionary Era: a brief history with documents by Woody Holton
Call Number: E269.N3 H65 2009 Print Books
ISBN: 9780312413590
Publication Date: 2009
In this fresh look at liberty and freedom in the Revolutionary era from the perspective of black Americans, Woody Holton recounts the experiences of slaves who seized freedom by joining the British as well as those, slave and free, who served in Patriot military forces.
The Enlightenment in America, 1720-1825 by Jose R. Torre (Editor)
Call Number: E163 .E65 2008 v. 1-4 Print Books
ISBN: 9781851969364
Publication Date: 2008
Rich selection of primary documents:
v. 1. Economy and finance; politics
v. 2. Education; literature and the fine arts
v. 3. Moral philosophy; religion
v. 4. Science and technology; the social sciences; index.
A House Divided: The Antebellum Slavery Debates in America, 1776-1865 by Mason I. Lowance (Editor)
Call Number: E441 .H86 2003 Print Books
ISBN: 9780691002279
Publication Date: 2003
This anthology brings together under one cover the most important abolitionist and proslavery documents written in the United States between the American Revolution and the Civil War.
Debating the Issues in Colonial Newspapers by David A. Copeland
Call Number: E187 .C78 2000
ISBN: 9780313309823
Publication Date: 2000
Opinion pieces, letters, essays and news reports from 1690 to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The Literatures of Colonial America by Susan Castillo; Ivy Schweitzer [editors]
Call Number: PS531 .L58 2001 Print Books
ISBN: 9780631211259
Publication Date: 2001
This anthology brings together a rich variety of works of colonial literature from across the Americas, covering the period from first contact, through to settlement and the emergence of national identities, with an emphasis on the American Revolutionary period.
Remarkable Providences, 1600-1760 by John Putnam Demos (Editor)
Call Number: E162 .D4 Print Books
ISBN: 9780807606179
Publication Date: 1972
Collection of several dozen texts from the colonial era.

Primary Source Collections (Digital)

Alexander Hamilton Papers
From the Library of Congress, which holds world’s largest collection of Hamilton papers—approximately 12,000 items concentrated from 1777 until Hamilton’s death in 1804, including letters, legal papers, drafts of speeches, and writings. Online for the first time in their original format.
Founders Online
Over 176,000 searchable documents, fully annotated, from the authoritative Founding Fathers Papers projects.
Alexander Hamilton: A Resource Guide
Hamilton related documents from the Library of Congress Digital Collections.
Alexander Hamilton Papers
This collection from NYPL primarily consists of letters and documents either written or signed by Alexander Hamilton, and pertain to his career as a soldier, lawyer, statesman and United States Secretary of the Treasury.
#hamildays: A Hamilton-Inspired Journey Through the Stacks
A series from the American Antiquarian Society.
Archive of Early American Images
Nearly 7,000 images of colonial North and South America from books, manuscripts, and broadsides. Accompanied by bibliographical and descriptive information.
Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation
Congressional records from the Continental Congress through the 43rd Congress, 1774-1875.
Colonial North American Project
Project to digitize images of archival and manuscript materials that relate to 17th and 18th century North America; currently more than 2400 item available.
Discovering American Women's History Online
Detailed descriptions and links to more than 700 digital collections of primary sources that document the history of women in the United States.
Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774 to 1789
Contains 277 documents relating to the work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution.
Early Americas Digital Archive
Collection of electronic texts and links to texts written in or about the Americas from 1492 to approximately 1820.
The Federalist Papers
Web-friendly presentation of the original text of the Federalist Papers, obtained from the e-text archives of Project Gutenberg.
Georgian Papers Programme
A new project from the Royal Archives and the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. Currently contains descriptions and digitized images of material dating from the reigns of George III to William IV, including personal letters, diaries, account books and records of the Royal Household.
Jefferson and Hamilton
Resources related to the musical from the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello.
Primary Documents in American History
Links to materials digitized from the collections of the Library of Congress. This set covers The American Revolution and The New Nation, 1775-1815.
Witness to the Early American Experience
Documents such as manuscripts, newspapers, and broadsides that "preserve the words of hundreds of eyewitnesses to the American Revolution in and around New York City."

Puget Sound Archives & Special Collections

The Archives & Special Collections collects, preserves, and makes available primary source material for the research and teaching use of our students, faculty, and staff. In addition to documenting life at the University, the collections represent regional, national and international issues.

If you would like assistance researching primary sources in A&SC, please contact archives@pugetsound.edu.

The Arminian magazine, for the year 1781 : consisting of extracts and original treatises on universal redemption. Volume IV. by John Wesley
Call Number: BX6195 A76 1781 Special Collections
Wesley's primary periodical forum for the Methodist revival, printing both prose and poetry sympathetic to the cause. Of particular note is the appearance in the December issue of three poems by Phillis Wheatley, in the first instance identified as by "Phillis Wheatley, a Negro": "On the Death of a Child, five years of Age," "On the Death of a young Gentleman" and "Thoughts on the Works of Providence." Although the poems are all reprinted from earlier appearances, they constitute one of the small handful of life- time appearances of her poems in periodical form.

Archives & Special Collections Hours

The Archives & Special Collections is located on the second floor of the Collins Memorial Library.

Set up an appointment: We are open to researchers by appointment Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. To make an appointment, email archives@pugetsound.edu or book online.

We look forward to assisting you!