The Antebellum Debate Over Slavery

| Background Sources | Secondary Sources: Books | Secondary Sources: Journal Articles |
| Primary Sources | Selected Web Sites |

This webpage provides resources to help you find more information on the themes and topics of the course.

Most of the databases on this page are restricted to UW students, staff and faculty. These are marked with a lock . To connect to these databases from home you will need to first click on the Off-Campus Access link in the upper-right hand corner and login.

Have questions or need research help? Please contact Theresa Mudrock, the history librarian via email at mudrock@u.washington.edu.

Background Sources

Encyclopedias and dictionaries provide background information and can be used to identify key people, events and dates which can then be used as search terms when searching research databases and catalogs. More importantly, because encyclopedias often cover the major issues surrounding the subject, they can help you narrow your research from a broad “who, what, where, when” topic to a “how or why” question. In addition many encyclopedia articles include short bibliographies that will lead you to the major works on the topic.

Dictionary of American History      Suzzallo Reference -- E174 .D52 2003 Encyclopedia of African American history 1619-1895         Suzzallo Reference E185 .E545 2006 Encyclopedia of the antebellum South       Suzzallo Reference -- F213 .V65 2000 Encyclopedia of American social history      Suzzallo Reference, Undergraduate Reference -- HN57 .E58 1993 Encyclopedia of antislavery and abolition      Suzzallo Reference -- HT1031 .E53 2007 Encyclopedia of the United States in the nineteenth century      Suzzallo Reference -- E169.1 .E626 2001 Oxford African American Studies Center

Finding Books

Use the following catalogs to locate books in the UW Libraries and in other libraries around the region, nation and world. Books unavailable at the UW can be requested through Summit (if available at one of the member libraries) or through Interlibrary Loan.

UW Libraries Catalog A listing of the books, journal subscriptions and other material available at the University of Washington Libraries. Summit Joint catalog of more than 25 academic libraries in Oregon and Washington. Books can be requested and shipped to the UW for pick-up. Especially useful when the book you need is checked-out. OCLC WorldCat Joint catalog of thousands of major libraries in the U.S. and abroad.

Finding Articles

Use research databases to find articles on a topic. Since most databases cover a specific subject area, choose those that best fit your research topic. For a complete list of databases see Research Databases on the UW Libraries Homepage.

To find a copy of the article, use the Check for UW Holdings button available on most databases to locate a copy in the library. If there is no button, search the UW Libraries Catalog for the title of the journal to locate a copy. Be sure to have the complete citation (author, title, journal name, volume, pages and year) of your article.

Articles from journals which the UW does not own can be requested via Interlibrary loan.

America History & Life      [help] This is the best database to find articles dealing with all aspects of American and Canadian history. Also includes citations to selected books, dissertations and reviews. Use America History & Life to locate articles in the JSTOR, Project Muse and History Coop e-journals as well as articles in printed journals. Proquest Databases This is a good general beginning database to find articles on all subjects. Proquest includes newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals. JSTOR JSTOR is a collection of more than 40 full-text history-related journals. For other collections of searchable electronic journals related to history see Project Muse and History Cooperative.

Finding Published Primary Sources

Using Secondary Sources to Find Primary Sources

Secondary sources, scholarly journal articles and books, are a great source for identifying potential primary sources. Find a few articles, books or dissertations related to your topic and then mine the footnotes and bibliography. You will have the best luck finding published primary sources such as books, government reports, newspapers and magazines within the UW Libraries. Use the UW Libraries Catalog to determine if we have the primary source.

Finding Primary Sources -- Books

The UW Libraries has a strong collection of books that can be considered primary sources for history. These include books written during the period for your topic (e.g., during the 1840s), books written by participants, published collections of correspondence and other personal writings, memoirs and reprints of collections of primary source material. Use the UW Libraries Catalog to search for these materials.

Limit your search by publication date. Search for books written by key participants and organizations such as Frederick Douglass or the Maryland State Colonization Society Use special subject terms that designate primary sources: sources, personal narratives, diaries, correspondence, interviews Example: abolitionists and united states and correspondence antislavery and united states and sources slavery and united states and personal narratives plantation life and north carolina and sources

Finding Primary Sources -- Articles

Magazines and Journals 19th Century Masterfile Electronic version of Poole's Index, indexes articles from 19th century American and British magazines. Not full-text. American Periodicals Series Online      [help] Use APS Online to find full-text articles from American magazines written in the 18th and 19th centuries such as Niles' Weekly Register. Some abolitionist magazines from the period include: American Jubilee, 1854-1855 [Periodicals - E449 .A52372] Douglass' Monthly, 1859-1863 [Microforms - M356] The Liberty bell, 1839-1858 [Microforms A444 reel 491-492] The National era, 1847-1860 [Microforms - A444 reel 899-903] National anti-slavery standard, 1840-1870 [Microforms A4572] Antebellum newspapers This is a selective list of newspapers covering the antebellum period. They are located in the Newspapers and Microforms Collection (mcnews) on the ground floor of Suzzallo. For other papers from the period, check the newspapers by date drawer in the card catalog in mcnews. There are no indexes these papers so you will need to browse through issues to find articles of interest. Those of you with King County Public Library (KCLS) cards will want to try their Nineteenth Century Newspapers, a digital collection of 100s of newspapers. All those residing in King County are eligible for KCLS library cards. African American Newspapers: The 19th Century Charleston Mercury, 1822-1868 [A7437] Knoxville Whig, 1849-1864 [A8510] The Liberator, 1831-1865 [A2107] National Intelligencer, 1800-1869 [A998] New York Evening Post, 1801-1900 [A3574] New York Times, 1851-2003 New York Tribune, 1841-1906 [A2252] Non-Slaveholder, 1846-1854 [M357] North Carolina Whig, 1858-1863 [A8511] Richmond Enquirer, 1841-1861 [A8488] Times Digital Archive (London) 1785-1985

Finding Primary Sources -- Government Reports

The UW Libraries has a strong collection of U.S. government documents including federal agency publications, congressional hearings and reports and other material. For more information about locating government documents check with the librarians in the Government Publications section located on the ground floor of Suzzallo.

American State Papers US Congressional material dating from 1789 to 1838. A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation American Memory collection that "brings together online the records and acts of Congress from the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention through the 43rd Congress," including the American State Papers, selected US Serial Set documents and congressional debates. US Congressional Serial Set Full-text Senate and House reports, documents, and journals for the period 1817-1901. Congressional Universe Full-text debates, bills, reports dating back to approximately 1989 and indexing of congressional reports and hearings dating back to 1789.

Finding Web Sites

The World Wide Web is a growing source for primary sources dealing with U.S. history. The sites listed here have substantial collections of primary sources dealing with 19th century history. For additional websites dealing with American history see American History to 1865.

Abraham Lincoln Papers African American Perspectives: Pamphlets from the Daniel A. P. Murray Pamphlet Collection, 1818-1907 Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project 1936-1938 Documenting the American South Frederick Douglass Papers Freedom's Journal From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection 1824-1909 Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection Secession Era Editorials Slaves and the Courts Valley of the Shadow Virginia Runaways

Image: 1851 lithograph, Practical illustration of the Fugitive Slave Law, that satirizes the "antagonism between Northern abolitionists on the one hand, and Secretary of State Daniel Webster and other supporters of enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850." Courtesy of the Library of Congress's American cartoon prints collection.