HSTAA 407 - Jacksonian America

Jacksonian America

Most of the databases linked from this page are restricted to UW students, staff and faculty. 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.
For research help, please contact Theresa Mudrock, the history librarian. Email me 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 for finding additional information. 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 [UW only]
Suzzallo Reference -- E174 .D52 2003
Encyclopedia of the antebellum South
Suzzallo Reference -- F213 .V65 2000
Encyclopedia of American social history
Suzzallo Reference, Undergraduate Reference -- HN57 .E58 1993
Encyclopedia of the United States in the nineteenth century
Suzzallo Reference -- E169.1 .E626 2001

Finding Books

Use the following databases 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 requested and shipped to the UW for pick-up.
OhioLINK
Use OhioLink to access chapters of recent books, use the "Words" search option.
OCLC WorldCat [UW only]
Joint catalog of thousands of major libraries in the U.S. and abroad.

Finding Articles

Use indexes (databases) to find articles (from scholarly journals, popular magazines and newspapers and sometimes books, dissertations, government reports, etc.) on a topic. There are indexes covering all sorts of subjects, use those which best fit your research topic. For a complete list of databases see Research Databases on the UW Libraries Homepage.

Once you identify articles you need make sure you have the complete citation (author, title, journal name, volume, pages and year), then look in the UW Libraries Catalog for the journal name (do a title search for the journal name to see if the UW subscribes) to see if and where the journal is kept (library location and call number).

Databases marked UW Only require that you use the Off-Campus Access link on the top right-side corner of this page to logon before you use the databases from home. Articles from journals which the UW does not own can be requested via Interlibrary loan.

America History & Life   [UW only]
Major index to articles in U.S. and Canadian history. Also includes citations to selected books, dissertations and reviews.
Expanded Academic Index   [UW only]
General index to magazine and journal articles in all subjects, includes some full-text. For other interdisciplinary databases see Research Library and the Web of Science.
JSTOR   [UW only]
Searchable collection of back issues of selected journals including the American Historical Review, Economic History Review and the Journal of American History. For another collection of searchable electronic journals related to history see Project Muse.

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 (i.e., during the 1890s), 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 such as Andrew Jackson or Martin Van Buren and organizations.
Use special subject terms that designate primary sources:
sources, personal narratives, diaries, correspondence
Example:

antislavery and sources
clay henry and correspondence
abolitionists and (correspondence or diaries)

Finding Primary Sources -- Articles

Magazines and Journals

American Periodical Series Online [UW only]
Use APS Online to find full-text articles from American magazines written in the 18th and 19th centuries such as Niles' Weekly Register.
19th Century Masterfile [UW only]
Electronic version of Poole's Index, indexes articles from 19th century American and British magazines .

Jacksonian era newspapers
This is a selective list of newspapers covering most of the years between 1820s through the 1840s. 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 to these papers so you will need to browse through issues to find articles of interest.

African American Newspapers: The 19th Century [UW only]
Full-text of 7 African American newspapers from the 19th century including Freedom's Journal and The National Era.
Boston Evening Transcript 1830-1882 A1551
Charleston Mercury, 1822-1868 A7437
Daily Missouri Republican 1822-1865A1833
Daily National Intelligencer 1813-1869 (Washington, D.C.) A999
Kentucky Gazette 1787-1844A3443
Liberator 1831-1865 (Boston) A2107
New York Evening Post, 1801-1900 A3574
Times Digital Archive (London) 1785-1985 [UW only]

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. Some material is printed while others are available on microfilm. Some material can be found through the UW Libraries Catalog, for other material use the sources listed below. For more information about locating government documents check with the Government Publications section located on the ground floor of Suzzallo.

American State Papers [UW only]
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.
Congressional Universe [UW only]
Full-text debates, bills, reports dating back to approximately 1989 and indexing of congressional reports and hearings dating back to 1789.
US Congressional Serial Set [UW only]
Full-text Senate and House reports, documents, and journals for the period 1817-1980.

Finding Primary Sources -- Microfilm Collections

Microfilm collections are housed in the Microform and Newspaper Collections on the first floor of Suzzallo Library. Guides to the sets are also kept in that area under the microfilm set call number. A list of selected major microfilm collections related to history is available.

Andrew Jackson papers 78 reels A5117
John Tyler papers 3 reels A1149
Martin van Buren papers 35 reels A1150
Microfilm edition of the papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society 31 reels A4868
Records of ante-bellum southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War (Series A, C and F only) 148 reels A9699

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.

American Memory
The premier site for American history. Materials on Andrew Jackson are scattered throughout many collections. Other collections include:
Papers of Andrew Jackson
Selection of transcribed documents of Andrew Jackson from Yale's Avalon Project.
Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection
Digitized collection of thousands of anti-slavery and abolitionist material from Cornell University.
Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842
This collection, part of the Digital Library of Georgia, contains over 1,000 documents and images relating to the Native American population of the Southeastern United States including "letters, legal proceedings, military orders, financial papers, and archaeological images." Also see Georgia Historic Newspapers.
Tennessee Documentary History Collection
Collection includes letters from Andrew Jackson.

Image: Detail of a 1836 political cartoon, "Grand Virginia reel and scamperdown at the Whitehouse Washington" that satirizes "Andrew Jackson's conflict with French king Louis Philippe over French reparations due the United States under the Treaty of 1831." Courtesy of the American cartoon prints collection at the Library of Congress.

History Subject Page | UW Libraries

24 October 2005
Theresa Mudrock - mudrock@u.washington.edu