Primary sources include documents or artifacts created by a witness to or participant in an event. They can be firsthand testimony or evidence created during the time period that you are studying.
Records of the British East India Company, digitized from originals held by the British Library. Containing royal charters, correspondence, trading diaries, minutes of council meetings and reports of expeditions, among other document types, this resource charts the history of British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent and beyond from 1600 to 1947.
This resource brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and its theories, practices and consequences. The materials span across the last five centuries and are accompanied by a host of secondary learning resources including scholarly essays, maps and an interactive chronology. Collections include: Section I: Cultural Contacts, 1492-1969. Section II: Empire Writing & the Literature of Empire. Section III: The Visible Empire. Section IV: Religion & Empire. Section V: Race, Class, Imperialism and Colonialism, 1607-2007.
Records from the U.S. State Department about German colonies in China, New Guinea, Samoa, and the Western Pacific from 1910 to 1929. Part of Archives Unbound.
Drawing upon the wonderfully rich and diverse manuscript collections of the National Library of Scotland this primary resource collection covers the history of South Asia between the foundation of the East India Company in 1615 and the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947.
Letters, diaries, and other writings providing a feminist perspective on the Ottoman Empire, French colonial Africa, U.S. administration of the Philippines and Panama Canal Zone, and other modern imperial movements. Can be cross-searched with .Women and Social Movements International.
This unique collection of primary source material documents American History from the earliest settlers to the mid-twentieth century. Sourced from the Gilder Lehrman Collection, Module I covers "Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859" and Module II "Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945."
Digitized materials from the Everett D. Graff collection of the Newberry Library in Chicago. The collection has a wide variety of maps, photographs, manuscripts, and other materials relating to exploration of the American West.
Archives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents that support the research and study needs of scholars and students at the college and university level. Collections in Archives Unbound cover a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history.
Based on the Evans American Bibliography, this collection contains the full text of all known existing books, pamphlets and broadsides printed in the United States or in the British American colonies from 1639 through 1800. It provides a foundation for research in early American history, literature, philosophy, religion, politics and nearly every aspect of life in early America.
When completed, the digital collection will include every item previously published in microform by Readex, plus more than 1,200 additional works located, catalogued and digitized since the microform effort was completed -- more than 36,000 works and 2,400,000 images.
Provides full-text access to the 36,000 American books, pamphlets and broadsides published in the first nineteen years of the 19th century. In addition to books, pamphlets and broadsides, this collection features many state papers and government materials, including published reports; presidential letters and messages; congressional, state and government materials, including published reports; presidential letters and messages; congressional, state and territorial resolutions.
Digital reproductions of every page of significant English- and foreign-language titles printed in Great Britain during the 18th century, along with thousands of important works from the Americas and elsewhere. Searches the full text of books, pamphlets, essays, and other non-periodical materials including the complete works of major 18th-century writers.
Covers the fields of history, literature, language, religion, social sciences, philosophy, law, geography, fine arts, science, and medicine. Cross-searchable with Early English Books Online (EEBO).
A comprehensive guide to printed records about the Americas written in Europe before 1750. Covers the history of European exploration as well as portrayals of native American peoples. A wide range of subject areas are covered. from natural disasters to disease outbreaks and slavery.
The original bibliography was co-developed by John Alden and Dennis Landis, Curator of European Books at The John Carter Brown Library. The John Carter Brown Library, founded in 1846 is a foremost repository of rare books and materials and is a center for advanced research in history and the humanities.
Foreign Office files for China, 1919 - 1980 makes available the complete British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan for much of the Twentieth Century. The documents combine eyewitness accounts, weekly and monthly summaries, annual reviews, reports and analyses with a synthesis of newspaper articles and conference reports, economic assessments and synopses.
These three collections consist of the British Government's files on the countries of South Asia from shortly before Indian partition and independence up to 1980. As well as tracing the international connections between India, the Commonwealth and the wider world, this collection offers unique insights into political movements and cross-border tensions that were central to the modern state's preoccupation with stability and national unification.
Digitized files from Foreign and Commonwealth Office departments concerned with the Middle East, as well as relevant selections from Prime Minister's Office files and Defence Intelligence files. The documents include diplomatic correspondence, dispatches from UK ambassadors and envoys, meeting minutes, and maps. Module I covers 1971-1974, including the 1973 Arab-Israeli war and oil crisis. Module II covers 1974-1978.
The documents include diplomatic correspondence, dispatches from UK ambassadors and envoys, meeting minutes, and maps. Module I covers 1971-1974, including the 1973 Arab-Israeli war and oil crisis.
Digital library of French and francophone culture maintained by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Contains electronic texts, images, maps, animation, and sound files of French and other publications in history, literature, science, philosophy, law, economics, and political science. Almost all "classic" works of French literature are represented.
The 19th Century British Newspapers collection contains full runs of 48 newspapers specially selected by the British Library to best represent nineteenth century Britain. This new collection includes national and regional newspapers, as well as those from both established country or university towns and the new industrial powerhouses of the manufacturing Midlands, as well as Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Special attention was paid to include newspapers that helped lead particular political or social movements such as Reform, Chartism, and Home Rule. The penny papers aimed at the working and clerical classes are also present in the collection.
A multi-year global digitization and publishing program focusing on primary source collections of the nineteenth century, NCCO will be comprised of numerous collections to be released over many years, including a variety of material types--monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, statistics, and more--in one cross-searchable location. Collections now available are Asia and the West; British Politics and Society; British Theatre, Music and Literature: High & Popular Culture; and European Literature, 1790-1840.
UNESCO's World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.
The principal objectives of the WDL are to:
1. Promote international and intercultural understanding;
2. Expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet;
3. Provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences;
4. Build capacity in partner institutions to narrow the digital divide within and between countries.
Living in the Ottoman Realm brings the Ottoman Empire to life in all of its ethnic, religious, linguistic, and geographic diversity. The contributors explore the development and transformation of identity over the long span of the empire's existence. They offer engaging accounts of individuals, groups, and communities by drawing on a rich array of primary sources, some available in English translation for the first time.
This text helps students understand world history by focusing on an issue that has profoundly shaped the modern world order: the establishment and collapse of global empires since 1750.
The Imperial Security State explores an important but under-explored dimension of British imperialism - its information system and the close links between military knowledge and the maintenance of empire.
In America's Struggle with Empire, historian Peter Kastor has carefully compiled and edited a unique document collection that explores how Americans have addressed these complex issues over time. Drawing from a wide range of primary sources, this fascinating new reference brings unparalleled focus to the history of U.S. attempts to govern foreign territories and non-citizens.
Living in the Ottoman Realm by 
An Imperial World by 
The Imperial Security State by 
America's Struggle with Empire by 