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U.S. Civil War (1861-1865): Primary Sources: Recommended Research Databases

This guide provides access to both resources restricted to ASU Library affiliates and open access primary source materials which focus on the United States Civil War (1861-1865).

Recommended Research Databases

African American Newspapers (Accessible Archives)
Titles in the collection are: The Canadian Observer, The Christian Recorder, The Colored American, Frederick Douglass’ Paper, The Freedmen’s Record, Frederick Douglass Monthly, Freedom’s Journal, The National Era, The Negro Business League Herald, The North Star, Provincial Freeman, and Weekly Advocate.

Archives Unbound (Gale)
American Studies
Civil War Service Reports of Union Army Generals
Civil War in Words and Deeds
Confederate Newspapers: A Collection from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama

Britannica: Academic Edition

Abel, Annie Heloise. The American Indian as Participant in the Civil War. 1919.
Adams, Ephraim Douglass. Great Britain and the American Civil War: Two Volumes Bound As One. 1925.
Cox, Jacob Dolson. Military Reminiscences of the Civil War. Volume 1: April 1861-November 1863. 1900.
Doubleday, Abner. Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. 1882.
Fenn, George Manville. The Young Castellan: A Tale of the English Civil War. 1895.
Grant, Ulysses S., William T. Sherman and Philip H. Sheridan. Memoirs of the Union's Three Great Civil War Generals.
Hayden, Horace Edwin. A Refutation of the Charges Made against the Confederate States of America of Having Authorized the Use of Explosive and Poisoned Musket and Rifle Balls during the Late Civil War of 1861-65. 1879.
Henderson, G. F. R. Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War. 1898.
Henty, G. A. Friends, though divided: A Tale of the Civil War. 1893.
Henty, G.A. With Lee in Virginia: A Story of The American Civil War. 1889.
Mahan, A. T. The Gulf and Inland Waters. The Navy in the Civil War, Volume 3. 1898.
Pearson, Elizabeth Ware, ed. Letters from Port Royal Written at the Time of the Civil War (1862-1868). 1906.
Potts, Eugenia Dunlap. Historic Papers on the Causes of the Civil War. 1909.
Robins, Edward. Chasing an Iron Horse, or, A Boy's Adventures in the Civil War. 1902.
Stillwell, Leander. The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865. 2nd ed. 1920.
Wilson, James Harrison. Heroes of the Great Conflict; Life and Services of William Farrar Smith, Major General, United States Volunteer in the Civil War. 1904.
Wood, William. Captains of The Civil War: A Chronicle of the Blue and the Gray. 1921.
Wood, William. Captains of the Civil War: A Chronicle of the Blue and the Gray. The Chronicles of America series, 31. 1921.
Woodson, Carter Godwin. The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861: A History of the Education of the Colored People of the United States from the Beginning of Slavery to the Civil War. 1919.

Civil War Collection (Accessible Archives)
Part I. A Newspaper Perspective. Part II. The Soldiers' Perspective. Part III. The Generals' Perspective. Part IV. A Midwestern Perspective.

Harper's Weekly: 1857-1912 (Alexander Street)
ASU Library provides access to three segments: 1857-1865: The Civil War Era. 1866-1871: Reconstruction I. 1872-1877: Reconstruction II.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Hartford Courant
Coverage: 1764-1996. Dating back to 1764, the Hartford Courant is recognized as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Guardian and The Observer
Coverage: The Guardian (1821-2003); The Observer (1791-2003)

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times
Coverage: 1851-2019

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