United States History Links

Here you will find links to a variety of materials to supplement what is on the individual course pages, organized as follows: 


Some of the pages to which you will be linked are more interesting than others. Some may have a point of view or an “attitude” that I do not necessarily endorse, but all ought to offer some insight into American history, or at least link you to other places that do so. If you discover sites which you find especially interesting and which other students might enjoy, please send me the addresses.  I will check them out and then place links on this or the appropriate course pages. If you desire help in negotiating the web I will be glad to offer assistance in my office by appointment during office hours.

A few interesting General American History sites to start with are listed here.  Note: Some of these sites are repeated on other parts of this page

  • Eyewitness to History covers a lot of ground, not only American
  • The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York City is geared toward high school history learning, but it has many useful resources for college students and others.
  • The site above is linked to the Digital History site jointly sponsored by the University of Houston and other institutions. Several sections deal with the founding period.
  • George Mason University's History Matters Site has a variety of information, documents and additional links about history.
  • An interesting link for American History teachers in Great Britain.
  • The National Constitution Center opened its doors on July 4, 2003. It is surely worth a visit, virtual or actual.
  • The Heritage Foundation is a conservative group in Washington with many useful reference materials.
  • The American Labor Museum will take you to many site about the history of American labor.
  • The History Net is another source of all kinds of information on history.
  • For a history of the U.S. Space Program, along with some beautiful graphics, visit the NASA home page. Click on “Gallery” for some great photographs. (Note: This is one of the most popular sites on the web and is often busy.)
  • The Ellis Island Museum  This is a wonderful site that allows you to hear authentic voices from the past in short audio clips.  You can also use the site to begin research for information about your ancestors.
  • The National Park Service Home Page will guide you to many interesting historic locations. The NPS is one of our national treasures whose dedicated and knowledgeable rangers and other employees make a huge contribution to our national heritage.
  • Student Veronica Porrata located an interesting site at Rutgers University, American and British History Resources on the Internet. It is connected to all sorts of interesting places, so browse away!
  • Visit the White House Home Page for a tour of the President's home and for links to information about each of our former presidents and first ladies.  (Another busy page.)
  • A site known as Project Vote Smart serves as an educational tool to help voters make informed choices through the study of history and other means.
  • The Library of Congress is a rich and constantly growing resource containing collections of images, documents and other historic memorabilia.
  • The Historical Text Archive formerly at Mississippi State University, has a new location with collections while you are there.
  • The National Archives and Records Administration home page contains information about government records of all kinds, including presidential libraries, biographies of the “founding fathers,” and so on. They also offer information on doing genealogical research, for those of you who may want to find out more about your ancestors.
  • The Organization of American Historians hosts a web site at the University of Indiana.  Its best features is a long list of links to other history sites.
  • “ArchivesUSA” has access to holdings and contact information of more than 4,400 repositories and indexes to nearly 100,000 special collections. It requires a subscription, however.
  • The Independence Hall Association has much information about the American Revolutionary era.
  • The American Studies Electronic Crossroads is located at Georgetown University.
  • An interesting place to find materials is the Internet Public Library. See especially the POTUS (Presidents of the United States) section.
  • The United States Civil War Center at Louisiana State University is trying to establish links to all Internet sites dealing with the war between the states. They are doing a pretty good job.
  • Inaugural address of the Presidents can be found at the Bartleby Project at Columbia University.
  • American History Documents and Archives are available at California State University San Marcos.
  • Here is a site devoted to U.S. Presidents.
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Television now has more history material on it than any one person can keep track of. Here are a few links to get you started:
  • The History Channel carries its schedule on its home page. It presents many fine history related programs, including commercial films, series such as “Civil War Journal” and other shows of historic interest, around the clock.  This site also has Audio Clips of Famous Speeches from Gandhi to President Reagan and many figures in between.
  • The Arts and Entertainment Network carries many history related programs such as “Biography” and other interesting documentaries.
  • The Discovery Channel also has much of historic interest. It in turn is linked to other channels which may have more about history.
  • C-SPAN, in addition to carrying The Senate and House of Representatives live whenever they are in session, also covers the current American political scene (“Road to the White House,” etc.) and has many additional offerings of historic interest, including “Booknotes” which appears every Sunday night at 8:00.  (“Booknotes” also happens to be my personal favorite program. Almost every book that Brian Lamb discusses with the author deals with a historic subject, event or figure.)
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History 121  (See also General and Document Sections.)

  • Archiving Early America has original newspapers, maps & writings from 18th century 
  • Visit George Washington's Mount Vernon and learn more about our first president.
  • Thomas Jefferson's Monticello can teach us much about the great Virginian, how he lived and what he thought about many things from education to democracy to religion, and more.  Look for Jefferson quotations on various topics.
  • The Founding Fathers Home Page is an excellent resource for information on early America.
  • Visit James Madison's Home in Orange, Virginia: Montpelier
  • The Saugus Iron Works was the first major ironworks in North America.
  • Here is a page devoted to the Legacy of James Madison at the University named for him.
  • In the Netherlands The University of Groningen is developing a collection of documents in American history which you might like to sample.
  • To visit the birthplace of American freedom go to Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
  • For information on The United States Supreme Court and past historic decisions try this site at the Cornell University Law School.
  • The Constitution Society has a great deal of information about our founding document and many related issues in addition to being a very attractive and interesting page. (They also clearly have some opinions about our government, which you are free to endorse or ignore!) The site also has complete texts of the Constitution and Amendments for download.
  • Visit The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, site of the famous struggle the led to the birth of the Republic of Texas. And while you're there, go to the San Antonio home page and take a stroll along River Walk. 
  • An interesting site recommended by student Donna Mason is Boston's Freedom Trail, which includes a narrated tour of historic locations around Boston.
  • Visit the Colonial Willamsburg web site for a view of Virginia's colonial capital, and while you are there, try the Historical Almanack, which provides information on colonial America.
  • This site at Louisiana State University is trying to establish links to all Internet sites dealing with the American Civil War. So far they have located over 1800 sites and are still growing.
  • C-SPAN has produced an excellent series on American Presidents, with historical vignettes, documents, links to presidential museums and libraries and video and audio clips about each president from Washington through Clinton.
  • The “American Colonist's Library” has a collection of primary sources from the early American period and before—many through links to other sites. The site has a point of view which you will quickly determine, and some links may be broken, but it is still useful. Just scroll down to find what you want.
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History 122  (See also General and Documents sections)

Document Collections

The links below will take you to collections of documents in U.S. history from the colonial era to modern times. Some of the documents your will find are excerpts, some include extra material about the sources themselves.  When you use these sources in your essays, please indicate the place where you found them, with the name of the location and URL (web address.)

  • The Avalon Project at Yale University has a large number of Constitutional history and many other documents, a superb collection. The site is equipped with search engines to investigate document contents. For example, a student can search the entire Federalist Papers section topic by topic.
  • Inaugural address of the Presidents can be found at the Bartleby Project at Columbia University.
  • For documents relating legal issues, including historic decisions of the United States Supreme Court, go to the Cornell University Law Center and locate near the top of the opening menu “Supreme Court—historic decisions.”  From there follow directions to any of 350 cases, arranged by name of case, justice, etc. Links also exist from there to many other constitutional and legal information sites.
  • Another good site for legal issues is the Oklahoma University Law School.  Look under “U.S. Historical Documents.”
  • For documents relating to the U.S. Constitution, the Constitution Society site has various documents.  It also has a distinct point of view which you may find interesting.
  • Historynet has many links to history documents and other sites of all kinds.
  • In the Netherlands, The University of Groningen is developing a collection of documents in American history which you might like to sample.  They even have an American history text on line.
  • Documents relating to American political history may be found at Project Vote Smart.
  • Our own NVCC Library Web Site has various links to history sites.
  • View additional documents the Carrie Project at The University of Kansas.  This collection is updated frequently.
  • An interesting place to find materials is the Internet Public Library. See especially the POTUS (President of the United States) section.
  • The “American Colonist's Library” has a good collection of primary sources from the early American period and before—many through links to other sites. This “Library”—an exhaustive collection—is maintained by Rick Gardiner. 
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Updated September 23, 2005 9:16 AM