Primary Sources of the American Revolution

You want to conduct research on the American Revolution with primary sources, where do you start? This page provides links and information for primary sources of the American Revolution. When I first began my research of the Revolution many years ago I found the search for primary sources daunting and I was uncomfortable. Do I need to visit various archives in person?  How can I do that and work at the same time? What primary sources do I even need? I asked myself these types of questions often when I first began my graduate education and research.  I was overwhelmed enough at times that I did not connect with primary sources the way I should have. My early work in graduate school represented summaries of other works and my own words based almost exclusively on secondary sources. I was failing to do the type of work a historian must do. You might also feel this way. Fortunately, that is exactly what motivated the creation of The American Revolution Online. We have collected a substantial amount of primary source information over the years and happily share it here.   

If you have made your way here it is reasonable to assume that you would like for your research to be something deeper than a simple overview from a book. Maybe you are an undergraduate in history and the American Revolution has really grabbed your attention. Perhaps a high school student in an advanced history course that requires you to do more than the good old fashioned book report. Maybe you are here as an independent scholar (like me). Everyone has their own reason and path for research. Our goal at The American Revolution Online is to help guide you and contribute to research assistance in any way we can.  From the serious scholar to the history buff interested in learning more, we are here to assist.

We can assume at this point you are familiar with historical source types or that you have reviewed the information available on this website about primary and secondary sources.

SOURCES AND LINKS FOR PRIMARY SOURCES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

The American Revolution Online is pleased to share a collection of primary source information in the hope that you will use our site as a launching pad to explore all of the valuable resources the internet provides. Keeping with our theme and mission, my goal as the publisher of this site is to teach you how to think historically and reach your own interpretations using proper historical research methods.

Where possible we will try to annotate the links to sources and provide an overview or other helpful information. Finding primary sources can be tedious, if not confusing at times when you are dealing with sources that go back centuries and have evolved over time with new editions. Where we can assist with clearing up the information we will do so. If possible, we will also provide information on the print editions of material that are available for anyone serious about long term scholarship on the American Revolution. As much as possible we have attempted to divide these sources and links into appropriate groups.

GENERAL RESOURCES

Founders Online is an incredible resource for primary source documents spanning the entirety of the American Revolution. It contains the personal papers of multiple Founders which connects you into correspondence between them and countless others, providing a look into the words of prominent Founders and overlooked or forgotten ones as well. The database is searchable, sort-able, and easy to navigate by date, author and much more. As primary source databases go, this is one of the premier for the American Revolution. 

https://founders.archives.gov/

The University of Virginia Rotunda Project houses a digital archive of multiple Founders and countless important documentary records of the American Revolution.The scholarly value of the collection is enormous. They offer subscriptions, one time purchases and other options.

https://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu/entrance.xqy

PRIMARY DOCUMENTS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(ed00131))

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(ed00136))

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript

BILL OF RIGHTS

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript

ORGANIZATIONS AND MUSEUMS

One of the top resources for all levels of interest in the American Revolution is The American Battlefield Trust. This organization is dedicated to the preservation of historic sites and battlefields from every war fought on American soil and their work relating to the American Revolution is first class. On top of land preservation they also offer scholarly resources and plenty of links for informative summaries. Consider membership or charitable donations to help them continue their work.

https://www.battlefields.org/

C-Span provides an in-depth collection of videos that make learning about the American Revolution both easy and entertaining. Use their websites to watch interviews and book talks with the authors you find on this site or anywhere you look to learn about the American Revolution. Recently forgotten is C-span's archive website of the original Booknotes program with Brian Lamb. Both websites are linked here for you to explore and make use of. 

https://www.c-span.org/      https://www.booknotes.org/

The National Constitution Center  in Philadelphia is an excellent resource for all things related to the Constitution. They offer various resources that will be linked in the appropriate section and an overall view of their website is worth it...as well as an in-person visit if you are able!

https://constitutioncenter.org/

CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

The Library of Congress has digitized numerous documents for researching the political side of the American Revolution and they are held within its online collection called A Century of Lawmaking For a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates.  Part of the collection is titled “Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention.” The documents contained within  provide an inside look at two historic junctures of American government, the Continental Congress and the subsequent formation of our modern government, including the Constitutional Convention and the debates among the states for ratification. These collections truly take you inside the room, and you can access them from here.

The Journals of the Continental Congress provide a daily overview of the business of Congress, including records of many speeches, debates, and details on votes.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjc.html

The Letters of Delegates to Congress is a major collection of correspondence between delegates to the Congress and various people throughout their daily lives. From family members to friends these letters let us see what the decision makers of the time were saying and thinking in their private correspondence. The voluminous collection includes twenty-four volumes that comes with introductions, annotations, links, and footnotes. They are fully digitized and searchable. If you are researching anything related to the political decisions of the American Revolution this collection is mandatory for review in my opinion. 

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwdg.html

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1787 AND RATIFICATION DEBATES-FORMATION OF A  NEW GOVERNMENT

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION RECORDS 

After the Revolutionary War ended the United States entered a period of great struggle under the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 created our new government. The primary record of the Convention is Farrand’s Records published in 1911,  gathered the documentary records of the Constitutional Convention into four volumes--three of which are included in this online collection--containing the materials necessary to study the workings of the Constitutional Convention.

The 4 volumes may be purchased in print through various sources, including Amazon at affordable prices, but the bulk of them, the first three volumes are digitized here.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwfr.html

James Madison kept his own notes during the Convention that parallel Farrand’s, and the two often supplement one another. Researchers should make use of both. A digital copy is linked here and the work is easily available in print from multiple sources.

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/debcont.asp

RATIFICATION 

The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution is a five-volume collection compiled by Jonathan Elliot in the mid-nineteenth century. The volumes remain the best source for materials about the national government's transitional period between the closing of the Constitutional Convention in September 1787 and the opening of the First Federal Congress in March 1789. 

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwed.html

The Center for the Study of the American Constitution by the University of Wisconsin-Madison has a website available to the general public with a voluminous collection of primary source documents, essays, and other resources  concerning the drafting and ratification processes of the U.S. Constitution.  Educators and scholars alike will find this website useful. Anyone undertaking serious scholarship on the Constitution or ratification will find it indispensable. 

https://charge.wisc.edu/csac/

GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL RESOURCES

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia offers educational an interpretive resources on the framing and development of the American Constitution. One valuable resource is their list of linked primary source documents.

https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/historic-document-library/time-period/founding-era

MILITARY RELATED

Loyalist were a critical supplement to the British army during the war, particularly in the southern colonies. The study of Loyalists and their effect upon the military outcomes of the Revolution is also somewhat underrepresented within the historiography of the Revolution. The Online Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies is an informational website to help scholars and provides users with a great deal of collected materials and information on the role of Loyalists during the American Revolution and its military campaigns. 

http://www.royalprovincial.com/index.htm