The History Internet Resource Guide by its very scope and content must be seen as always evolving and under construction. This resource will arbitrarily start with selected American History sites, before broadening out to explore world history via internet sites by and about other nations. Every effort is made to suggest useful sites with the full realization that there will always be both opposing historical viewpoints and an enormously large body of ever changing information out there. It will always remain the responsibility of the reader to decide and evaluate who has the better historical argument at any site.

General/Comprehensive Sites

American and British History Resources on the Internet

This site is enormous, even by internet standards. It was created by two Rutgers librarians (one a Ph.D subject specialist) to include thousands of scholarly resources. These sites lead to manuscripts, texts, listservs, archives, biographies, bibliographies, societies, and universities. This is a great place to visit to get an idea of the magnitude of the information available online.

The American Memory Project from the Library of Congress

This source, produced by the closest thing Americans have to an actual national library, the Library of Congress, captures people, places, time periods, topics, and major events in American history, culture, and life in varied media -- photos, documents, motion pictures, maps, etc. These special collections continue to increase in number, and this site is searchable.

For study of historical documents in the development of the United States of America "A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, 1774-1873" contains records and acts of Congress from the Continental Congress through the 42nd Congress. The records of the Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention, and the United States Congress comprise a rich documentary history of the construction of the nation, the development of the federal government, and its role in the national life.

Biography Resources

This is a meta site of general and specific sources for locating information on the famous, infamous, and obscure. If you are seeking brief information on American politicials, judges, or diplomats be sure to check out The Political Graveyard, a database of historic cemeteries.

Institute for American Liberty

A small, focused site whose mission is to "present to the public literature, facts, and viewpoints related to American liberty, its virtues, principles and history based primarily upon the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, the writings of the "Founding Fathers", the writings of other US Presidents, statesmen and patriots...." In addition to these primary source texts this conservative site includes essays and quotes relating to liberty, provides a recommended reading list, and links to other American history materials.

PBS Online History's Best on PBS

This is the complimentary web site for the Public Broadcasting Service. It offers links to fascinating episodes, events, and people that make up the American experience, without much duplication from the other general sites included in this guide. Sample subjects include Crime and Punishment, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Gold Rush in 1849 in California, Influenza 1918, The Presidents, The Time of the Lincolns, America and the Holocaust and Vietnam: A Television History.

U. S. Historical Documents

This site, created by the University of Oklahoma College of Law, is a chronological listing of full text primary source documents in American history pre-dating the colonial period through the current year 2003. Entries begin with the Magna Carta and include the 2003 Inaugural Address of George W. Bush.

United States History Resources

Gateways to historical information in the following areas: African American History, American Art, American West, American Women's History, Early America, Environmental History, Film History, Folk Music, Government Publications, Modern America, Native American Studies, New Republic, Nuclear Studies, Religions in America, The Cold War, World War I, World War II

Voice of the Shuttle: US History

An extensive annotated listing of American history resource links, created at the University of Santa Barbara, encompassing chronological and topical arrangements covering many aspects of American history. The twentieth century coverage is currently rather sparse, but, all in all, a fine site well worth browsing.

American Presidents

The American Presidency Project

Established in 1999 as a collaboration between John Woolley and Gerhard Peters at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Current archives contain over 52,000 documents related to the study of the American Presidency. The American Presidency Project is the only online resource providing without charge, the Public Papers of the presidents: Hoover to Clinton (1993-June 2000). Presidential elelction data from 1828-2004 provides a map of the United States at the time with presidential winner and electoral and popular votes received.

American President.org

Created by the the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, the nation's leading research institute for the study of the American presidency. It is described as the "most comprehensive, non-partisan resource on the history and workings of the American presidency." The website includes extensive biographies of every president and first lady; richly detailed event timelines; biographies of cabinet officials, presidential staffers, advisers and multimedia resource galleries for each of the 43 presidencies.

Presidential Timelines of the Twentieth Century

Links to the digitized collections of the presidential linraries from Hoover to Clinton. This beautiful website explores national events as well as the individual lives of the presidents. Educational units on many historical topics are included.

Presidents

Use these links from the National Archives Library Information Center to find information about presidential libraries, presidential documents, the U. S. Presidents, First Ladies, and Inagurations.

Scripps Library

Created by the University of Virginia, Scripps Library, this site offers hundred of hours of secret White House recordings from Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson. Additional digital content includes important presidential speeches and oral recordings. Links are provided to individual pages of each president where you can locate information about the availability of their private and public papers both online and in paper. The digital collection will continue to grow.

Topics in American History

Archives of Images

American Historical Periods (in Art)

Los Angles County Museum of Art (LACMA) This collection of American Art "serves as an excellent survey of the development of art and culture throughout the United States." View short essays and works of art by period such as early American painting, America comes of age (mid-18th century), the American West, modern urban America, and the social relevance of art. Also browsable by decade through 1945.

American Memory Collections: Original Format: Photos & Prints

An important part of the Library's National Digital Library Program are its collections of original format photos and prints. This project gives the public an opportunity to view fascinating and often unique representations of American history and life. Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies are here as are Daguerreotype portraits and views, Civil War photographs, baseball cards, quilts, and much more.

Founding Fathers Image Gallery

This is a collection of images organized around the theme of Founding Fathers. Other historical "clip art" images are presented here as well.

Images of American Political History

This site consists of a collection of more than 500 public domain images of American political history. Browse by era, special topic, or search by keyword. Images are in two sizes with very brief captions. All of the presidents are represented, and most have more than one image.

Discovery - Colonial History

1755 - The French and Indian War Homepage

Annotated and nicely arranged by an individual interested in this topic, this site provides information on regiments, soldiers, battle death statistics, reference books, events, and places to visit.

Archiving Early America

Explore the world of early America through its old and cherished documents -- its newspapers, maps, magazines, portraits, and writings. A relatively small site, but nicely presented with its own search engine.

Colonial USA

Taken from the Historical Text Archive offers great primary sources (full text) and topics of enduring interest like the Salem Witch Trials (from Salem; one of many sites on the topic), Mayflower Compact, and The First Thanksgiving Proclamation (June 20, 1676).

Columbus and the Age of Discovery

Created by Millersville University of Pennsylvania, this site contains 1000+ searchable articles from journals, newspapers, speeches, and official calendars relating to various encounter themes - old world vs. new world, clash of cultures. Scholarly publications include articles expressing extreme differences of opinion as to what did Christopher Columbus's lasting legacy of discovery represent.

Outline of American History (1994)

Begin here with chapters on the colonial period, and refer to this traditional textbook for coverage of all of American history. Published by the United States Information Agency.

The Eighteenth Century

The American Founders Online: An Annotated Guide to Their Papers and Publications

"The digital resources described in this guide provide online access, in varying degrees, to the personal papers and/or publications of the major founders of the American Republic -- that is, those men who served in roles of national political leadership between 1765 and 1815 -- and members of their families." Included are John Adams, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Washington, and others. From the Library of Congress (LOC).

Creating the United States

"This exhibition [from the Library of Congress] offers a remarkable opportunity to learn in a fresh new way how the [U.S.] founding documents ... were forged out of insight, invention, and creativity, as well as collaboration and much compromise." The Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are featured in this exhibition. Links to other exhibits, lesson plans, and papers from some of the founding fathers are included here.

The Eighteenth Century

The 18th Century saw the development of a new independent nation. In this era perhaps the greatest achievement of Americans was to create a government that would not destroy genius and individual initative but allow it to flourish. This site, produced by the internet Mining Company, offers annotated links to historic documents, military history, and noteable individuals including Daniel Shay of Shay's Rebellion.

The American Revolution

The American Revolution

This site is dedicated to the teaching and discussion of the American Revolution. Hosted by Michigan State University, this site is from the Humanities and Social Science Online project and complements the LIBERTY! PBS series online. Its "Revolution Links" consists of some good primary and secondary source documents, maps, and teacher syllabi. Some interesting links found here include flags for the colonial period to the present day, the text of The Federalist Papers, the Revolution Question which considers revolution theory and the ways in which the American Revolution was and was not revolutionary, and images from the National Portrait Gallery's "The Age of Revolution".

From Revolution to Reconstruction and What Happened Afterwards

This is the best place I've found to start to study or research the American Revolution although it, interestingly enough, originates from a university in the Netherlands! Here is a hypertext American history project which combines a conventional, but well-written American history textbook entitled An Outline of American History with additional texts, original essays, biographies of Founding Fathers and persons important to the period, and links to more than 100+ primary sources. Be advised that some of the original essays are written by history buffs and volunteers, not professors, but even so this is an excellent project.

Historical Text Archive - History of the United States

A fine site with with well thought out graphics plus lots of text and links to the colonial period, revolution, and early republic through the 20th Century produced by Mississippi State University. The emphasis is on original primary source documents arranged chronologically. Their material on African American early history is interesting, especially the Library of Congress resource guide entitled "African-American Mosaic."

Liberty! The American Revolution

This is the PBS companion site to its televised documentary by the same name. It provides an excellent overview of the Revolution. Its Chronicle of the Revolution link is particularly good, especially for students. Check out its clearly presented Timeline of the Revolution with textual links to key events from 1760 to 1791. Liberty Links is an annotated series of links of additional internet resources related to the Revolution. The quality of these links is uneven, but still worth a look. Many links are good, ex. "Papers of George Washington," "Battles of the American Revolutionary War," while other links are unrelated to the topic, "The Nashville Symphony" or are "not found".

The Nineteenth Century

American Cultural History - the 19th Century

Information about the cultural history of each decade in this century up to 1899 has been created by reference librarians at Kingwood College Library (Texas). The format for each decade remains the same and includes the topics: Arts & Architecture, Books & Literature, Education, Immigration, Pastimes and Social Movements. Within each topic are suggested books and internet links for further research. A good site for students who are asked to write about a single decade.

The Nineteenth Century

The 19th Century was a time of enormous national growth and upheaval. Expansionism, advances in technology, slavery, sectionalism, civil war, reconstruction, industrialization, and the Gilded Age were characteristics of the period. This site, produced by the internet Mining Company, offers annotated links to historical documents, African-American history, including links to the history of the Underground Railroad, military history, selected notable individuals like Abraham Lincoln Online, and links to inventions and inventors.

Nineteenth Century Resources (Yahoo!)

These slightly annotated links to American history are a mixed bag. Most are good and provide unique pieces of information on events, people, time periods, and places.

The War of 1812

A large, comprehensive site. Students might want to especially note the introduction and summary links on the site.

The Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

Produced by Descendants of Mexican War Veterans and last updated in 1998, this site provides a concise history of the conflict and a good FAQ's page.

Slave Narratives

Excerpts from slave narratives and other related topics, including links to the Works Progress Administration's American Life Histories Project, are featured as important links from Yahoo's topical site. These links provide students of American history with powerful imagery and important primary source materials.

The Spanish-American War - Links from the Library of Congress

The overview essay is helpful.

Civil War

The American Civil War Homepage

Creatively presented, frequently updated, and nicely organized by a Ph.D/librarian from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville this large site is textually rich in resources.

Civil War Resources on the Internet: Abolitionism to Reconstruction

(1830's - 1890's) - A very large, very comprehensive gateway site created by two librarians, one a subject specialist (Ph.D) at Rutgers University. Look at this site to get an idea of the scope of the subject matter -- general sites, manuscript collections of diaries, letters, papers, military histories, state studies, reconstruction era documents, bibliographies, civil war listservs, and more.

New York City Draft Riots of 1863

This excerpt from the book "In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863" discusses the July 1863 riots in New York City that followed the enactment of a new conscription lottery law. "Throughout the week of riots mobs harassed and sometimes killed blacks and their supporters and destroyed their property." From the University of Chicago Press.

Outline of the Civil War

Outline of the Civil War is a large, comprehensive well organized site created by two Rutgers University librarians, one with a Ph. D in history. Covers the 1830's through 1890's - Abolitionism to Reconstruction.

The United States Civil War Center

Created to promote the study of the Civil War from the perspectives of all professions, occupations, and academic disciplines through publications, programs, and a strong presence on the Internet. Housed on the campus of Louisiana State University, this award winning site has a wealth of information about the conflict. It has especially useful information, with links, for those individuals researching people of the Civil War Era.

The Twentieth Century

American Cultural History: The Twentieth Century

Information about the cultural history of each decade in this century up to 1999 is included at this site which has been prepared by reference librarians at Kingwood College Library (Texas). The format for each decade remains the same. It includes short statistical facts about each decade and the following topics: Arts & Architecture, Books & Literature, Education, Events & Technology, Fads & Fashions, Music & Theater, Film & Radio & Television. Within each division are suggested internet links for further research. A good site for students who are frequently asked to write about a single decade.

American History 20th Century

This site breaks down the 20th century by decades and provides links to important events, people, and cultural phenomena. Particular attention is paid to the Presidents of each decade.

The Twentieth Century

(Resources from the Mining Co.) - This site includes the text of primary source documents, famous African-Americans, military history, noteable individuals, crime and punishment, and World War I and II links.

The Twentieth Century

(Resources from Yahoo!) - A metasite arranged chronologically and topically. Many unique subjects in American history are found here. Important topics include The Great Depression, Civil Rights Movement and Military History

World War II Documents Digitized

Digitized copies of more than 300 World War II documents are now available to the public thanks to a partnership between the U.S. Government Printing Office and Southern Methodist University Central University Libraries. The collection includes informational pamphlets, government reports, regulations, and instructions.

The Twenty-first Century

These links are from the Historical Text Archive, initially begun at Mississippi State University, consists of a scholarly, eclectic mix of full text articles, books, essays, documents, historical photos, and links, screened for content, for a broad range of historical subjects. Note especially the fine collection of links on the War on Terrorism Web Sites.