War Between the States (Sharbel 10th Grade): Primary Source Websites

This site includes excerpts from the memoirs of General U.S. Grant, General John Gordon, General John B. Hood, Lieutenant General James Longstreet, and General William Tecumseh Sherman, as well as orders, telegrams and reports from the navies of the United and Confederate States.

This site provides access to many primary source documents on Ulysses S. Grant. Search within the “Digitized Items” section.

This site presented by Ibis Communications includes firsthand accounts of John Brown's raid, the assassination of President Lincoln, the Gettysburg Address, Sherman's March and many other important events. Also includes a Georgia plantation owner's diary that provides insight into life in the South immediately following the defeat of the Confederacy.

Keywords: John Brown, Fort Sumter, Abraham Lincoln, Assassination, Bull Run, Bread Riot, Gettysburg, Sherman's March to the Sea, Appomattox

This web site links to sources of excellent primary materials. A subject index makes it easy to access a whole range of issues that were the subject of either Senate or House debates in both the pre- and post-Civil War period. This site also has an extensive Civil War music section, providing the lyrics to many popular tunes of that period, along with various other primary sources—letters, regimental histories, and biographies

Includes information and cartoons from Harper’s Weekly on the Civil War in general, as well as on Slavery and Black America from 1857-1874, the Ku Klux Klan hearings, and the Reconstruction.

Includes full-text of official records; addresses and speeches; acts, bills and orders; military correspondence and documents; personal correspondence and narratives; prints and photos; and maps.

The images of this digital collection are from the New York Historical Society’s archive of the Civil War. It includes recruiting posters, stereographic views, photography showing the war’s impact on both sides, and drawings and writings by everyday soldiers.

Search America's historic newspapers pages from 1836-1922. One can browse by newspaper, and search for articles by date range and keyword.

This site features two collections that shed light on the life of Abraham Lincoln. One is The Abraham Lincoln Papers, containing 20,000 documents, most acquired during Lincoln’s presidency. The second is from the "We’ll Sing to Abe Our Song" collection, including more than 200 sheet-music compositions that feature Lincoln and the war as reflected in popular music.

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the National Archives has created a digital exhibit of many important documents from the Civil War/Reconstruction Era, with a brief introduction to establish the historical context. The site also includes videos with transcripts of programs at the National Archives, including a discussion by Drew Faust Gilpin on her book This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. There are also articles from Prologue, the magazine of the National Archives and pathfinders on several Civil War topics such as “Confederate Sympathizers in New Mexico During the Civil War.” Other web sites sponsored by the National Archives are:

A collection of primary source material from the vaults of the National Archives. It can be difficult to navigate, but there is an abundance of excellent material here.

From the National Archives’ Docsteach.org program, which helps educators add primary source material to their lesson plans. It is also helpful for student research.

The U.S. National Archives has digitized over 6,000 images from the series Mathew Brady Photographs of Civil War-Era Personalities and Scenes (National Archives's Local Identifier 111-B) and included them in our online catalog