Primary Sources
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Primary Documents by Topic: Most Popular |
Official Records | Addresses & Speeches | Acts, Bills, Orders | Military Correspondence & Documents | Personal Correspondence & Narratives | Prints and Photos | Maps | Document Collections | Teacher-Maintained Websites
Getting Started
Most Popular Primary Documents
of the Civil War
Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation »
Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address »
Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address »
Constitution of the United States of America (ca. 1860) »
Jefferson Davis' First Inaugural Address »
Robert E Lee’s “Lost Order” No. 191 »
Robert E. Lee's Farewell to the Army of Northern Virginia »
Secession Acts of the Thirteen Confederate States »
The Constitution of the Confederate States of America »
Official Records
The Official Records of the Civil War (Union and Confederate) »
Inaugural Addresses
Davis’ First Inaugural Address »
Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address »
President Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865) »
Congressional Speeches
Declarations of Succession
Declarations of Causes of Seceding States - South Carolina »
Declarations of Causes of Seceding States - Mississippi »
Presidential Speeches
Acts, Bills
Presidential and Federal Orders
War Department General Order 143: Creation of the U.S. Colored Troops (1863) »
Constitutional Amendments
13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865) »
Court Cases
Official Confederate Correspondence
Robert E. Lee to Winfield Scott, 20 April 1861 »
Robert E. Lee to Jefferson Davis, 5 July 1863 »
Robert E. Lee to Jefferson Davis, 3 September 1862 »
Robert E. Lee to Jefferson Davis, 31 July 1863 »
Robert E. Lee to Jefferson Davis, 25 March 1864 »
Robert E. Lee to Jefferson Davis, 30 March 1864 »
Robert E. Lee to Andrew Hunter, 11 January 1865 »
56th Virginia Regiment to Richmond (Va.) Whig, 14 February 1865 »
Patrick R. Cleburne, et al., to Joseph E. Johnston, et al., 2 Jan. 1864 »
Joseph E. Johnston to William Hardee, et al., 31 January 1864 »
Robert E. Lee to Jefferson Davis, 20 April 1865 »
Official Union Correspondence
Telegram Announcing the Surrender of Fort Sumter (1861) »
William T. Sherman to Henry W. Halleck, 24 December 1864 »
Edwin M. Stanton to U.S. Grant, 3 March 1865 »
William T. Sherman to U.S. Grant or H.W. Halleck, 18 April 1865 »
Union Army Documents
Articles of Agreement Relating to the Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia (1865) »
U.S. Grant, Meeting President Lincoln »
Confederate Army Documents
Robert E. Lee, Resignation from the United States Army »
Robert E. Lee, Special Order 191 »
Robert E. Lee, "Farewell to the Army of Northern Virginia" »
Personal Correspondence
Robert E. Lee to his siblings, 20 April 1861 »
Personal Diaries
Slave Narratives
African American Soldiers of the Civil War
The Importance of African American Soldiers to the Union War Effort »
Cartoons
'A Little Joke,' Harper's, 17 September 1864 »
'A Job for the New Cabinet Maker,' Leslie's, 2 February 1861 »
Recruitment Posters
Union Recruitment Posters from the McAllister Collection »
Union Recruitment Posters from the New York Historical Society »
Civil War Women
Civil War Women Archival Collection of Duke University »
A well-organized collection personal letters from women who played important roles during the American Civil War, including Rose O’Neal and Sarah E. Thompson.
Letters from an Iowa Soldier during the Civil War »
This is a site that contains transcripts of actual letters from Newton Robert Scott of the 36th Iowa Infantry volunteers. It provides an excellent source of primary documents as well as a great first hand account of the war itself.
Valley of the Shadows »
An excellent source of primary documents that provide numerous records from Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania that span from before until well after the Civil War. This website allows the viewer to see how the people were affected in both the North and the South by the Civil War.
Maine State Archives Civil War Page »
A website filled with first hand accounts and photos of men and women from the state of Maine, and their accomplishments during the Civil War.
Making of America »
Making of America (MoA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. It contains thousands of resources from the time period that are digitally accessible.
eHistory at Ohio State University »
This site contains numerous primary resources from the Civil War. Diaries and letters identified to specific individuals are available digitally for use.
The African American Civil War Memorial Museum »
This site offers some invaluable primary resources that showcase some of the numerous contribution made to the Northern war effort by African American soldiers.
Civil War Letters: A Michigan Connection »
This site offers a collection of original Civil War letters from Seth Steeter.
Teacher Oz's Kingdom of History
BestHistorySites.net
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