Documents tracing the debate over ratifying the US Constitution in each of the thirteen states’ conventions.
Over 60,000 documents trace the debate over the ratification of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This scholarly edition includes retains the significant editorial contributions of the original print series as well as the ability to search and browse by keyword, name, date, and state.
Through this National Archives website, you can read and search through thousands of records from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison
Aims to make available all the documents written by delegates that bear directly upon their work during their years of actual service in the First and Second Continental Congresses
Records from the British Colonial Office, covering the period 1606 to 1822. Contains the original correspondence between the British government and the governments of the American colonies.
Contains original documents exchanged between the governors of British colonies in North America and the Caribbean and the Colonial Office in Britain. Among the correspondence are diaries, maps, broadsides, laws, public notices, newspaper clippings, and more covering all aspects of seventeenth and eighteenth-century American history. Many of the documents are handwritten and are not keyword searchable. They can be searched by date, name, region and topics including; early settlements, Native Americans, Trade, Wars, Slavery and the slave trade. Penn State has access to Module 1: Early Settlement, Expansion and Rivalries and Module 2: Towards Revolution 3: The American Revolution 4: Legislation and Politics in the Colonies Module 5: Growth, Trade and Development
British Colonial Office files on territories under British colonial governance. Documents include trade and shipping records, minutes of council meetings, details of plantation life, and rivalries with other imperial powers across the region.
Colonial Caribbean makes available materials from 27 Colonial Office file classes from The National Archives, UK. Covering the history of the various territories under British colonial governance from 1624 to 1870, this extensive resource includes administrative documentation, trade and shipping records, minutes of council meetings, and details of plantation life, colonial settlement, imperial rivalries across the region, and the growing concern of absentee landlords.
Documents produced by the British Parliament, including Bills, committee reports, and reports submitted to Parliament.
Contains documents produced by the British Parliament, including Bills, committee reports, and reports submitted to Parliament. As the working documents of government, the parliamentary papers encompass all areas of social, political, economic and foreign policy, showing how issues were explored and legislation was formed. The collection includes the Official Report of debates in Parliament, from both the House of Commons and House of Lords, supplemented by official histories and proceedings.
Hundreds of volumes of published documents--legislation, court proceedings, records, correspondence, etc.--from the 13 original colonies and their predecessors.
A helpful guide to available collections of historical laws. Organized by state.
There are MANY additional online and published collections of colonial documents. A few examples are included here for Pennsylvania. Most states will have similar resources. Ask for help if you are not finding what you are looking for.