The Civil War is part of our ongoing series Sources in U.S. History Online. Consisting of nearly 500 titles totaling about 90,000 pages of text, this digital collection has been selected and edited by Professor Paul Finkelman of the Albany Law School.
This digital archive documents the war that transformed America, ending slavery and unifying the nation around the principles of freedom. The collection examines the war in all its complexity; its battles and campaigns, its political and religious aspects, the experiences of its leaders and common soldiers, the home front and the military campground, from its causes to its consequences. Drawn from the Sabin collection and other Gale sources, the archive provides access to a wide variety of documents: personal narratives and memoirs, pamphlets and political speeches, sermons and songs, regimental histories and photograph albums, legal treatises and children's books.
There are several ways to find materials in this archive. You can click on the large illustrations on the opening page to explore documents relevant to Black Troops, the Home Front, Foreign Relations, or William Tecumseh Sherman, among other topics. You can also click on the thumbnails at the bottom of the page to access the contents via topics identified by the collection's editor. Here you will find introductory essays providing historical context and educational structure, as well as links to the documents. Alternatively, you can go directly to the key subjects and link to the documents from there.
This archive aims to be as user-friendly and accessible as possible. You can browse the entire collection organized by subjects, authors, and titles. To locate documents in the collection most relevant to a specific research assignment or personal interest, you can also search by keyword, subject, author, title or full-text. This collection makes it possible to research the Civil War easily and conveniently from your own computer.