Research Guides: History: Slave Trade

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database

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Secondary Source Databases (Recommended)

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window Access scholarly journals, popular periodicals, reports, books, and other information resources on a wide variety of subjects. Coverage: varies. Some full text.
Africa-wide Information This link opens in a new window Explore a multidisciplinary collection with extensive coverage of Africa and African studies, as well as information on a wide variety of topics from Africa-based publications and organizations. This collection contains citations for scholarly sources, including dissertations, research reports, and monographs. Coverage: contains primary sources. Some full text.
America: History & Life This link opens in a new window Explore the history and culture of North America including the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. This collection includes secondary source articles, as well as books and book reviews. Note: for world history, use Historical Abstracts. Coverage: 1935 to present. Full text.
Caribbean Search This link opens in a new window Access articles, reports, conference proceedings and reference books pertinent to the countries and people of the Caribbean region on multidisciplinary topics. Most are written in English, but some French and Spanish resources are included as well. Coverage: late 20th century to present. Full text.

Dickinson and Slavery

EconLit (Economic Literature) This link opens in a new window Search peer-reviewed journals, working papers from international sources, books, book chapters, and dissertations on economics topics including capital markets, econometrics, government regulations, macro- and microeconomics, monetary theory and more. Coverage: 1969 to present. Some full text.
Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window Explore the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from the 15th century to the present, including military history, women's history, history of education, history of science, and more. This collection includes secondary source articles from journals, as well as books and book reviews. Note: for United States history, use America: History and Life; for medieval history, use Iter. Coverage: varies. Full text.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window Explore historical and recent journals, books and images in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, with some natural science coverage. Coverage: varies - historical up to 1-5 years from current date, contains primary sources. Full text.
Oxford African American Studies Center (AASC) This link opens in a new window
Contains primary and secondary sources.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window Access scholarly journals and ebooks in both the humanities and social sciences. Most journals covered are up to date. Ebooks include titles in Global Cultural Studies, Poetry, Fiction & Creative Non-Fiction. Coverage: historical and current. Full text.

Maps of Africa

Primary Source Databases

African American Archives This link opens in a new window Explore original historical documents pertaining to the history of African Americans, mostly in the United States, but also from the Colonial era and the West Indies. Coverage: contains primary sources. This purchase was a gift of Robert J. Weinstein, Dickinson College class of 1941.
Black Abolitionist Papers This link opens in a new window Access articles, documents, correspondence, proceedings, manuscripts, and literary works from African American activists who worked extensively to abolish slavery prior to the Civil War and had an international impact. Coverage: 1830-1865, contains primary sources. Full text.
Colonial America This link opens in a new window Access original correspondence between the colonial governments and the British government, in this CO 5 series from the National Archives, UK. This collection includes documents from early settlement and expansion to the American Revolution and politics in the Colonies. Coverage: 1606-1822, contains primary sources. Full text.
Confidential Print: Africa This link opens in a new window Access papers generated by the British Foreign and Colonial Offices, covering the modern period of European colonization of the African continent from the British Government’s perspective. Coverage: 1834-1966, contains primary sources. Full text.
Congressional Universe This link opens in a new window Explore Congressional publications, committee prints, Congressional hearings, House and Senate documents and reports, legislative histories, bill tracking, and public law. This collection includes high resolution Serial Set maps from 1789 to 1969. Coverage: 1776 to present, contains primary sources. Full text.
Documenting the American South This link opens in a new window Access texts, images and audio files related to Southern history, literature, culture, and religion. This collection includes books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews and songs. Coverage: 1500s to 1900s, contains primary sources. Full text.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window Access manuscript and rare printed sources documenting cultural contacts and literature of empire from a number of cultural and ethnic viewpoints. This collection features sources relating to Cultural Contacts, 1492-1969; Empire Writing & the Literature of Empire; The Visible Empire; Religion and Empire; Race, Class, Imperialism and Colonialism. Coverage: 15th to the 20th centuries, contains primary sources. Full text.
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlements, and Colonial Encounters This link opens in a new window Explore the various European and colonial frontier regions of North America, Africa, and Australasia through documents that reveal the lives of settlers and indigenous peoples in these areas. Coverage: mostly the 18th and 19th centuries, contains primary sources. Full text.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window Explore significant trade commodities through a range of manuscript materials, maps, posters, paintings, rare books, and more. This collection includes information on chocolate, coffee, cotton, fur, opium, oil, porcelain, silver and gold, spices, sugar, tea, timber, tobacco, wheat, and wine and spirits. Coverage: 1500 to the present day, contains primary sources. Full text.
U.K. Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new window Access official British government documents from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Coverage: contains primary sources. Full text. See ProQuest's guide to searching this platform.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online Archive (NCCO) This link opens in a new window Access primary source material from rare collections around the globe. This archive includes 12 collections: (1) Asia & the West: Diplomacy & Cultural Exchange includes government reports, diplomatic correspondence, periodicals, newspapers, treaties, trade agreements, NGO papers, & more. (2) British Politics & Society includes sources related to the political climate in Great Britain. (3) British Theatre, Music, & Literature: High & Popular Culture includes primary sources such as playbills, scripts to operas & complete scores. (4) Children's Literature & Childhood includes books & periodicals for children. (5) Europe & Africa: Commerce, Christianity, Civilization, & Conquest includes monographs, periodicals, & other materials documenting European policies & their effects in Africa. (6) European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection includes English, French & German titles including fiction, short prose, dramatic works, poetry & more, with a focus on difficult-to-find works by historically neglected writers. (7) Mapping the World: Maps & Travel Literature includes battle and boundary maps, fictional travel narratives, guidebooks, pamphlets, trail and road maps, and more. (8) Photography: The World through the Lens, includes photos & publications about photography. (9) Religion, Reform, and Society includes periodicals, monographs, family papers, society records, and other religious publications. (10-11) Science, Technology & Medicine: 1780-1925, parts 1-2 include journals, books & other documents. (12) Women: Transnational Networks includes journals, books, manuscripts, & other materials, mostly from the U.S. & U.K., but with some other countries as well. This archive is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 19th century, contains primary sources. Full text.
Oxford African American Studies Center (AASC) This link opens in a new window
Contains both primary and secondary sources.
Slavery & Abolition Resource Center This link opens in a new window Access books and pamphlets reflecting both sides of the American slavery debate. This collection includes first person narratives, legal proceedings and decisions, anti-slavery tracts, religious sermons, and early secondary works. Coverage: 1787-1920, contains primary sources. Full text.
Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice This link opens in a new window Access documents, maps and essays covering the varieties of slavery, its legacy and continued existence, and social justice perspectives. Coverage: 1490-2007, contains primary sources. Full text.
Slavery and the Law (History Vault) This link opens in a new window Access petitions on race, slavery and free blacks to county courts and legislatures in Southern states, state slavery statutes, and period overviews of slavery in the courts. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via History Vault. Coverage: 1775-1867, contains primary sources. Full text.
World Digital Library This link opens in a new window Access multi-lingual cultural heritage materials from countries and cultures around the world. Coverage: antiquity to early 21st century, contains primary sources. Full text.

Websites w/ Primary Sources

Library of Congress Digital Collections This link opens in a new window Access primary materials from the Library of Congress, covering various periods of American history. This collection includes photographs, manuscripts, rare books, maps, recorded sound, and video. Special online collections include Native American history, African-American history, United States presidents, immigration, literature, and cultural history. Coverage: American history - time periods vary, contains primary sources. Full text.
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Historical Book Collections (Primary Sources)

Eighteenth-Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window Access works catalogued in the eighteenth-century section of the English Short-Title Catalogue. The collection includes a wide variety of materials from books and directories, Bibles, sheet music and sermons to advertisements and works by many well-known and lesser-known authors. It is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 18th century, contains primary sources. Full text.

Google Books

HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window Access books and other materials from across the disciplines and in diverse languages, with most content dating from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries. Items in the public domain are in full-view for everyone and items held in copyright are searchable. Coverage: varies, contains primary sources. Some full text. See our special access instructions.

Internet Archives

Making of the Modern World This link opens in a new window Access books, journals, pamphlets, essays, reports, correspondence, speeches and surveys, written in English and other languages. This collection covers the history of Western trade, the rise of the modern labour movement, slavery, the working class, colonization and other related topics. It provides historical access to the theories, practices, and consequences of economic and business activity in the West. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1450-1950, contains primary sources. Full text. For a search overview, see this four minute video demo.
Slavery & Abolition Resource Center This link opens in a new window Access books and pamphlets reflecting both sides of the American slavery debate. This collection includes first person narratives, legal proceedings and decisions, anti-slavery tracts, religious sermons, and early secondary works. Coverage: 1787-1920, contains primary sources. Full text.

Historical Newspapers and Magazines (Primary Sources)

19th Century British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window Access national and regional English newspapers, as well as newspapers from Scotland, Ireland and Wales, especially those that helped lead political or social movements such as Reform, Chartism and Home Rule. Penny papers aimed at the working and clerical classes have also been included. These newspapers are cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1800-1900, contains primary sources. Full text.
19th Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window Access full-text content, including images, of historical primary source nineteenth century newspapers from a range of urban and rural regions throughout the United States. These newspapers are cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1800s, contains primary sources. Full text.
Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window Access historical American newspapers, journals and books, including collections covering African-American newspapers, the Civil War, Native Americans in history, Women's Suffrage, World War I, Pennsylvania, and Quarantine and Disease Control in America. Coverage: mid 17th century through early 20th century - varies by collection, contains primary sources. Full text.
African American Historical Serials Collection This link opens in a new window Access newspapers and magazines, as well as reports and annuals from various African American organizations, including churches and social service agencies. This collection was developed in conjunction with the American Theological Library Association (ATLA). Coverage: 1829-1922, contains primary sources. Full text. This purchase was a gift of Robert J. Weinstein, Dickinson College class of 1941.
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection, Series 1-5 This link opens in a new window Explore aspects of American society from the Colonial period through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Individual Series can be searched together or separately. Coverage: 1691-1912, contains primary sources. Full text. This purchase was a gift of Robert J. Weinstein, Dickinson College class of 1941.
American Periodicals Series Online 1740-1900 This link opens in a new window Access over 1,500 periodicals that first began publishing between 1740 and 1900, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines; 89 journals published between 1740 and 1800 offer insights into America's transition from colonial times to independence; and 118 periodicals published during the Civil War (1861-1865) and Reconstruction (1865-1877) eras; and many other historically-significant periodicals. Coverage: 1740-1900, contains primary sources. Full text.
Guardian & Observer -- Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window Access historical issues of London's The Guardian and The Observer newspapers. Coverage: 1791-2003, contains primary sources. Full text.
Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window Access historical articles and images from the American Hebrew & Jewish Messenger; American Israelite; Atlanta Constitution; Atlanta Daily World; Baltimore Afro-American; Boston Globe; Chicago Defender; Chicago Tribune; Chinese Newspapers Collection; Guardian & Observer; Jewish Advocate; Jewish Exponent; Los Angeles Times; New York Amsterdam News; New York Times; Philadelphia Inquirer; Philadelphia Tribune; Pittsburgh Courier; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Wall Street Journal; and Washington Post. Coverage: varies by paper ranging from 1791-2018, contains primary sources. Full text.
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window Search across primary source collections including Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Nineteenth Century Collections Online, Making of the Modern World, Indigenous Peoples: North America, Archives Unbound, Archives of Sexuality and Gender, Associated Press Collections, as well as a variety of periodical archives including: Nineteenth Century British Library Newspapers; Nineteenth Century United States Newspapers; Financial Times; The Economist; Liberty Magazine, 1924-1950; The Listener, 1929-1991; The Sunday Times (London); The Telegraph; The Times (London); and The Times (London) Literary Supplement. Coverage: 19th-21st centuries, contains primary sources. Full text.
New York Times -- Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window Access articles and images from historical issues of the New York Times. Coverage: 1851-2018, contains primary sources. Full text.
Sunday Times Historical Archive (London) This link opens in a new window Access historical issues of The Sunday Times, which provides analysis and commentary on the week's news and society at large. It is known for its considerable arts coverage, especially the London theatre and music scenes. This newspaper is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1822-2016, contains primary sources. Full text.
Times (London) Digital Archive This link opens in a new window Access historical issues of the oldest daily newspaper in continuous publication, providing in-depth, objective coverage of world events. This archive supports research across multiple disciplines and areas of interest: in business, humanities, political science, philosophy and numerous other subjects with coverage of all major international historical events. It is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1785-2019, contains primary sources. Full text.
Eighteenth Century Journals Portal This link opens in a new window Access rare 18th century journals and newspapers from England, as well as Canada, the Caribbean, India, Ireland and Scotland. This collection includes a full run of The Lady's Magazine (1770-1832) among many other periodicals covering literature, theatre, religion, news, politics and current affairs. Coverage: 1680-1835, contains primary sources. Full text.