Informational Portal – American Revolution

Posted on October 17, 2020 by Ashley - BlessedandBooked

American Revolution: Research Sources for Students, Educators and Librarians

The American Revolution occurred between 1765-1783, which eventually led to the Revolutionary War from 1775-1783. The thirteen colonies gained their independence from Great Britain by the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. This information portal is intended for students, educators, and librarians to have a central place for finding resources on all aspects of the American Revolution. Within this pathfinder, sources can be found about the events leading up to the American Revolution, the Revolutionary War, and the  war’s aftermath. Biographies will also be included so those researching will have relevant information about the persons who had the greatest impact in the forming of the United States of America.

BROWSING: 

When doing research, it is important to know how resources are organized. The two most popular methods of organization within libraries are the Library of Congress Classification System (LC) and the Dewey Decimal System. Below is a list of call-numbers for both systems and subject headings from LC to help those researching the American Revolution find their resources more easily and efficiently.

Subject Headings

  • United States — History — Revolution, 1775-1783 — Biography: This heading is useful when searching specific people who had the largest impact leading up to, during, and after the war for independence.
  • United States — History — Revolution, 1775-1783 — Battlefields: This heading is useful to find resources on the most relevant battles and their battlefields during the American Revolutionary War.
  • United States — History — Revolution, 1775-1783 — Causes: This heading is useful to find resources regarding the escalation of hostilities between Great Britain and the thirteen colonies leading to the American Revolution.
  • United States — History — Revolution, 1775-1783 –Participation: This heading is useful in finding resources related to who participated and was an overall part of the American Revolution, both Loyalists and Patriots. Also, this is a good heading to search the different countries involved in the revolution.
  • United States — History — Revolution, 1775-1783 — Religious Aspects: This heading is most useful to find resources about the Catholic, Christian, Quaker, etc. movements during the American Revolution.

Call Numbers:

Library of Congress Classification System

E – History of America

  • 151-904 – United States
  • 201-298 – The Revolution, 1775-1783
  • 300-453 – Revolution to the Civil War, 1775/1783-1861
    •  300-302.6 – General
    • 302.1 – Political history
    • 302.5-302.6 – Biography (Late eighteenth century)
    • 303-440.5 – By period
    • 303-309 – 1775-1789. The Confederation, 1783-1789

Dewey Decimal Classification System

  • 973 – United States History
  • 973.3 – American Revolution and Confederation, 1775-1789
  • 921 – Individual Biography

REFERENCE SOURCES:

  • Bullock, S.C. (2003). The american revolution: a history in documents. New York: Oxford University Press. University of Kentucky call number: E203.B95 2003

The author of this reference source uses primary documents to show how common men and women worked together and played important roles in defining the new United States. This book explores how the thirteen colonies broke free from Great Britain’s monarchy rule, fought and won the Revolutionary War against the most powerful country in the world, and worked to establish a successful government as seen by the Founding Fathers. Students, educators, and librarians can use this resource for all facets of the American Revolution to research the events that led to war and formed the United States of America.

  • Hanning, B. (2009). American revolutionary war leaders: a biographical dictionary. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. University of Kentucky call number: E206.H266 2009

This dictionary provides military and political biographical entries for the leaders responsible for the establishment of the United States. Reference librarians located within the thirteen original colonies helped gather information for this dictionary by supplying information for the individuals entries not as well known but still important in the American Revolution. The entries are listed in alphabetical order and and include a full biography from birth to death where available. An index is supplied at the end of the book for easy navigation and a further reading section allows students, educators and librarians to explore other resources regarding the American Revolution.

  • Hanning, B. (2008). Chronology of the american revolution: military and political actions day by day. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. University of Kentucky call number: E209.H37 2008

This reference source includes information from the first battle at Lexington and Concord to the formation of a single regiment military in 1784. Writings in this book follow a day-to-day account of battles on the battlefields to the speeches and votes in the Continental Congress. This book also includes information about the military forces of both the American and British so researchers can compare back and forth intelligence and influence in the course of combat. Students, educators, and Librarians will find this a thoroughly researched reference source that is easily navigable through a detailed index and chronological frame of reference.

  • Mays, T.M. (2010). Historical dictionary of the american revolution. 2nd edition. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. University of Kentucky call number: E209.M36 2010

This book includes an introductory essay for researchers, which leads into a chronological exploration of the historical, political, social and economic background of the time period. A subject arranged bibliography, maps, and biographies help researchers understand the diplomacy of the time when the thirteen colonies were becoming the United States of America. This reference book includes entries on: battles, war generals, forts, treaties, diplomats, individual states (colonies), Continental army, and warfare. Copies of the Declaration of Independence and Treaty of Paris are included in this reference book allowing it be a highly recommended resource for academic libraries.

  • Smith, M.D. (2015). The world of the american revolution: a daily life encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC. University of Kentucky call number: E163.W67 2015

This two volume encyclopedia covers the time between 1774-1800, and delves into several different aspects of life for those living in the newly formed United States of America. The encyclopedia summarizes the thoughts and feelings of ordinary people during a time of social, political and economic turmoil such as: arts, food and drink, clothing, apprenticeships, and military training. Being highly recommended for both high school and college students, this resource focuses on the ideals of daily life and helps students identify with American life at the end of the 18th century.

E-RESOURCES:

This book is a collection of quotes and documents credited to the six men mentioned within its title. The men focused on in this book were six of the most influential Founding Fathers of the Revolutionary Era. Topics covered in this book include: religion, republican government, constitution, education, commerce, and the disenfranchised populations.  Students, educators, and librarians can use the quotes and documents provided within this book to understand the context and philosophy of the Revolutionary Era.

This book is a collection of primary sources divided into chronological chapters that allows students, educators, and librarians to gain knowledge about the experiences of the people struggling to build up the United States. A companion website is available ( http://www.routledge.com/textbooks/revolutionaryamerica ) for students and educators to find full-text documents and valuable online sources.

This book describes the daily lives of the people in the colonies as they adapted to political and military conflicts between 1775-1783. This resource contains chronological events of the era, and a bibliography and glossary allow students, educators and librarians to find extra resources for topics of the Revolutionary Era.

This book is a compilation of essays offer information regarding Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson ideals and careers. These essays will help students, educators, and librarians  understand the relationships between these two men and the population of their times. These men helped introduce the age of the democratic revolution. An index is provided to make this resource more user friendly for researchers.

The author of this book presents documents from the First Continental Congress to help researchers better understand the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. The documents included are petitions, state papers, declarations, resolutions and proclamations. Alphabetical bibliography and index are also provided for easy navigation and further investigative readings.

This book is a biography of Mercy Otis Warren, one of the most influential women during the American Revolution. She wrote political poems against royal rule in the state of Massachusetts. Mercy Otis Warren urged her fellow patriots to resist British infringements on the rights and liberties of the colonists.

DATABASES:

Use of Databases:

To use both EBSCO Academic Search Complete and EBSCO America: History and Life,users must know how to conduct a search. Once the user is in the database they can choose to do a “Basic Search” or “Advanced Search”. The user can use Boolean operators such as OR, NOT, and AND to link search terms, and limit searches to specific titles. Topics can also be searched by grouping terms together using parentheses. From the help page, the user can find information how to conduct searchable fields such as the author, subjects, keywords, titles, and abstracts.

  • EBSCO America: History and Life

America: History and Life provides journals, abstracts, review and dissertations providing information on the history of both the United States and Canada from the prehistoric era to the present. Many of the journals in this database focus on the social sciences and humanities.

Subject Headings: This database does not have a thesaurus, but has CLIO Notes (located at the top of the page) to help find other terms. These were the terms supplied, by clicking on CLIO Notes, as the subject headings for the American Revolution:

  • Armed Rebellion
  • Declaration of Independence
  • Revolutionary Society
  • Victory, Peace, and the Aftermath

Keywords: Also found on the CLIO Notes page are narrower terms, located under each subject heading, for searching information about the American Revolution. Some of the keywords that can be used to help narrow down American Revolution research are;

  • Lexington and Concord
  • Bunker Hill to Saratoga
  • The Second Continental Congress
  • Thomas Paine and Common Sense
  • Abigail Adams
  • Slavery and the Revolution
  • Women and the Revolution
  • Articles of Confederation

EBSCO Academic Search Complete

Academic Search Complete is designed for academic institutions and contains a collection of peer-reviewed journals, periodicals, abstracts, and reports. This database covers many fields of study and offers many information sources for each of the fields.

Subject Headings: When searching for American Revolution in Academic Search Complete, the thesaurus terms provided on the right side of the page consist of:

  • American Loyalists
  • Colonies
  • Military History
  • Political Science
  • Democracy
  • Generals
  • Liberty
  • Fourth of July
  • Eighteenth Century
  • Founding Fathers of the United States
  • Loyalists
  • Patriotism
  • Revolutionaries

To search the thesaurus in Academic Search Complete, begin by selecting “Subject Terms” at the top of the page. The choice options for the thesaurus search are: term begins with, term contains, and relevancy ranked. Type in the text box the topic the thesaurus is supposed to search for relevant thesaurus terms, and select which terms to add to the search by using the Boolean phrases OR, AND, and NOT.

Keywords: These term may help narrow searches for the American Revolution with in the Academic Search Complete database. When these search terms terms are combined with each other, they can help provide more focused results.

  • Sons of Liberty
  • Boston Massacre
  • Boston Tea Party
  • Minutemen
  • First Continental Congress
  • Articles of Confederation
  • Shay’s Rebellion

PERIODICAL RESOURCES:

  • Journal of the American Revolution

-Current Frequency: A new edition is printed annually

This journal is nationally recognized and strives to publish thoroughly researched articles and editorials that will be pleasing to read by students, educators, and librarians. It is known for its accuracy and is the leading journal source of information about the American Revolution. Information for this journal can be found at: http://allthingsliberty.com

  • Journal of Early American History

-Current Frequency: Three times per year

This is a peer-reviewed journal that strives to publish articles with a scholarly understanding of how America became colonized and moved toward becoming the United States. This journal offers multitudes of information about early American History for a broad audience. This journal can be found at this website: http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/18770703

  • Early American Studies

-Current Frequency: Three times per year

This journal is sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania, and original research is published on a wide range of topics involving the history and culture of North America, especially mid-Atlantic states through 1850. This journal can be found through the Project Muse Database: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/early_american_studies_an_interdisciplinary_journal/

  • The American Historical Review

-Current Frequency: Five issues per year

This journal is the official publication of the American Historical Association. It targets students and educators interested in all facets of American history and is highly respected as a general historical journal. More information on this journal can be found at: http://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/american-historical-review

WEBSITES:

This website from PortRevolt provides an extensive overview of the American Revolution and Revolutionary War. It discusses topics such as biographies, government documents, maps, artifacts, and personal perspectives.

This website provides and indexed page informing researchers regarding the time period before, during and after the American Revolution. The five topics a person on this website can choose are: Explorations and Early Colonial Era, The English Colonial Era, Prelude to the American Revolution, The American War for Independence, and A New Nation is Born.

This website allows researchers to find lists for battles, people, documents, commanders, and events. A message board is also provided so experts can answer questions a researcher may have. Further reading suggestions are also provided for continuing the study of the American Revolution.

This website provides the government documents that came into existence during the American Revolution like the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. This site also describes the impacts of the making and impact of charters.

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About Ashley - BlessedandBooked

I am a Children's Librarian who would love to be a Branch Manager someday. I enjoy reading anything I can get my hands on, playing with my dog, spending time with my boyfriend, and being a positive person for others. Being the best person I can be is done through my daily devotions, prayer, and love of the Lord.

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