Primary Sources for US History

Primary sources are original documents or first hand accounts from a given historical period, as opposed to secondary sources, such as journal articles, which provide information about and analysis of events and primary sources.

Primary sources can take many forms, including: newspaper articles from the period, diaries, letters, photographs, autobiographies, posters, advertisements, original manuscripts, speeches, poems, oral histories, interviews, laws, transcripts, congressional hearings, pamphlets, and more.

*from USC Libraries

Library of Congress - Primary Documents in American History
Example of Primary Source: - Treaty of Alliance with France: Primary Documents in American History
The Treaty of Alliance with France was signed on February 6, 1778, creating a military alliance between the United States and France against Great Britain. Negotiated by the American diplomats Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee, the Treaty of Alliance required that neither France nor the United States agree to a separate peace with Great Britain, and that American independence be a condition of any future peace agreement.
USC Research Guides - Primary Sources
Primary sources are original documents or first hand accounts from a given historical period, as opposed to secondary sources, such as journal articles, which provide information about and analysis of events and primary sources.