Archives Unbound:
American Studies
 
Archives Unbound: American Studies

Supporting a deep dive into American culture, primary source materials in this collection help researchers explore music, art, literature, and cinema from all regions of the country in the 19th and 20th centuries.

American Millitary History

Civil War in Words and Deeds - Nothing in the history of America compares with the Civil War. The very nature of the Civil War lends itself to perpetual fascination. There is an ongoing interest in the Civil War as evidenced by the multitude of publications, exhibits, reenactments, research organizations, internet and multimedia resources, historic parks, and preservation associations focused on the Civil War. Individually and collectively, the publication of these regimental histories and personal narratives constitute a source of great historical value. These first-person accounts, compiled in the postwar period and early 20th Century period, chronicle the highs and lows of army life and battles from 1861 through 1865.

Civil War Service Reports of Union Army Generals - These generals' reports of service represent an attempt by the Adjutant General’s Office (AGO) to obtain more complete records of the service of the various Union generals serving in the Civil War. In 1864, the Adjutant General requested that each such general submit ". . . a succinct account of your military history . . . since March 4th, 1861." In 1872, and in later years, similar requests were made for statements of service for the remaining period of the war.

Confederate Newspapers: A Collection from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama - In "Four Years in Rebel Capitals: An Inside View of Life in the Southern Confederacy from Birth to Death", one of the finest memoirs of the era, journalist T. C. DeLeon wrote that the South's best wartime newspapers boasted the thinking of some of the sharpest minds in the region. Their pages “recorded the real and true history of public opinion during the war. In their columns is to be found the only really correct and indicative 'map of busy life, its fluctuations and its vast concerns' in the South, during her days of darkness and of trial.” DeLeon's words underscore the basic truth that Civil War America was a newspaper culture. When the war broke out in 1861, the South produced hundreds of newspapers. Every town of any size boasted at least a weekly paper. Two years into the war, attrition had substantially decreased this number. By mid-1864, the number of pro-Confederate newspapers decreased dramatically; found only in the major Southern cities. The causes of decline were numerous. Like men in other occupations, editors, printers, and their employees joined the army, creating a severe labor shortage. Then, as the conflict lengthened, the cost of newsprint, lead typeface, glue, and other supplies spiraled out of control, making it harder to stay in business. Union occupation of swaths of the South closed still more papers or converted them into Union organs. Following the end of the war, the remaining pro-Confederate newspapers ceased publication or returned to reporting on state and local issues.

Diary of the Operations Division, War Department General Staff, 1942–1946 - The War Department’s Operations Division (OPD), created in March 1942, provided the strategic and logistical planning for all theaters of operation. This official division diary comprises summaries of information received from commanding generals and sent by the OPD daily between 29 March 1942 and 31 May 1946.

Introduction to U.S. History: The American Revolution - Consisting of 450 titles totaling 94,000 pages of text, Introduction to U.S. History: The American Revolution was selected and edited by Professor Katherine Hermes of Central Connecticut State University. This collection documents the revolution and war that created the United States of America, from the earliest protests in 1765 through the peace treaty of 1783.

Introduction to U.S. History: The Civil War - Consisting of nearly 500 titles totaling about 90,000 pages of text, Introduction to U.S. History: The Civil War was selected and edited by Professor Paul Finkelman of the Albany Law School. This collection documents the war that transformed America, ending slavery and unifying the nation around the principles of freedom.

Records of the Persian Gulf War - This collection contains materials related to the diplomatic and military response by the United States (as part of a multi-national force) to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990.

The Observer: News for the American Soldier in Vietnam, 1962-1973 - The Observer was a weekly newspaper published by the Command Information Division of the U.S. Military Assistance Command’s Office of Information. It was the official organ of the Military Assistance Command, and it carried official news about and for American troops in Vietnam. As such, it goes without saying that it was carefully edited to make certain it did not print news articles favorable to the communist enemy. The Military Assistance Command spread more than 80,000 weekly Observers among all points in Vietnam in which American troops were domiciled.

U.S. Military Advisory Effort in Vietnam: Military Assistance Advisory Group, Vietnam, 1950-1964 - The involvement of the United States in the affairs of Vietnam began with grants of money and military equipment, grew with the dispatch of military advisers and maintenance personnel, and mushroomed with the commitment of ships, planes, tanks, and 550,000 troops. The United States created the Military Assistance and Advisory Group, Indochina, in 1950 to process, monitor, and evaluate American military aid to the French forces fighting in Southeast Asia. The French forces resented MAAG’s presence and hindered its operations. At first MAAG’s mission was not to train or advise the Vietnamese National Army, but by the time of the battle of Dien Bien Phu, those activities were under consideration by U.S. and French leaders. In 1955, MAAG Indochina, became MAAG Vietnam, and a separate MAAG was established in Cambodia. In 1955–1956, MAAG Vietnam, took over from the French the training and organizing of the Vietnamese National Army. The task facing MAAG Vietnam was enormous.

War of 1812: Diplomacy on the High Seas - In time of war the duties of the State Department have always been expanded. During the War of 1812 Congress authorized the Secretary of State to issue commissions of letters of marque and reprisal to private armed vessels permitting them to “cruise against the enemies of the United States.” Owners of merchant vessels filed applications for the commissions with the State Department or with collectors of customs. Many collectors were allowed to issue to privateers, commissions received in blank from the Department of State. The collectors often sent on to the Department the original applications and forwarded periodically abstracts of the commissions they had granted. During the war the Department also issued permits for aliens to leave the U.S., and it received reports from U.S. marshals on aliens and prisoners of war in their districts, from collectors of customs and State Department agents on the impressment of seamen, and from the Department's “Secret Agents” on the movements of the British in the Chesapeake Bay area. The Department also had responsibility for negotiating the treaty at the end of the war.