American History to 1877

Chapter 12
The South Expands: Slavery and Society, 1820-1860

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These resources have been selected by librarians to supplement HSTY201 (American History to 1877) classes at Tompkins Cortland Community College.

• Gale Virtual Reference Collection
• Books and eBooks in TC3 Collection
• Subject Headings
• Multimedia
• Locating Journal Articles in Databases
• Web Resources

Gale Virtual Reference Collection

TC3 students and staff have access to the Gale Virtual Reference Library which has over 250 academic reference encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. This is a good place to start your research because it provides useful background information. Also available online in the ACLS Humanities E-Book Collection.

Books and eBooks in TC3 Collection

• Cotton and the Growth of the American Economy, 1790-1860; Sources and Readings compiled and edited by Stuart Bruchey [HD9075 .B86 1967]
• Generations of Captivity: a History of African-American Slaves by Ira Berlin [E441 .B47 2003]
• Inhuman Bondage: the Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World by David Brion Davis [E441 .D2495 2006]
• Remembering Slavery: African Americans Talk about Their Personal Experiences of Slavery and Freedom Edited by Ira Berlin, Marc Favreau, and Steven F. Miller. Primary Source. [E444 .R46 1998]
• Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market (1999) by Walter Johnson. [Online in the ACLS Humanities E-Book Collection]

To find books in the TC3 Library, search the TC3 Online Catalag. To find books in other libraries use the SUNY Union Catalog and WorldCat. These books may be requested through the TC3 Library's InterLibrary Loan service.

Subject Headings

Try these suggested subject headings to find books on this topic in the TC3 Library Catalog as well as in the SUNY Union Catalog and WorldCat.

• Slavery, United States
• Underground Railroad

Multimedia

Slave Catchers, Slave Resisters (2005) - "Depicts the system of slave policing in America—enforced by militias, armed community slave patrols, paid slave catchers, and federal law—and how escaped slaves and their supporters continued to struggle against overwhelming odds…and sometimes won." Streaming video (45 minutes) from Films On Demand Colletion.

Locating Journal Articles in Databases

History-related electronic journals are available to TC3 students and staff in our electronic databases and in our list of full-text electronic journals by title & subject.

Web Resources

Abolition of the Slave Trade - "More than 8,000 pages of original essays, primary documents—books, pamphlets, articles, and illustrations—as well as secondary sources and original maps. The site is organized around eight themes that tell the forgotten story of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade to the United States and, more generally, to the Western Hemisphere. Each theme is presented through an essay, images, and texts."
Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record - Jerome S. Handler and Michael L. Tuite Jr., University of Virginia.
Digital Library on American Slavery - You can browse subjects.
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1873 - Library of Congress. This is an excellent resource for locating primary source documents, although it takes a bit of patience to navigate. Download Irfanview to enlarge the page images. The Congressional Globe contains the congressional debates of the 23rd through 42nd Congresses (1833-73) including the transcriptions of several congressional debates on the Fugitive Slave Law. The Senate Journal “should be seen as the minutes of floor action. It notes the matters considered by the Senate and the votes and other actions taken.”
January 24, 1850 - “The following message was received from the President of the United States by Colonel Bliss, his secretary: To the Sentate of the United States.” Journal of the Senate, 31st Congress--December 3, 1849 to March 3, 1851, p. 106-110. [California]
January 29, 1850. Journal of the Senate, pp. 118-119. Mr. Clay. [Compromise of 1850].
January 29, 1850, Senate, 31st Congress, 1st Session, The Slavery Question, Mr. Clay, p. 244-252.
February 21-24 1851 - Senate, 31st Congress, 2d Session, Appendix, The Fugitve Slave Law, Debate in the Senate, Millard Fillmore, Mr. Clay, Mr. Hale, pp. 292-325.
August 26, 1852, Senate, 32nd Congress, 1st Session, Appendix, The Fugitve Slave Law, Debate in the Senate, Mr. Sumner, pp. 1102-1125
Documenting the American South - "Digital publishing initiative that provides Internet access to texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture. Currently DocSouth includes fourteen thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs."
HathiTrust Digital Library - A rich collection of digitized texts including many primary sources relevent to American History. Use the Full-Text search and check the box for Full view only.
Primary Documents in American History - Library of Congress provides links to primary and secondary sources for Dred Scott v. Sandford and the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection
Slavery and the Making of America - PBS
Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860 - "Contains just over a hundred pamphlets and books (published between 1772 and 1889) concerning the difficult and troubling experiences of African and African-American slaves in the American colonies and the United States." (Library of Congress)
Speech of Hon. Daniel Webster, on Mr. Clay's resolutions in the Senate of the United States - March 7, 1850. Webster's speech on the Compromise of 1850. (Making of American).

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Last update: Thursday, July 21, 2011