Historical Objects

Political & Legal

Offering an overview of finding and using Primary Sources.

Page under Construction

This page is currently under construction and far from complete. If you notice broken links or have suggestions, please write the subject liaison e-mail.

Core Databases

Hein Online This link opens in a new window
Several different legal collections including U.S. Law Journals, the Pentagon Papers, some Federal Legislative Histories, the Foreign Relations of the United States, and the Congressional Record, among others.
ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Provides access to hearings, published and unpublished from 1824–present, congressional committee reports, bills, public laws, selected committee prints, congressional documents, the Congressional Record from the 99th Congress forward, Federal Register from 1980 forward, the current Code of Federal Regulations, and the current U.S. Code.
US Congressional Serial Set This link opens in a new window
Reports, documents, and journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives from 1817–1980.

American Presidency Project
Nearly comprehensive database of U.S. presidential documents, speeches, press conferences, candidate debates, and more. From UC Santa Barbara.
Foreign Relations of the United States
Official historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions, declassified and edited for publication. Complete run available via Hein Online; latest volumes also available directly from the U.S. Department of State.

Monthly Catalog of US Government Publications, 1895-1976 This link opens in a new window
Retrospective catalog of U.S. government publications. Coverage 1895–1976.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Nexis Uni includes thousands of U.S. and non-U.S. news sources; legal materials: case law, statutes and law reviews; and company/business information. Strength from 1990 to the present. Nexis Uni replaces Lexis-Nexis Academic.

US Databases

American State Papers, 1789-1838 This link opens in a new window
Legislative and executive documents, many originating from the important period between 1789 and the beginning of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set. Coverage to 1838.

Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates 1774-1873
A wealth of information on the Constitutional Convention, Continental Congress, and Congress provided by the American Memory site at the Library of Congress.

Colonial America (Adam Matthew) This link opens in a new window
Module 1 (of 5). Collection will eventually include the full 1,450 volumes of the CO 5 series from The National Archives, UK, covering the period 1606–1822. CO 5 consists of the original correspondence between the British government and the governments of the American colonies.
Colonial State Papers This link opens in a new window
Papers concerning English activities in the American, Canadian, and West Indian colonies, 16th–18th centuries.
CQ Press Library This link opens in a new window
Narrative accounts of every major piece of U.S. legislation under consideration back to 1945.

Digital National Security Archive
Over 100,000 declassified documents from the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
Over 100,000 declassified documents on the most critical world events, countries, and U.S. policy decisions from post World War II through the 21st century from the National Security Archive at George Washington University.
House and Senate Journals, Series 1, 1789-1817 This link opens in a new window
Chronicles matters considered on the floor, votes and other actions taken, in the House and Senate, as well as excerpts from executive department communications and member responses. Illuminates key moments in early American history and government as they occurred and influential decisions as they were made.
Immigration: Records of the INS, 1880-1930 This link opens in a new window
Covers the investigations made by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) during the immigration wave of 1880–1930, including immigration to the U.S. by Asians, Mexicans and Europeans, as well as extensive files on the INS's regulation of prostitution and white slavery and on suppression of radical aliens
Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises, 1800-1926 This link opens in a new window
Digital images of more than 21,000 legal treatises on 19th and early-20th century American and British Commonwealth law.
Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources, 1620-1970 This link opens in a new window
Published records of the American colonies, documents published by state constitutional conventions, state codes, city charters, law dictionaries, digests and more.
Making of Modern Law: Trials, 1600-1926 This link opens in a new window
Historical legal trials, mostly from England and America, drawn from the historical print collections of the Harvard and Yale Law School Libraries and the Library of the Bar of the City of New York.
Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978 This link opens in a new window
Nearly 11 million pages of records and briefs brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, 1832–1978.
NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns--Legal Department Files This link opens in a new window
Papers of the NAACP Legal Department from 1956-1972. Topics covered include school desegregation, abuses of police procedure, freedom of speech, desegregation of public facilities, voting rights, housing discrimination, and employment discrimination.
Senate Executive Journals, Series 1, 1789-1866 This link opens in a new window
Journals of the executive proceedings of the United States Senate 1789–1866.

Slavery and Anti-Slavery
Four part collection on the transatlantic slave trade, the global movement for the abolition of slavery, legal, personal, and economic aspects of the slavery system, and dynamics of emancipation in the U.S. as well as in Latin America, the Caribbean, and other regions. Note: This database is available from the Boston Public Library, not directly through Boston College. You will need a BPL eCard (free for all MA residents and students) to gain access.

Slavery and the Law This link opens in a new window
Includes petitions related to race and slavery to state legislatures and to southern county courts, as well as state slavery statutes from 1789–1865.

International Databases

Avalon Project at Yale University
International documents in law, history, and diplomacy.

ProQuest U.K. Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new window
Full text of the sessional papers presented to Parliament. Papers include reports of committees, royal commissions, public bills, and accounts and papers. Coverage from 1688–2005.
Confidential Print: Middle East,1839-1969 This link opens in a new window
Letters, telegrams, dispatches, and reports circulated in the British Foreign Office, to the Cabinet, and to heads of British missions abroad.This collection consists of the Confidential Print for the countries of the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, and Sudan.
Documents on British Policy Overseas This link opens in a new window
Includes three collections focused on British foreign policy and diplomatic history:
• British Documents on the Origins of the War 1898–1914
• Documents on British Foreign Policy 1918–1939
• Documents on British Policy Overseas 1945 and after
Dublin Castle Records 1798-1926. This link opens in a new window
The Dublin Castle administration was the government of Ireland under English and later British rule, from the 12th century until 1922.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Digitized manuscript and print documents on colonial history, politics, culture.
Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan This link opens in a new window
Files from the British Foreign Office focusing on the political and social history of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, 1947–1980.

Library and Archives Canada
Fantastic digitized collections from Canada—both cultural and government material organized by topic.

Northern Ireland : A Divided Community, 1921-1972 : Cabinet Papers of the Stormont Administration This link opens in a new window
Archive of the "Cabinet Conclusion" files from all debates and transactions of the Stormont Administration.

Proceedings of the Old Bailey
A fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court, 1674–1913.
LLMC Digital - Law Library Microform Consortium Digital
Includes federal legislative, administrative and judicial materials from the collections of government and academic law libraries. Updated regularly.

Personal Papers

American Founding Era Collection
Digital editions of the papers of many of the major figures of the early republic including Adams, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, and Washington.
Papers of Benjamin Franklin
Transcribed digital edition of Franklin's papers, from Yale.

Churchill Archive This link opens in a new window
Digitized original documents, produced between 1874 and 1965, ranging from Winston S. Churchill's personal correspondence to his official exchanges with kings, presidents, politicians, and military leaders.
Stalin Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Digitized primary and secondary source documents that cover Stalin's personal biography, his work in government, and his conduct of foreign affairs.
American Founding Era Collection This link opens in a new window
Digital editions of the papers of many of the major figures of the early republic including Adams, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, and Washington.

Legislative History

A legislative history is a collection of the documents created by Congress or a state legislature during the process of enacting or rejecting a proposed law. They provide evidence that members of the legislative body were aware of particular facts and include comments and recommendations of committees and members of the legislative body.

For help locating them, see the BC Law Library guide on Federal Legislative Histories.

More Political & Legal Resources

The databases listed here are only a portion of our political and legal collections. See the Government Documents Portal for a more complete list.

O'Neill Library

Bapst Library

Burns Library

Educational Resource Center

Law Library

Social Work Library

Theology & Ministry Library

O'Connor Library

Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies

Historical Objects

Political & Legal

Page under Construction

Core Databases

US Databases

International Databases

Personal Papers

Legislative History

More Political & Legal Resources