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American Eras: Primary Resources by American Eras: Primary Sources is a fascinating, student-friendly reference that's patterned after the Gale's award-winning American Decades: Primary Sources series. Like its predecessor, each volume of American Eras: Primary Sources offers full or excerpted primary sources representing a diversity of views that provide insight into the seminal issues, themes, movements, and events from each era. Also included are concise contextual information, notes about the author, further resources, and full color photos and illustrations. The following eras are covered: Early American Civilization, Exploration to 1600; The Colonial Era (1600-1754); Revolutionary Era (1754-1783); Development of a Nation, (1783-1815); Reform Era & Eastern U.S. Development (1815-1850); Westward Expansion (1800-1860); Civil War and Reconstruction (1860-1878); and Development of the Industrial United States (1878-1899). The primary sources fall into the following categories: the arts, business and the economy, education, fashion and leisure, government and politics, law and justice, lifestyles and social trends, media, medicine and health, religion, and science and technology. Providing unique perspectives and a wealth of understanding are oral histories, songs, speeches, advertisements, letters, laws, legal decisions, newspaper articles, cartoons, and recipes.Anthropology & Archeology - Articles describing research, ethnographies, surveys, cultural and historical artifacts
Communications & Journalism - News (printed, radio, TV, online), photographs, blogs, social media sites
Education, Political Science & Public Policy - Government publications, laws, court cases, speeches, test results, interviews, polls, surveys
Fine Arts - Original art work, photographs, recordings of performances, and music, scripts (film, theatre, television), music scores, interviews, memoirs, diaries, letters
History - Government publications, newspapers, photographs, diaries, letters, manuscripts, business records, court cases, videos, polls, census data, speeches
Language & Literature - Novels, plays, short stories, poems, dictionaries, language manuals
Psychology, Sociology & Economics - Articles describing research, experiment results, ethnographies, interviews, surveys, data sets
Science - Articles describing research and methodologies, documentation of lab research, research studies
Primary sources are records created by people who participated in or witnessed historical events. They are direct records of the events, without interpretation or commentary. Some primary sources can be created after the events (such as memoirs, oral histories etc.). Primary resources can include diaries, letters, journals, speeches, interviews, tape recordings, memoirs, oral histories, maps, treaties, photographs, and records of governments.
