Subject and Course Guides: Digital Resources for Research in American Legal History: Lists of Recommended Resources

Resources from HeinOnline

State Reports
Historical reports, including court reports, for each state; coverage dates vary
State Statutes
Official bound sessions laws from all 50 states; coverage includes territorial, colonial, and early statehood laws as well as current laws
U.S. Statutes at Large, 1789 - present
Archive of the U.S. Statutes at Large. Includes links to laws not yet published by the Government Publishing Office
U.S. Supreme Court Library
Official full text of all decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States and the official record of its rulings, orders, case tables, and other proceedings

ProQuest Congressional: Legislative & Executive Publications This link opens in a new window
Search for legislative histories of U.S. statutes, bills by number, congressional committee hearings and testimony, as well as social media posts from congressional members and federal agencies.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Full-text archives for eight newspapers, dating back to the late 18th century: Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Guardian, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Observer, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post; coverage dates vary.

Chronicling America
Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1924. Use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present
Legislation of the U.S. Congress (1973 - present)
Legislative information

HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
A massive digital library, with historical materials relevant to legal historical studies. Students can download the full-text of public domain volumes.

WorldCat This link opens in a new window
World-wide catalog of libraries' holdings. Items discovered here can be delivered to you by Delivery/Interlibrary Loan.

Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
Primary sources in American legal history. Search specific states or territories, or across all documents.
Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978 This link opens in a new window
Includes transcripts, applications for review, motions, petitions, supplements, and other official papers of the most-studied and talked-about cases, including many that resulted in landmark decisions.
Making of Modern Law: Trials, 1600-1926 This link opens in a new window
Documents from Anglo-American trials. Topics include adultery, commercial law, conspiracy, constitutional law, crimes against persons, domestic relations, dueling, elections, impeachment, international law, land, libel, military offenses, murder, slavery, theft, torts, treason and wills.
Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises, 1800-1926 This link opens in a new window
Includes casebooks, local practice manuals, books on legal form, works for lay readers, pamphlets, letters, and speeches on nearly every aspect of American and British law.

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
News, business, and legal publications (including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790), company information, and patents. (Full-Text)

Federal & State Cases
Coverage varies by court
U.S. Law Reviews & Journals (1982 - present)
Scholarly reviews of a variety of legal topics and developments (NexisUni)

Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Full-text of papers from a range of urban and rural U.S. regions, published throughout the 19th century.

The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy
Major document collections covering topics such as the U.S. Constitution, Congressional resolutions, U.S. Statutes (including specific collections about slavery and native Americans), as well as colonial charters, grants and related documents