For purposes of this course, primary sources will rely a great deal on U.S. Government-generated materials.
CSUSM is a Federal Government Documents Depository which provides a selection of government-published materials at no cost. The library catalog includes records for these materials in all formats for easier discovery.
In addition, we pay for commercial databases that have digitized government information if free versions are not available. Access is contracted for CSUSM users so those will require you to have a current CSUSM username and password. The resources listed here are grouped by free (open) access and password-protected databases.
Free online:
Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS)
(Formerly published as Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs.) This is a collection of diplomatic messages accompanied by messages from the President to Congress. Covers 1861 (Lincoln) through most of 1980 (Carter.) Later administrations through 2000 (Clinton) are listed, but not yet published. CSUSM does have many of the print volumes through 2014 (Obama) in the Government Documents collection.
- Alternate site: University of Wisconsin's Foreign Relations of the United States. This collection only covers through 1960.
- Limited archives of Department of State collections for Clinton, Bush and Obama
Congress.gov is the official site for the US Congress including the Congressional Record 1995-present. This collection includes presidential messages, bills and enacted legislation concerning foreign relations. Use the Search Tools option in the upper right corner to pick the resources to search this continually-growing collection.
Statutes at Large is provided by the Library of Congress' Law Library for access to all laws as passed by Congress in chronological order (1789-2011.) This collection may also be searched by keyword and contains full text treaties until 1950.
Treaties in Force lists all US current treaties, some signed in the late 1700s.
US Code (hosted by the House of Representatives) is the entire set of current US law. Links provided within the text to the original documents in Statutes at Large.
Census and statistical compendia of economics, trade and agriculture can also be valuable evidence in foreign relations.
- Historical Statistics of the United States, 1789-1957
- Statistical Abstracts of the United States 1878-2012 (much more detailed than Historical Statistics)
National Security Archive (hosted at George Washington University) has actively collected declassified documents on a wide variety of topics for over 30 years.
Declassified Government Documents (University of Texas, Austin) has not been updated since 2015, but most of the links continue to work. Note some links will take you to restricted databases.
Homeland Security Digital Library (Department of Homeland Security) provides access to CSUSM as a Federal Depository Library. This includes CRS Reports and selected Congressional testimony.
United Nations Treaty Collection 1946-2013 (use the Full text search tab to retrieve treaty documents.) This page also contains the earlier League of Nations' treaty collection.
CSUSM Users (in the Library Databases):
United States Congressional Serial Set (1870-1980)
Contains both Presidential and Congressional documents, speeches and discussions, including materials from 1817-1861 not in FRUS. Note there is a separate database of the maps included in the Serial Set that is searched in the main Serial Set search.
American State Papers (1789-1838)
Some content overlap with the Serial Set. Use Readex All Search to search both databases in the same search.
Archive of Americana
Access to early American newspapers recording popular opinion and reports on government actions at the time.
Sabin Americana (1500-1926)
A rich collection of texts from both American and international sources. While primarily economic/trade-focused, there is a great deal that reflects on foreign policy concerns and development.
Sample mixed primary and secondary source:
Smithsonian Institute digital exhibit on the Guano Islands Act of 1856.
The labels in red text note primary and secondary source material IN THE CONTEXT of my research paper. In this example, my research is on mid-19th century activities of the United States in securing resources outside the recognized national boundaries. This act demonstrates the attitude of the U.S. government towards foreign governments and their claims on resources. A loose interpretation of this document is 'We will take possession as we don't think anyone else's claim is strong and we will use military force if necessary to advantage American farmers.'
