Race, colonialism, immigration and travel - History - Modern History primary sources - Subject and Research Guides at Macquarie University

Library databases

Black thought and culture This link opens in a new window
Date range: 17th-20th Centuries
Geographical focus: US
"Non-fiction works by African-American leaders and others who have dealt substantially with issues of race in America. Includes books, essays, articles, speeches, letters, interviews, and other materials, some of which have not previously been published."
Colonial America This link opens in a new window
Date range: 1606-1822
Geographical focus: US, Britain
This collection encompasses all 1,450 volumes of the CO 5 series of Colonial Office files held at The National Archives in London. Covering the period 1606 to 1822, this collection of largely manuscript material from the archives of the British government is useful for students and researchers of all aspects of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century American history and the early-modern Atlantic world.
Early Encounters in North America: peoples, cultures, and the environment This link opens in a new window
Date range: 15th to 20th Centuries
Geographical focus: North America
Contains 1,482 authors and over 100,000 pages of letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts of early encounters.
Early Experiences in Australasia: Primary Sources and Personal Narratives 1788-1901 This link opens in a new window
Date range: 1788-1901
Geographical focus: Australasia
First person accounts of early Colonial life in Australia and New Zealand, including letters, diaries, narratives, Government documents, maps and pictures.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
This fulltext database offers approximately 60,000 images of original documents linked to essays by leading scholars in the field of Empire Studies. The five sections cover Cultural Contacts, 1492-1969; Empire Writing and the Literature of Empire; The Visible Empire; Religion and Empire; and Race, Class and Colonialism, c1783-1969.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration & Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
Date range: 16th-20th Centuries
Geographical focus: Britain, US, Americas
Providing access to a vast range of visual, manuscript and printed materials exploring the history of fifteen major commodities and examining the ways these commodities have changed the world. Also includes data visualisation for commodity prices.
North American immigrant letters, diaries, and oral histories This link opens in a new window
Date range: 1800-1950
Geographical focus: North America
Composed of contemporaneous letters and diaries, oral histories, interviews, and other personal narratives.
Travel writing, spectacle and world history This link opens in a new window
Date range: 19th and 20th Centuries
Geographical focus: US, World
Accounts by women of their travels across the globe from the early 19th century to the late 20th century... A wide variety of forms of travel writing are included, ranging from unique manuscripts, diaries and correspondence to drawings, guidebooks and photographs.

National Digital Learning Resources Network
There are more than 16,000 digital resources in the NDLRN; they are free for use in all Australian schools. The resources are accessible to teachers through portals and Scootle.

Online sources

African Activist Archive Project in America
Date range: 1940s-present
Geographical focus: North America
"The African Activist Archive Project is building an online archive of primary materials - documents, photographs, artifacts, and written and oral memories - of 50 years of activist organizing in the United States in solidarity with African struggles against colonialism, apartheid, and injustice."
America’s journey through slavery
Date range: 15th-19th Centuries
Geographical focus: US
Created by PBS, this site includes a narrative and resource guide.
The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record
Date range: 17th-19th Centuries
Geographical focus: US, Africa
Images relating to the slave trade in the Americas.
Black Abolitionist Archive
Date range: c. 1820-1865
Geographical focus: US
"The Black Abolitionist Digital Archive is a collection of over 800 speeches by antebellum blacks and approximately 1,000 editorials from the period. These important documents provide a portrait of black involvement in the anti-slavery movement; scans of these documents are provided as images and PDF files."
Canada in the Making: Primary sources
Date range: 18th-20th Centuries
Geographical focus: Canada
Government documents relating to the formation of the Canadian Constitution, including treaties with the Indigenous peoples of Canada.
Canadian Indian History source material
This study guide from the University of Ottawa provides information and links to primary source collections.
CBC Digital Archives - radio broadcast
This 1974 episode of Our Native Land features the nascent AIM movement in Canada and discusses its U.S. origins.
Collaborating for Indigenous Rights 1957–1973 | National Museum Australia
Date range: 1930-1979
Geographical focus: Australia
Primary sources and historical material relating to movements for Indigenous civil and land rights in Australia. Includes photographs, Government documents and documents created by rights activists.
Documenting the American South
Date range: 18th-20th Centuries. Maps from 17th-20th Centuries
Geographical focus: US
Comprises a number of collections documenting life in the Southern states of America. Includes slave narratives, oral histories and maps, as well as material relating to culture, education and war in these states. Supported by the University of North Carolina.
The Gilder Lehrman Center for the study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition
Date range: 17th-21st Centuries
Geographical focus: US
Sources relating to slavery and race in America, including advertisements and cartoons, legal documents, letters and speeches.
The Koori History Website
Date range: 20th Century
Geographical focus: Australia
"information on Black Australia's 240 year struggle for justice". Primary sources relating to Indigenous history in Australia, including film clips, newspaper cuttings and images.
Records about Indigenous Australians | National Archives of Australia
Date range: 19th-20th Centuries
Geographical focus: Australia
The National Archives hold a lot of relevant material for Indigenous Australia, particularly administrative records. Not all records provide access to the full item.
South African History Online
Date range: 15th-20th Centuries
Geographical focus: South Africa
Commentary on South African history, with supporting primary documents and photographs from at least the 17th Century onwards.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade: Migration
Date range: 15th-20th Centuries
Geographical focus: US
Online documents relating to the slave trade- includes both primary and secondary sources.