Historical Context and Background Information
Understanding a legal document is more than a matter of reading and analyzing a text. Often it's helpful and, indeed, critical to know something about the context in which a particular event occurred and/or the document was written.
Both primary and secondary sources are used to create historical context.
Sources for primary resources: Try the History Research Guide. The home page offers lists of primary resources and library databases by geographic area.
Sample primary sources:
- The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives, 1960-1974Potential use - Investigate the Chicago Eight.
- Freedom House Digital PhotographsMaterials held in the NUL Archives and Special Collections Department.
- Internet ArchiveThe Archive is self-described "...a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more." The Archive is also the home of the Wayback Machine which captures websites at different points in time.
Historical Context - Legal Materials
FOR HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
HeinOnline is a rich source of historical legal materials. In addition to large collections of law reviews, cases, Congressional materials, Presidential documents, and state legal resources, this database provides a number of specialized libraries of potential interest.
Some representative libraries include: the Pentagon Papers, Civil Rights and Social Justice, and Slavery in America and the World.
ProQuest Congressional provides access to a vast library of government publications.
Some representative collections include Presidential Papers, 1789 onwards, Congressional hearings from 1824, House and Senate reports, 1817 -
ProQuest History Vault - Primary resource materials.