Research Guides: American Civil War: Government Information

State Historic Documents

Gammel's Laws of Texas, 1822-1897
Consists of documents not only covering each congressional and legislative session but comprise other documents of significance, including the constitutions, select journals from the constitutional conventions, and early colonization laws.

Texas Constitutions, 1824-1876
Includes both page images of the Constitutions, as well as .html files providing the full and clear text of the documents in an easily searchable format.
Texas Ordinance of Secession
Includes image of signatures.
Digital Library on American Slavery
Locates, collects, organizes, and publishes virtually all surviving legislative petitions, and a large selected group of county court petitions concerning slavery in the South. Limit by subject, state, or years. Includes many from Texas.

Federal Historic Documents

US Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
Includes House and Senate Journals, Congressional Globe, Statutes at Large, and the Serial Set.
Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy
Yale University's Avalon Project--Includes much more than just US documents.
Historic Court Cases
Search by topic or by case name, both state and federal.
United States Serial Set
Scroll down to 1861-1865 to links to reports on the Conduct of the War; reports from the President, Dept. of Interior, Dept. of Navy; Reports of Major Fergusson and Gen. Rosecrans; Prize Cases in New York, and census summaries.
Report of the Joint Select Committee
Volumes 2-13 of the Report of the Joint Select Committee Appointed to Inquire in to the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States (1872)
Records of the Field Offices for the State of Texas, Bureau of Refugees, Freeemen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1870
Two reels of microfilm on the 2nd floor of the library, far right end of the metal cabinets, E185.93 .T4 R43 reel 26-27, includes Seguin, Sterling, Sumpter, Tyler, and Waco. Readers and scanners on the same floor--print, scan to flash drive, or email documents free.

Confederate Documents

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America
Also available in paper form at JK9673 1968 v.1-7.
Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Confederacy, Including the Diplomatic Correspondence
Available on microfiche on LAC 20043 and 20044, and PCMI E468-007.
Confederate States of America documents
Links to state ordinances of secession, Confederate constitutions, and the Dix-Hill Cartel.
Confederate States of America: Documents
Four state Declarations of Secession Constitution, documents for 1861 only. Also a selection of proclamations.
Report of the Joint Select Committee Appointed to Investigate the Condition and Treatment of Prisoners of War (1865)
This, plus many other Confederate government reports are part of the Southern Homefront collection within the Documenting the American South project at the University of North Carolina.

Historic Census Information

Heritage Quest
Search for individuals in the 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (partial), 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 census. Also 1850 and 1860 slave schedules, mortality, agricultural and industrial schedules. Full images of original handwritten pages. Advanced search gives good options.

Summaries of each census since 1790 are included in the series America in Two Centuries, an Inventory, with a volume for each census. The years 1790, 1800, 1830, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1920, and 1930 are at HA 201 (regular sized books). The years 1810, 1820, 1840, 1850, 1910, 1940, 1950, and 1960 are at HA 201 (oversized books).