The National Archives has created this vast database of electronic records (85 million records on the date visited) from federal agencies and from collections of donated historical materials. Search and browse functions extend throughout the database, and the collection can also be browsed by pre-set subject categories or by time spans. All records are electronic texts. There are no scanned images of documents, photographs, or microfilm.

A very small sampling of the records: Ships and passengers who arrived in New York during the Irish Potato Famine, 1846–1851; Red Cross records of WW2 Allied POWs; descriptive indexes of flood photographs from FEMA (1989–2004); helicopter air sorties flown in Vietnam (1970–1975); documentation from the Historic American Buildings Survey (1933–1997); and records about worker-initiated strikes and employed-initiated lockouts (1953–1981).

Nineteenth-century African American pamphlets and documents, most produced between 1875 and 1900, are presented on this website. These 350 works include sermons, organization reports, college catalogs, graduation orations, slave narratives, Congressional speeches, poetry, and play scripts.

Topics cover segregation, civil rights, violence against African Americans, and the African colonization movement. Authors include Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Benjamin W. Arnett, Alexander Crummel, and Emanuel Love. Publication information and short content descriptions accompany each pamphlet.

The site also offers a timeline of African American history from 1852 to 1925 and reproductions of original documents and illustrations. A special presentation "The Progress of a People," recreates a meeting of the National Afro-American Council in December 1898. This is a rich resource for studying 19th- and early 20th-century African American leaders and representatives of African American religious, civic, and social organizations.

Created as a companion to the PBS series of the same name, this well-produced site traces the history of Africans in America through Reconstruction in four chronological parts. The site provides 245 documents, images, and maps linked to a narrative essay.

"The Terrible Transformation" (1450–1750) deals with the beginning of the slave trade and slavery's growth. "Revolution" (1750–1805) discusses the justifications for slavery in the new nation. "Brotherly Love" (1791–1831) traces the development of the abolition movement. "Judgment Day" (1831–1865) describes debates over slavery, strengthening of sectionalism, and the Civil War. In addition to the documents, images, maps, and essay (approximately 1,500 words per section), the site presents 153 brief (150-word) descriptions by historians of specific aspects on the history of slavery, abolition, and war in America. The site provides a valuable introduction to the study of African-American history through the Civil War.

These multimedia resources for teaching American history focus on slavery, ethnic history, private life, technological achievement, and American film. There are more than 600 documents on the history of Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and slavery, from "first encounters" through the Civil War.

A complete U.S. history textbook is presented, along with historical newspaper articles and more than 1,500 annotated links, including 330 links to audio files of historic speeches, and nine links to audio files of historians discussing relevant topics. Ten essays (800 words) address past controversies, such as the Vietnam War, socialism, and the war on poverty. Seven essays present historical background on more recent controversies and essays of more than 10,000 words each address the history of American film and private life in America. Exhibits offer 217 photographs from a freedmen's school in Alabama and seven letters between 18th-century English historian Catharine Macaulay and American historian Mercy Otis Warren.

A presentation of more than 25 "of the most treasured documents in the holdings of the National Archives" with 10 contextual essays of up to 300 words in length. Arranged in chronological sections, corresponding to eras suggested by the National Standards for History, this site provides facsimile reproductions of important documents relating to diplomacy, presidents, judicial cases, exploration, war, and social issues. Includes the Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolutionary War (1783); receipts from the Lewis and Clark expedition (1803); the judgment in the Supreme Court's Dred Scott Decision (1857); Robert E. Lee's demand for the surrender of John Brown at Harper's Ferry in 1859; the Treaty of 1868 with the Sioux Indians; an 1873 petition to Congress from the National Woman Suffrage Association for the right of women to vote, signed by Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton; and a 1940 letter from student Fidel Castro to Franklin D. Roosevelt asking for a ten-dollar bill. Provides links to teaching suggestions for two of the documents. A good site for introducing students to a variety of the forms of documentation accumulated in the collections of the Archives.

An archaeological exploration of a farmhouse built in early 18th-century Brooklyn that allows visitors to participate in a "virtual dig" to examine artifacts and documents relating to the lives of a Dutch family and their descendants. Chronicles the work done by Brooklyn College archaeologists and students, who have turned up evidence of slave rituals that originated in Africa and the existence of a secret garret room believed to have been used to hide slaves as part of the Underground Railroad in the 1840s. Provides family documents, including wills, probates, and deeds; oral histories of family members (including one audio file); old family recipes; field notes; student journals; an analysis of animal remains; a lesson in stratigraphy (study of rock strata); and approximately 30 photographs. Valuable for those studying family history and the use of material culture in determining ways of life in earlier periods of time. Links to The Lott House Restoration Project, which provides a tour of the house and additional information about the Lott family.

Created in 1995, this site presents an impressive body of primary and secondary source materials about the Holocaust. Offers an wide range of contemporary and historical resources, including more than 100 images from concentration camps and the Warsaw ghetto; more than 30 drawings and paintings by Holocaust survivors; interactive maps of two concentration camps; the text of the 1942 Wannsee Protocols; four interviews with historians; lesson plans for teaching about the Holocaust to school children; background essays; survivor narratives, poetry, and literature; letters, speeches, and posters by Nazi perpetrators; and scores of links. A sophisticated search engine guides users through the site's poorly organized and sometimes confusing interface. The site's author is a website marketing consultant. Particularly useful for secondary school teachers seeking to design student projects, this is an extremely rich collection of material.

These 29 collections document the history of Hawaii and Micronesia from 1834 to the 1990s. "Annexation of Hawai'i," for example, contains thousands of pages of documents concerning the U.S. plan to annex Hawaii, realized in 1898. Materials include the 1,437-page Blount Report of 1894–95, initiated by President Grover Cleveland on the history of relations between the U.S. and Hawaii and the planned annexation; Congressional debates on the Hawaii Organic Act, passed in 1900 to establish a territorial government; and Hawaiian anti-annexation petitions and protest documents from 1897–98.

"Hawaii War Records" presents 880 photographs documenting the impact of World War II on Hawaii and its people. The "Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands" photo archive provides 52,000 photographs on programs in education, health, and political and economic development in the 2,100 islands of Micronesia administered by the U.S. from 1947 to 1994. The website also includes a collection of 16 Hawaiian-language newspapers.

This archive provides more than 81,000 images and 1,000 texts on the history and culture of California. Images may be searched by keyword or browsed according to six categories: history, nature, people, places, society, and technology. Topics include exploration, Native Americans, gold rushes, and California events.

Three collections of texts are also available. Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive furnishes 309 documents and 67 oral histories. Free Speech Movement: Student Protest, U.C. Berkeley, 1964–1965 provides 541 documents, including books, letters, press releases, oral histories, photographs, and trial transcripts.

UC Berkeley Regional Oral History Office offers full-text transcripts of 139 interviews organized into 14 topics including agriculture, arts, California government, society and family life, wine industry, disability rights, Earl Warren, Jewish community leaders, medicine (including AIDS), suffragists, and UC Black alumni.

This site has two primary goals: to serve as a resource center for Maine history, and to assist classroom teachers as they teach American and Maine history. The site provides a search engine for its 5,700 primary sources (photographs, artwork, and documents), while the 34 online exhibits cover subjects including the 20th Maine regiment in the Civil War, Irish immigration, and Maine during the Revolutionary War.

Particularly interesting is My Album, where visitors can select, save, and arrange photographs and add text. Albums can be viewed in a slideshow or shared with other visitors through email or by storing them in a publicly accessible folder (users must register and give personal information to use this feature).

In addition to the nine lesson plans for teachers, there is a Community Gallery, where visitors can view 15 exhibits created by elementary, middle, and high school students posted for public viewing.