Guides: Reconstruction-Era Government Sources: Primary Sources

Primary Sources from the Federal Government

This guide is useful in locating primary sources from the federal government covering the Reconstruction era via Milner Library's collections and databases and government sites.

Legislative Sources

Congressional Investigations and Reports

Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States (print)
Print: Floor 4, Y 4.IN 7/2:IN 7/V.1-13
Thirteen-volume collection of Congressional reports and testimonies that investigated the Ku Klux Klan and other insurrectionary movements in the former Confederacy after the close of the Civil War.
Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States (online)
E-access: Full text access to the thirteen-volume collection of reports and testimonies through ProQuest Congressional and HeinOnline Academic. Search for set under series name, "Report on the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States."

Congressional Globe

The Congressional Globe contains the congressional debates of the 23rd through 42nd Congresses (1833-73). It is the third of the four series of publications containing the debates of Congress. It was preceded by the Annals of Congress and the Register of Debates and succeeded by the Congressional Record.

Print: The Globe, as it is commonly referred to as, is located on Floor 4 in the Documents Stacks under the call number X. They are arranged chronologically. Indexes are found at the beginning of each volume.
E-Access: Volumes are available online through the database, HeinOnline.

Executive Office and Agency Sources

War Department

Freedmen’s Bureau Acts of 1865 and 1866
On March 3, 1865, Congress passed “An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees” to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans.
ProQuest Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
Curated primary sources from ProQuest relevant to the Freedmen's Bureau
Freedmen's Bureau Branch Records
Records of the Field Offices the Bureau of Refugees, Freemen, and Abandoned Lands.
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Site is free but an individual logon will need to be created.

Department of the Interior

Reconstruction Era National Historic Network
The network includes "sites and programs that are affiliated with the Reconstruction Era, but not necessarily managed by the National Park Service. The network facilitates and reviews Reconstruction Era related research and collaboration with affiliated sites and programs through agreements and partnerships. This network is nationwide and works to provide opportunities for visitors to connect to the stories of Reconstruction."
Reconstruction-Era Historical National Parks
Articles by the National Park Service covering individuals and sites associated with the Reconstruction-Era

Databases for Government Sources

ProQuest Congressional
Compilation of U.S. House and Senate publications from hearings, committees, and other documents. Includes full text to the US Serial Set. ProQuest Civil War and Reconstruction Era (1861-1877) curated sources
HeinOnline Academic
Full text database focused on legal information from journals, federal laws, regulations, case law, reports and opinions of the U.S. Attorney General, and the U.S. State Department's Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS). Help documentation available here.

Reconstruction-Era Government Sources