There are numerous collections of published sources related to the early national period of the United States. Below are some of the more popular volumes utilized by early Americanists. They are arranged alphabetically and cover the period from American independence to the Civil War. Most research libraries carry copies of the volumes listed, and many are freely available online. This list is not exhaustive and will continue to be added to. For the collected papers of American presidents, visit our Presidents Papers page.

American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Athentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and other Notices of Publick Affairs, the Whole Forming a Documentary History of the Origin and Progress of the North American Colonies, ed. Peter Force, 9 vols. (Washington, 1837-1853)

The American Party Battle: Election Campaign Pamphlets, 1828 - 1876, ed. Joel H. Silbey (Cambridge, 1999)

American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States…, 38 vols. (Washington, 1832-1861)

B. F. Stevens’s Facsimiles of Manuscripts in European Archives Relating to America, 1773 - 1783, ed. Benjamin Franklin Stevens, 25 vols. (London, 1889-1895)

The Boisterous Sea of Liberty: A Documentary History of America from Discovery through the Civil War, eds. David Brion Davis and Stephen Mintz (New York, 1998)

Circular Letters of Congressmen to Their Constituents, 1789 - 1829, ed. Noble E. Cunningham, 3 vols. (Chapel Hill, 1978-1979)

The Constitutional Decisions of John Marshall, ed. Joseph P. Cotton, 2 vols. (New York, 1905)

The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay…, ed. Henry P. Johnston (New York, 1890-1893)

The Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris…, ed. Anne Cary Morris, 2 vols. (New York, 1888)

The Diary of the Revolution: A Centennial Volume Embracing the Current Events in Our Country’s History from 1775 to 1781 as Described by American, British, and Tory Contemporaries…, ed. Frank Moore (Hartford, 1876)

Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States: Inter-American Affairs, 1831 - 1860, ed. William R. Manning, 12 vols. (Washington, 1936-1939)

The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788 - 1790, ed. Merrill Jensen, et. al., 4 vols. (Madison, 1976)

The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Merrill Jensen, et. al., 27 vols. (Madison, 1976-)

Documents of the American Revolution, 1770 - 1783, ed. K. G. Davies, 21 vols. (Shannon, Ireland, 1972-1981)

Documents of United States Indian Policy, ed. Francis Paul Prucha (Lincoln, 1990)

Documents Relating to New England Federalism, 1800 - 1815, ed. Henry Adams (Boston, 1877)

The Emerging Nation: A Documentary History of the Foreign Relations of the United States Under the Articles of Confederation, 1780 – 1789, ed. Mary A. Giunta, 3 vols. (Washington, 1989)

Extracts from the Diary of Jacob Hiltzheimer of Philadelphia, 1765-1798, ed. Jacob Cox Parsons (Philadelphia, 1893)

The Ideology of Slavery: Proslavery thought in the American South, 1830 - 1860, ed. Drew Faust (Baton Rouge, 1981)

Indian Laws and Treaties, ed. Charles J. Kappler, 7 vols. (Washington, 1903-1975)

Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, ed. Worthington C. Ford, et. al., 34 vols. (Washington, 1904-1937)

Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776 – 1790, eds. Stanley J. Idzerda, et al., 6 vols. (Ithacal, 1977-1983)

Landmark Documents of the U.S. Congress, ed. Raymond W. Smock (Washington, 1999)

Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789, eds. Paul H. Smith, et al., 26 vols. (Washington, 1977-2000)

Letters of Members of the Continental Congress, ed. Edmund C. Burnett, 7 vols. (Washington, 1921-1936)

The Letters of Richard Henry Lee, ed. James Curtis Ballagh, 2 vols. (New York, 1911-1914)

The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King: Comprising his Letters, Private and Official, His Public Documents, and His Speeches, ed. Charles King, 6 vols. (New York, 1867-1900)

Naval Documents of the American Revolution, eds. William Bell Clark, et. al., 13 vols. (Washington, 1964 - )

The New American State Papers, 189 vols. (Wilmington, 1972-1981)

The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, eds. Harold C. Syrett, et. al., 27 vols. (New York, 1961-1987)

The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, eds. Leonard W. Labaree, et. al., 43 vols. (New Haven, 1959- )

The Papers of John Marshall, eds. Herbert A. Johnson, et. al., 12 vols. (Chapel Hill, 1974)

The Papers of Robert Morris, 1781 - 1784, eds. John Catanzariti, et. al., 9 vols. (Pittsburgh, 1973-1999)

Political Sermons of the American Founding Era, ed. Ellis Sandoz (Indianapolis, 1991)

The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States during the First Century of Its History, ed. Herman V. Ames (Washington, 1897)

The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, ed. Francis Wharton, 6 vols. (Washington, 1889)

The Selected Papers of John Jay, eds. Elizabeth M. Nuxoll, et. al., 5 vols. (Charlottesville, 2010- )

The St. Clair Papers: The Life and Public Services of Arthur St. Clair…, ed. William Henry Smith, 2 vols. (Cincinnati, 1882)

State Documents on Federal Relations: The States and the United States, ed. Herman V. Ames (Philadelphia, 1906)

Territorial Papers of the United States, ed. Clarence E. Carter, et. al., 28 vols. (Washington, 1934-1975)

The Works of Alexander Hamilton…, ed. John Church Hamilton, 7 vols. (New York, 1850-1851)

The Works of the Honourable James Wilson…, ed. Bird Wilson, 3 vols. (Philadelphia, 1804)

The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Albert Henry Smith, 10 vols. (New York, 1905-1907)

The Writings of Samuel Adams, ed. Harry Alonzo Cushing, 4 vols. (New York, 1904-1908)

The Writings of Thomas Paine, ed. Moncure Daniel Conway, 4 vols. (New York, 1894-1896)