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Racial, Ethnic, and Religious Minorities in the United States Civil War: A Resource Guide

Digital Resources

Digitized and born-digital materials detailing the participation by various cultural, ethnic and racial minority groups in the American Civil War are represented here. The newspaper databases show how the news of the war was reported. These sources give snapshots of the day to day lives and experiences of those serving in the military both Confederate and Federal. They provided those at home with battle descriptions and gave the resulting casualty lists. Articles on the vital work of civilians working in industries, on the hospitals caring for the wounded and sick, on those farming and ranching, and those working in government at all levels can be found in the databases and links below.

The resources below are all available from the Library of Congress website and include primary sources materials from our digital collections, first-person accounts from the Veterans History Project, research guides on related topics, and special presentations.

Digital Collections

The subscription resources marked with a padlock are available to researchers on-site at the Library of Congress. If you are unable to visit the Library, you may be able to access these resources through your local public or academic library.