Research Guides @ Fordham: Political Science: U.S. Government Documents

Searching U.S. Government Documents

Fordham's Government Documents Research Guide
Consult this guide for information about Fordham's government documents collection.

govinfo
Provides access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. Replaces the Federal Digital System (FDsys).

Library of Congress Digital Collections
A gateway to a wide range of digitized government documents & cultural heritage collections.

Early American History

► Find print & electronic primary sources in the catalog covering early American government with this subject heading:

Constitutional history--United States--Sources.

Founders Online
Over 184,000+ searchable, annotated documents from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.

Presidential Resources

American Presidency Project
Non-profit and non-partisan database of presidential documents, recordings and videos dealing with current and historical information on American presidents from 1789 to present.

Foreign Relations & Diplomacy

Historical Documents – Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS)
The Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series, the official documentary record of U.S. foreign policy, has been published by the Department of State since 1861.

→ Check the Library Catalog for print & electronic copies of FRUS publications.

Avalon Project : Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy
View transcriptions of U.S. legal documents on a variety of subjects including foreign relations, diplomacy, treaties, etc.

Indigenous Digital Archive Treaties Explorer
Provides digital access to 374 Ratified Indian Treaties with the U.S. alongside additional primary sources that offer context to the agreements.

→ The Law research guide offers more databases to research treaties.

Document Collections

Milestone Documents from the National Archives
View images and transcriptions of milestone documents in American history from the National Archives and Records Administration.
Defining Documents in American History series
Volumes in this series from Salem Press provide primary source documents along with in-depth analysis on a broad range of topics and events.

→ To find primary source document collections in book form, search your topic in the library catalog by subject and add + sources (i.e. cold war + sources, civil rights + sources, immigration + sources, etc).

Congress & Supreme Court

United States Congress:

Congress.gov
Official website with factual U.S. Federal legislative information such as text of bills and statutes, committees, reports, resolutions, members of Congress and more.
ProQuest Legislative Insight
Covers full text, primary source Congressional legislative history. Includes all enacted and related bills, Congressional Record excerpts, related committee documents, and more.
Legislative & Executive Publications (Proquest Congressional)

Formerly Lexis Nexis Congressional and Congressional Universe. Includes Committee Prints (1830-Present), House Senate Hearings (1824-1979) and Unpublished Hearings (1973-1979), House and Senate Documents (1817-Present),

House and Senate Reports (1819-Present), Bills and Resolutions (1789-Present) and Legislative Histories (1969-Present). Also includes the Serial Set with House and Senate Documents and Reports (1789-2003).

→ The Law research guide offers more databases to research Congress.

The Supreme Court of the United States:

SupremeCourt.gov
Official website offering opinions, oral arguments, case documents, biographies of Supreme Court Justices, and more. This website will carry decisions the day they are released.

→ See the Law research guide for more databases on the Supreme Court.

Additional Government Archives

Use Google to search for digital collections from government agencies. Here are a few examples:

Political Science: U.S. Government Documents

American Politics & Official Government Documents