Library Guides: America's Wars, Causes of: Revolution

Terminology

American Revolution
American Revolutionary War
American War for Independence
Revolutionary War (United States)

Reference Sources

The American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood
ISBN: 9781598533774
Publication Date: 2015-07-28
The volume includes an introduction, headnotes, a chronology of events, biographical notes about the writers, and detailed explanatory notes, all prepared by our leading expert on the American Revolution. As a special feature, each pamphlet is preceded by a typographic reproduction of its original title page.
The American Revolution 1775-1783 by Richard L. Blanco (Editor)
Call Number: 10th Floor Reading Room E 208 .A433 1993
ISBN: 082405623X
Publication Date: 1993-03-01
... this panoramic reference comprises some 700 detailed mini-essays on battles, campaigns, skirmishes, raids, massacres, and sea fights, along with approximately 400 biographical sketches.
Atlas of early American history : the Revolutionary era, 1760-1790 by Lester Jesse Cappon
Publication Date: 1976
Atlas of the American Revolution by Kenneth Nebenzahl
Publication Date: 1974
Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution by Jack P. Greene (Editor); J. R. Pole (Editor)
ISBN: 1557862443
Publication Date: 1992-04-15
This encyclopedia, to which many of the foremost scholars in the field have contributed, describes clearly and readably the many different ideas and events that constitute what we know as the American Revolution. Equally suitable for browsing and as a reference source, and illustrated with many paintings, drawings and documents of the period, this substantial volume is likely to remain a standard work on the subject for many years to come.
The Encyclopedia of Colonial and Revolutionary America by John Mack Faragher (Editor)
ISBN: 0816017441
Publication Date: 1988-12-01
Spanning the entire colonial period - from the earliest settlements of the 16th century to the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which concluded the American Revolution - this reference work contains 1500 alphabetical entries. The ideas, events, people and developments which defined the birth of the United States have been brought together in a volume which emphasizes key discoveries, battles and trends which shaped the era.
Encyclopedia of the American Revolution by Mark Mayo Boatner
Publication Date: 1966
The Historical Atlas of the American Revolution by Ian Barnes; Charles Royster (Editor)
Call Number: Reference Collection [2nd Floor] E 208 .B36 2000
ISBN: 0415922437
Publication Date: 2000-08-03
Historical Dictionary of the American Revolution by Terry M. Mays
ISBN: 0810834049
Publication Date: 1999-01-14
The Southern campaigns from 1778 to 1781, which are often scantily detailed in American Revolution histories, receive full discussion in this dictionary.
New American Revolution Handbook by Theodore P. Savas; J. David Dameron
ISBN: 9781611210620
Publication Date: 2010-07-01
"The authors use clear and concise writing broken down into short and easy to understand chapters complete with original maps, tables, charts, and dozens of drawings to trace the history of the Revolution from the beginning of the conflict through the final surrender in 1783."
The Oxford Handbook of the American Revolution by Edward G. Gray (Editor); Jane Kamensky (Editor)
ISBN: 9780199746705
Publication Date: 2012-12-06
The Oxford Handbook of the American Revolution introduces scholars, students and generally interested readers to the formative event in American history. In thirty-three individual essays, by thirty-three authorities on the Revolution, the Handbook provides readers with in-depth analysis ofthe Revolution's many sides, ranging from the military and diplomatic to the social and political; from the economic and financial, to the cultural and legal.

Search Suggestions

Books, Documents, Videos, etc.

For materials held by Notre Dame analyzing the causes of the revolution use:

ND Catalog
Advanced Search
Subject
Is (exact)
and enter:
United States History Revolution, 1775-1783 Causes

For materials providing contemporary (1750-1785) opinion & analysis use:

ND Catalog
Advanced Search
Subject
Contains
and enter:
- "great britain" OR england OR "united kingdom") AND ("united states" OR america*) AND relations AND causes
OR
- "great britain" AND ("united states" OR america*) AND colonies AND [ an issue OR topic OR colony name ]
Limit results ( on left ) to:
- 1750-1785
Use "facets" (left column) to further narrow results

For materials held by other libraries:

Repeat search in WorldCat

Articles

For scholarly articles:

In one or more of the recommended article databases
Do a "keyword" search for:
- ("united states" OR america*) AND (revolution* OR independence) AND (cause* OR origin OR origins)
OR
- ("great britain" OR engl*) AND ("united states" OR america*) AND colonies AND [ an issue OR topic OR colony name, e.g. taxation]
If retrieval is too great or too small,
- limit search terms to title, subject or abstract,
- adjust search by adding or removing or modifying search terms, and/or
- limiting search results to "peer reviewed" or "refereed" articles.

For contemporaneous popular opinion & analysis (1750 - 1785):

In one or more of the recommended article databases

Do a "keyword" search for:
- ("united states" OR america*) AND (revolution* OR independence) AND (cause* OR origin OR origins)
OR
- ("great britain" OR engl*) AND ("united states" OR america*) AND colonies AND [ an issue OR topic OR colony name, e.g. taxation]
Limit results to:
- 1750-1785
If retrieval is too great or too small,
- limit search terms to title, subject or abstract,
- adjust search by adding or removing or modifying search terms

Tip: Do not truncate (use the *) with origin. This will retrieve "original" material dealing with the actual conduct of the war rather than its causes. Therefore it may produce many irrelevant records.

Primary Sources

Sample Published Collections of Primary Source Materials

The road to independence : a documentary history of the causes of the American Revolution: 1763-1776 by John. Braeman
Publication Date: 1963
Hesburgh Library Lower Level (Ranges 1 - 38) (E 203 .B812 )
The American Revolution by John H. Rhodehamel (Editor)
Call Number: General Collection E 203 .A579 2001
ISBN: 1883011914
Publication Date: 2001-04-01
Drawn from letters, diaries, newspaper articles, public declarations, contemporary narratives, and private memoranda this title brings together over 120 pieces by more than 70 participants to create a unique literary panorama of the War of Independence. It includes a chronology of events, biographical and explanatory notes, and an index.
Sources and documents illustrating the American revolution, 1764-1788, and the formation of the federal Constitution by Samuel Eliot Morison
Publication Date: 1929
General Collection E 203 .M826s
Declaration of Independence in Historical Context by Barry Alan Shain
ISBN: 0300159056
Publication Date: 2014-01-01
General Collection E 221 .D38 2014
The Remembrancer, or impartial repository of public events
Publication Date: 1775
Microforms [Lower Level] Newspaper Collection Microfilm N13 reel 5863-5865
The American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood
Call Number: General Collection E 203 .A5787 2015
ISBN: 9781598533774
Publication Date: 2015-07-28
"a landmark collection of British and American pamphlets from the political debate that divided an empire and created a nation... The volume includes an introduction, headnotes, a chronology of events, biographical notes about the writers, and detailed explanatory notes... As a special feature, each pamphlet is preceded by a typographic reproduction of its original title page."

For other collections of primary source held by Notre Dame use:

ND Catalog
Advanced Search
- Subject
- Is (exact)
- united states history revolution, 1775-1783
AND
- Any
- contains
- (cause* OR origin OR origins) AND (sources OR documents)

Also see the "American Memory" project at Library of Congress Collections.