One good first step in research is to gather background information on your topic. Or, perhaps you have a few topics in mind and want to read a little bit about each one before making a choice. Reference sources, particularly the subject encyclopedias, are a good place to begin. They're terrific at laying out basic information about a topic: a chronicle of its history; current status; theory or philosophy; key people; and most importantly, a bibliography of additional sources.
Reference sources will vary depending on your specific topic. A selection is listed here.
The Union: a guide to federal archives relating to the Civil War, Kenneth W. Munden, Henry Putney Beers. Main Ref CD3047 .M8
The Confederacy: a guide to the archives of the Government of the Confederate States of America
The information-literate historian: a guide to research for history students, Jenny L. Presnell, 2019. Main Libr D16.2 .P715 2019
Writings on American history
Main Libr E11 .W72
Main Libr E11 .W73
Relatively comprehensive subject bibliography of articles and books on the history of the U.S. and of British North America. Coverage: 1902-1990
Dictionary of American History
Main Ref E174 .D52 2003
Multi-volume set with extensive entries on events, movements, people, and other topics in American history. Articles contain bibliographies.
The Reader's Companion to American History (print and online)
Main Ref E174 .R43 1991
Sponsored by the Society of American Historians. Consists of short substantive signed articles with bibliographies by historians on topics in American history.
Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates
Main Ref E174.5 .C3 1993
Detailed chronology of American history starting with Norse exploration in 986, including brief descriptions of social, cultural and economic trends as well as political events.
United States History : A Selective Guide to Information Sources.
Main Ref E178 .B57 1994
A bibliographic guide arranged chronologically by event.
Encyclopedia of the United States in the twentieth century
Main Ref E740.7 .E53 1996
Alphabetical collection of articles on events and movements of the twentieth century.
American County Histories in Accessible Archives
The New Encyclopedia of the American West (print and online)
Main Ref F591 .N46 1998 (print)
The Plains and Rockies: A Critical Bibliography of Exploration, Adventure, and Travel in the American West, 1800-1865
Main Libr F591 .W34 1982
Encyclopedia of immigration and migration in the American West
Main Ref HB1965 .E53 2006
The Oxford encyclopedia of American social history, 2012
Encyclopedia of American Social History
Main Ref HN57 .E58 1993
Three-volume, specialized encyclopedia of lengthy scholarly signed articles with bibliographies on social and cultural topics in American history.
Encyclopedia of women in the American West
Main Ref HQ1438.W45 E53 2003
Prestatehood Legal Materials: A Fifty-State Research Guide, including New York City and the District of Columbia, 2005. HeinOnline
Historical law dictionaries are valuable for their inclusion of then-contemporaneous terminology.
Legal Dictionaries, Georgetown Law Library
1891, 1st ed.: A dictionary of law: containing definitions of the terms and phrases of American and English jurisprudence, ancient and modern; including the principal terms of international, constitutional, and commercial law; with a collection of legal maxims and numerous select titles from the civil law and other foreign systems. Henry Campbell Black.
Via Internet Archive, HathiTrust.
1910, 2nd ed.: A law dictionary containing definitions of the terms and phrases of American and English jurisprudence, ancient and modern: and including the principal terms of international, constitutional, ecclesiastical, and commercial law, and medical jurisprudence, with a collection of legal maxims, numerous select titles from the Roman, modern civil, Scotch, French, Spanish, and Mexican law, and other foreign systems, and a table of abbreviations. Henry Campbell Black.
Via Internet Archive, Internet Archive, Internet Archive.
1839: A law dictionary: adapted to the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and of the several states of the American union: with references to the civil and other systems of foreign law. John Bouvier.
Volumes 1-2.
1843, 2nd ed.: A law dictionary, adapted to the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and of the several states of the American union. John Bouvier.
Volume 1, Volume 2
1848, 3rd ed.: A law dictionary : adapted to the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and of the several states of the American union. John Bouvier.
Volume 1, Volume 2.
1856, 6th ed.: A law dictionary, adapted to the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and of the several states of the American union. John Bouvier.
Volume 1, Volume 2
1862, 11th ed.: A law dictionary, adapted to the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and of the several States of the American Union. John Bouvier.
Volume 1, Volume 2
1880, 14th ed.: A law dictionary, adapted to the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and of the several states of the American union. John Bouvier.
Volume 1, Volume 2
1890, 15th ed.: A law dictionary, adapted to the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and of the several states of the American union. John Bouvier.
Volume 1, Volume 2
1897: Bouvier's law dictionary. John Bouvier.
Volume 1, Volume 2
1914, 8th ed., 3rd rev.: Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia. John Bouvier.
Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3
Ballentine's Law Dictionary, 3rd Edition, 1969. Via Nexis Uni.
