This guide identifies resources relevant to the VCE History - Revolutions units
The American Revolutionary Period is classified differently across different sources, although is generally considered to fall between approximately 1764 and 1789. It is important to be aware of the social and political climate before the Revolution, which can help shine a light on the causes of the conflict; as well as the societal conditions in the aftermath of Revolution.
Area of study 1 - Causes - spans the period from the French and Indian War (1754-1763) through to the signing of the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776. Area of study 2 - Consequences - covers the immediate aftermath from 1776 through to 1789.
For simple, broad overviews of the American Revolution try the Oxford Reference: History database. Alpha History also has a very useful American Revolution Timeline.
The Library has a number of ebooks considering issues around the American Revolution. Most of these can be accessed online using your State Library Victoria member number.
Before you begin a search of our catalogue, make sure to read the Catalogue tab of this guide for a basic understanding of how to search.
To search our ebook collection, set the drop-down menu to the right of the search box to 'ebooks'. You can search your keywords anywhere in the record, or search more specifically within the subject as we have done in the example below:
Note that some of our ebooks can only be read onsite at the Library, either on one of our bookable public PCs, or on your own device connected to our wifi.
If you find a title that is particularly useful you can also search for similar books by clicking on the Subjects linked under the Details heading of the record.
Choosing Sides : loyalists in revolutionary America by The Library subscribes to a wide range of databases, most of which you can view from home with your free SLV membership.
Filter the database list by subject to see all of our History databases or Historic Newspaper databases.
Cross-search several British newspaper archives, including 19th Century British Newspapers, The Times Digital Archive, The Sunday Times, The Times Literary Supplement and The Illustrated London News.
Once you have chosen a database, you will need to search it by keyword. Use Simple or Basic Search for specific information, or consider Advanced Search when searching several interrelated concepts. Remember that you can filter your results by the kind of resource, or by the year of publication.
Consider doing the following:
An example of an Advanced search from the JSTOR database is shown in the side panel of this guide.
Use these tabs to see examples of some of the articles that can be found on specific issues of the American Revolutionary War, the causes and the aftermath.
These articles can be contradictory as different historians interpret the evidence of events in different ways. The articles will also have footnotes and bibliographies that can lead to further articles.
These are just a few examples of articles you can find using our databases and Article search through our Library catalogue. Remember that you will be asked to sign in with your free membership number to view the articles. See the Catalogue tab in this guide for more information on searching, or see our Help page on using Articles search.
The U.S. Library of Congress is the largest library in the world and holds a wealth of resources relating to the American Revolution.
Their American Revolution resource guide contains many digitised primary sources, and also links to several external websites, such as the American Archives and the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Try this search for holdings at the Library containing primary documents:
United States History Revolution 1775-1783 Sources
These items will mainly be in print, and only available at the Library (not online).
For online primary sources, try the collection: Introduction to U.S. History: The American Revolution from the Archives Unbound database (see Databases box above).
Newspaper archives will be held in our database collection. See the box on Databases above.
New York landmarks, H96.46/30
The Statue of Liberty was given by France to America as a gift in honor of the alliance between the two countries during the American Revolution, and celebrated the centennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
SLV has a range of physical books relating to the American Revolution. Many will be in storage, but some will be available on the shelf in the Redmond Barry Reading Room.
Perform a catalogue search using the Books scope. You can Ask a Librarian for assistance if you need to order an item from storage. Alternatively, use the Find on Shelf search scope to limit results to books you can read immediately. Note that SLV is not a lending library; books are to be read onsite at the Library.
To browse the shelves, try the range at 973.3 (North American History: Revolution and confederation, 1775-89). North American History more broadly is at 970-979. This will be upstairs in the Redmond Barry Reading Room mezzanine.
Remember that the areas of study for this subject includes the causes of the Revolution, and you may wish to read more broadly on the Colonial Period (1607-1775) held at 973.2.
British Soldiers, American War : voices of the American Revolution by 
A Struggle for Power : the American revolution by Note that there will be other books on the American Revolution in other parts of the Library. For instance, books that are more focused on the constitutional and legal aspects of the American Revolution will be held at 342.7.
An example of how to perform an Advanced Search in a database. Here we are searching for information on the Sons of Liberty during the American Revolution in JSTOR. Other databases will have similar features.
