LibGuides: Migration History: External Migration

Colonial Era Immigration

Colonial America This link opens in a new window
"Colonial America makes available all 1,450 volumes of the CO 5 series from The National Archives, UK, covering the period 1606 to 1822. CO 5 consists of the original correspondence between the British government and the governments of the American colonies, making it a uniquely rich resource for all historians of the period" (Adam Matthew).
"Module I: Early Settlement, Expansion and Rivalries (2015): The first module of Colonial America documents the early history of the colonies, and includes founding charters, material on the effects of 1688’s Glorious Revolution in North America, records of piracy and seaborne rivalry with the French and Spanish, and copious military material from the French and Indian War of 1756-63.

Module II: Towards Revolution (2016): This module focuses on the 1760s and 1770s and the social and political protest that led to the Declaration of Independence, including legal materials covering the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party. It is also particularly rich in material relating to military affairs and Native Americans.

Module III: The American Revolution (2017): This module charts the upheavals of the 1770s and 1780s which saw the throwing off of British rule in the Thirteen Colonies. Contents include volumes of intercepted letters between colonists, the military correspondence of the British commanders in the field and material produced by the Ordnance Office and the office of the Secretary at War, as well as two copies of the ‘Dunlap’ edition of the Declaration of Independence printed on the night of the 4th-5th July 1776.

Module IV: Legislation and Politics in the Colonies (2018): This module traces the colonies' legal and political evolution between 1636-1782. Copies of council and assembly minutes record debates on international politics, including Britain’s war with Spain, expeditions against the French in Canada, and trade regulations. Court journals also trace legal cases and trials heard in the colonies, whilst series of official correspondence and revisions of acts reveal attempts to increase jurisdiction of British officials in the colonies, expand settlement, and improve public facilities and trade. The extensive revisions and annotations of these documents also expose the internal (and often personal) political agendas of their creators.

Module V: Growth, Trade and Development: The preponderant part of the final module consists of correspondence with the Board of Trade. There are also details of land grants, shipping returns and financial accounts, as well as George Vancouver’s despatches to London from his 1791 expedition to the Pacific Northwest. The shipping returns reveal a trade network focusing on internal trade within the American colonies and the Caribbean, and with frequent connections across Europe (Adam Matthew)."
Virginia Company Archives This link opens in a new window
"This online project presents those Ferrar Papers which are in Magdalene College, Cambridge... In addition, transcripts of those documents that throw light on the Virginia Company of London are included, as are the four volumes of The Records of the Virginia Company of London (Washington, D.C., 1906-35), edited by Susan Myra Kingsbury." (Adam Matthew)

European Migration

Promise of America: Norwegian Emigration to America
Collection of photos, letters (mostly in Norwegian) and other material dating from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries
Price Genealogy Immigrant Servants Database
"This ongoing project introduces a novel approach for spotting early American immigrants in Colonial American and European sources. The basic thesis is that most indentured servants were European immigrants. This project aims to create a reconstructed passenger arrival list for people who came to Colonial America as indentured servants, redemptioners, and transported convicts between 1607 and 1820." (Price Genealogy)
The Atlantic world : America and the Netherlands
"The Atlantic World: America and the Netherlands explores the history of the Dutch presence in America and the interactions between the United States and the Netherlands from Henry Hudson's 1609 voyage to the post-World-War-II period."

Jewish Migration

Jewish Life in America, c1654-1954 This link opens in a new window
This database "will enable you to explore the history of Jewish communities in America from the arrival of the first Jews in the 17th century right through to the mid-20th century. This rich collection brings to life the communal and social aspects of Jewish identity and culture, whilst tracing Jewish involvement in the political life of American society as a whole." (Adam Matthew) It includes a chronology, interactive maps, essays by leading scholars, a selection of American Jewish Year Book articles, a visual resources gallery, biographies and links to other useful websites.

Rambi -- The Index of Articles on Jewish Studies
A selective bibliography of academic articles covering all of the fields of Jewish studies as well as the study of Eretz Israel and the State of Israel. RAMBI is based largely on the collections of the National Library. The articles listed in RAMBI are collected from thousands of journals, in print or electronic, from collections of articles and from offprints sent by researchers.

Latino Migration

Chicano Database This link opens in a new window
Todo tipo de material sobre los chicanos. En 1992 el BDC ampliado su alcance para incluir la más amplia experiencia latina de los puertorriqueños, cubano-americanos y los inmigrantes centroamericanos.
Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI) This link opens in a new window
The Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI) covers over 400 scholarly journals in the social sciences and humanities, or treating Latin American and U.S. Hispanic topics. A guide to searching the Hispanic American Periodicals Index is available online. Dates of coverage: 1970 - present (updated annually).

Caribbean Sea Migration
"Materials from (or related to) the migration by sea of Cubans, Dominicans, and Haitians, including the refugee camp for Cuban and Haitian rafters that existed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, largely dating from 1991-1996."
Mexican Migration Project (MMP)
“Since its inception, the MMP's main focus has been to gather social as well as economic information on Mexican-US migration. The data collected has been compiled in a comprehensive database that is available to the public free of charge for research and educational purposes through this web-site.

The MMP is a unique source of data that enables researchers to track patterns and processes of contemporary Mexican immigration to the United States. The project is a multi-disciplinary research effort that generates public use data on the characteristics and behavior of Mexican migrants.” (MMP)
Implications of Skilled Migration
The author examines the state of high-skilled migration from Mexico, particularly of entrepreneurs, and raises questions that should be answered on both sides of the border before changes are made to the current system.
Highly Skilled and Educated Immigrants (HSE)
“The Project “International Migration of Talent and Highly Skilled and Educated to the U.S.” … included two separate data collection efforts: the application of the LAMP’s ethnosurvey questionnaire to a selected sample of Venezuelan immigrants and in-depth interviews conducted with a sizeable number of HSE immigrants from Venezuela and several other sending nations.” Public use data is available through a free OPR account.
Latino History Project
A collection of community histories of Latino immigrants in the San Francisco East Bay

African Migration

Africana and Black History Collection
Includes rare images, photographs and documents relating to African history and the African diaspora, from the New York City Public Library.

Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law This link opens in a new window

See more under the Labor Migration tab

Asian Migration

South Asian American Digital Archive
Documents the South Asian diaspora experience in the United States; includes photographs, correspondence and more

China, America and the Pacific: Trade & Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
"Explore an extensive range of archival material connected to the trading and cultural relationships that emerged between China, America and the Pacific region between the 18th and early 20th centuries. Manuscript sources, rare printed texts, visual images, objects and maps document this fascinating history." (Adam Matthew) It consists of Module I and Module II.

The Chinese in California, 1850-1925
"Describes experiences of Chinese immigrants in California from 1850 to 1925, including the nature of inter-ethnic tensions. Also documents specific contributions of Chinese immigrants to commerce and business, architecture and art, agriculture and other industries, and cultural and social life in California. Includes 8,000 images of photographs, original art, cartoons and other illustrations; letters, excerpts from diaries, business records, and legal documents; as well as pamphlets, broadsides, speeches, sheet music, and other printed matter."

Oral Histories

Houston Asian American Oral Histories
Oral histories of Asian Americans from Houston conducted by HAAA, Zoroastrian Association, Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation, Dr. Ed Chen.
Minnesota Immigrant Oral History Projects
“Immigrant Oral Histories presents a collection of over 360 oral history interviews conducted between 1967 and 2012 with recent immigrants to Minnesota and their American-born children, including both streaming audio and written transcripts accessible online in digital formats.”