Civil War Primary Source materials 

A primary source is a document, speech, or other sort of evidence written, created or otherwise produced during the time under study. Primary sources offer an inside view of a particular event. Examples include:

Original Documents

Autobiographies, diaries, e-mail, interviews, letters, minutes, news film footage, official records, photographs, raw research data, speeches.

Creative Works

Art, drama, films, music, novels, poetry.

Relics or Artifacts

Buildings, clothing, DNA, furniture, jewelry, pottery.

Examples of Primary Sources

• Plato's Republic — women in ancient Greece
• The Declaration of Independence — U. S. history
• African-American Poetry (1750-1900) — U. S. history & literature
• Diary of Anne Frank — experiences of Jews in World War II
• film footage of the assassination of President J. F. Kennedy
• National Security Data Archives — U. S. history ~ declassified documents

From:

http://www.knowledgecenter.unr.edu/help/using/primary.aspx

Explore These Civil War Era Primary Source Materials:

Valley of the Shadow: Two communities during the Civil War

http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/

Gilder Lehrman Collection

Civil War Primary Source Collection

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/module.php?module_id=278

American Slavery Digital Project:

http://library.uncg.edu/slavery/

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/topics/content.php?subcat=8

American Memory Collection:

Lincoln Exhibits

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/stern-lincoln/

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html

Civil War

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/moahtml/mncspcival.html

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/tcreynolds/

Maps

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/civil_war_maps/

National Archives:

Civil War Era Primary Source Documents

Civil War Newspapers: Harper's Weekly

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/the-civil-war.htm

Eyewitness to History: Civil War

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/cwfrm.htm

American Presidency Project: Lincoln

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php#axzz1OAILcELQ

Lincoln Archives:

http://www.lincolnarchives.us/

Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/

More primary source collections:

http://primarysources.wikispaces.com/

http://only2clicks.com/pages/joycevalenza/363681