HIST 4460: North American Borderlands, 1500-1900

Presents selections from the most important manuscript collection held by the Massachusetts Historical Society. Digital images of the letters exchanged between John and Abigail Adams, John Adams's diary, and John Adams's autobiography are presented alongside transcriptions.

This website presents images of the 51 volumes of John Quincy Adams's diary in the Adams Family Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society. Adams began keeping his diary, more than 14,000 pages, in 1779 at the age of twelve and continued until shortly before his death in 1848.

Through this website, you can read and search through thousands of records from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison and see firsthand the growth of democracy and the birth of the Republic.

Explore the contours of Martha Washington’s life while opening a window on women’s lives during the 18th century, including women’s access to property and education, their role in the Revolution, their thoughts on the promises of rights called for in the founding documents, and their everyday experiences of marriage, motherhood, labor, sickness, and death.

The Papers of John Jay is an image database and indexing tool comprising some 13,000 documents scanned chiefly from photocopies of original documents.

Presents digital images and searchable transcriptions of Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book and Garden Book (his personal records relating to his farm holdings and gardens); a handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence; two manuscript library catalogs; Jefferson's architectural drawings and sketches; and Jefferson's heavily annotated draft of Notes on the State of Virginia, his only extended published work.