Research the Personal Papers of the Founders with the American Founding Era Collection

The Moritz Law Library now offers access to the American Founding Era Collection from the University of Virginia Press. The database contains digital versions of the papers of some of the major players in the early republic, including Alexander Hamilton, James and Dolley Madison, and the Adams family. In total, there are more than 165,000 documents, including over 16,000 diary entries, as well as letters, military orders, and memoranda. Each collection has a full-text search option, and is also browsable via a unique navigation “compass” at the top of the page. The collections are also annotated with historical and other explanatory notes, providing historical and social context and other explanations, as well as links to other documents in the collection to get multiple perspectives on the issues. A few collections, like the Adams collection, also have links to teacher resources and other projects. Moritz faculty, students, and staff can access the collections here and learn more about navigation and the compass feature here.