American Revolution, 1763-1783 

The Gilder Lehrman Collection contains materials written by over 2,000 individuals who fought in and lived through the American Revolution. These firsthand accounts were written by leaders, soldiers, and civilians and include the perspectives of American Indians, African Americans, and women. The documents discuss not only the military and political aspects of the war, but also the private opinions of contemporary people and events. The experiences of soldiers, loyalists, and prisoners of war are recorded in numerous letters, diaries, orderly books, and other manuscript journals.

A comprehensive research database of the Collection with images is available to universities and libraries by subscription through digital publisher Adam Matthew.

A curated list of classroom-ready primary sources for the American Revolution is available here.

Selected searches in the Collection’s catalog

• Materials relating to women during the American Revolution
• Broadsides
• Materials relating to African Americans during the American Revolution
• Maps (1763–1783)
• Henry Knox’s business papers detailing early book selling in New England
• Articles of Confederation
• Smallpox
• The correspondence between American founders and English historian Catharine Macaulay Graham
• Letters and documents to, from, and about Lucy Knox, daughter of loyalists and wife of Henry Knox, George Washington’s chief of artillery
• Spying and Treason
• Materials relating to Benedict Arnold 
• The Battle of Trenton
• The surrender of British General Burgoyne’s army at Saratoga in 1777 and the plight of the “convention army” 
• The siege and surrender at Yorktown, including a contemporary, manuscript copy of the Articles of Capitulation
• Materials relating to children and families during the American Revolution
• Newspapers and news clippings from the American Revolution
• Diaries 
• Materials relating to artillery units in the American Revolution
• Materials relating to health, medicine, and injuries
• Materials documenting mental health issues during the American Revolution
• Documents relating to American Indian history
• Materials relating to loyalists
• Materials relating to the Sons of Liberty
• Materials discussing Declaration of Independence