American Slavery: 1619-1877 / Peter Kolchin. New York: Hill and Wang, 1994.
E 441 .K64 1994
The Peculiar Institution: slavery in the ante-bellum South / Kenneth M. Stampp.
New York: Knopf, 1982. Chapter 1: "The Setting." pp. 3-33.
E441 .S8 1982
HINT: To discover additional secondary sources for your research topics consult the notes and bibliographies found in these Key Resources.
Search the Schaffer Library Collections by Subject by performing a Subject Heading Search. Subject searches find materials based on descriptions of their topics using terms in controlled vocabulary.
Subject specialists determine the subject matter of a particular book and then assign a Subject Heading that book using an approved list of subject headings. Consequently this kind of search may yield fewer but more relevant items.
To discover books on the history of slavery in the United States type the words below into the subject search box and press the Search key.
slavery united states history
To discover books on the history of the United States from 1783-1865 type the words below into the subject search box and press the Search key.
united states history 1783 1865
The results of these Subject Heading searches will list all the entries for books on this topic by more their more specific subdivisions.
Browse through the entries to locate books relevant to your research topic.
Check the subject heading(s) assigned to useful records as shown in the RECORD display and click on these hotlinked headings to take you to other possible titles.
Example: Look at the books listed under the Subject Heading
Slavery United States 19th Century
Select the book from that list with the title: Slave Country by activating the hotlink for the record.
Select the Subject Heading: United States - Territorial expansion
Search the online catalog with keywords by opening the keyword searching page.
Keyword searching allows for combining or negating words and phrases, truncation, searching the word in any field in the record or limiting the search to a specific field. A specific format, date and library location may also be selected in keyword searching.
Depending on which field chosen for the search the search will look for the search word as follows:
Schaffer Library currently catalogs its books using the Library of Congress Classification System. The Subject Headings discussed above are part of that system for content analysis of books.
A unique Call Numbers is assigned to each book to place it in order on the shelves in the library.
Generally this allows users to "browse the shelves" for relevant books in the stacks.
Library of Congress has assigned the Classes E and F for the History of the Americas. Use the brief list below to locate and area to go "browsing:"
| E381-E415 | US History from Andrew Jackson to 1845 |
| E415.6-E440.5 | US History from 1845/1848-1861 |
| E441-E453 | Slavery in the United States Antislavery movements |
| F1-F105 | US Local History/New England |
| F106-F205 | US Local History/Atlantic Coast/Middle Atlantic States |
| F206-F295 | US Local History/The South/South Atlantic States |
| F296-F395 | US Local History/Gulf States |
| F396-F475 | US Local History/Old Southwest |
Connect NY is a consortium of 14 academic libraries within New York State whose members have created a combined catalog of their collections. Over 4 million unique items are listed in the Connect NY Catalog.
Current membership includes:
Adelphi University, Bard College, Canisius College, Cazenovia College, Colgate University, Le Moyne College, Pace University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, St. Lawrence University, Siena College, Union College, United State Military Academy, Vassar College.
Union College students may search and order books directly from the Connect NY catalog or order through the Schaffer Library Online Catalog if a book is already charged out or otherwise unavailable.
Once books have been ordered using Connect NY the library that owns the book receives a message to send the book to Union College for the patron who has placed the order.
Connect NY books are sent by courier and generally arrive within a few days after an order has been placed. Patrons receive an email alerting them to the arrival of their book which is then placed on the Circulation Hold shelf. Books are loaned for a three week period with one renewal allowed.
