How to choose an essay topic

Welcome to the Latin American and Caribbean History subject guide at Carleton University Library.

Explore your topic

Introducing Summon - which makes it possible to search across many of the library's collections simultaneously. Including books, ebooks, journal titles, games, music, videos, government information, maps, and more.

However,  Summon doesn't search everything that the library owns or subscribes to so you will still need to search other resources to find everything that you need. Summon also doesn't let you do sophisticated searches that you may be used to doing in specific databases or the library catalogue.  

When to use Summon

• When starting research on a topic
• If you are not sure which databases to use

For assistance using Summon please contact the Research Help Desk.

Use these to get an overview of your topic or to find definitions of key terms and concepts.

• Encyclopedia of contemporary Latin American and Caribbean cultures
• Encyclopedia of Latin America
• Encyclopedia of slave resistance and rebellion
• Historical dictionary of United States-Latin American relations
• Notable twentieth-century Latin American women : a biographical dictionary
• A Political and economic dictionary of Latin America

Finding primary sources in the library collection

1. Original documents can be found by consulting the Archives and Research Collections (ARC) website.
2. Reproductions can be found by checking the library catalogue.

Use specific words to locate primary sourcees in the Library catalogue, such as: correspondence, sources, diaries, letters, personal naratives. KEYWORD search examples:

    [PERSON’S NAME] and s:correspondence
    [PERSON’S NAME] and s:diaries
    [PERSON’S NAME] and s:letters
    [KEYWORD] and s:sources

Latin America:

• Avalon Project / Documents in law, history and diplomacy (Yale Law School)

Includes the following:

Convention with Peru for the Satisfaction of Claims of American Citizens; March 17, 1841
Extradition Convention Between the United States and Argentina; September 26, 1896
The Inter-American System: Agreements, Conventions and Other Documents - full text of acts, treaties, conventions, declarations, resolutions, and other documents.
Mexican-American Diplomacy : 1848 - 1861 - full text of treaties between México and the United States.
Treaty for the Free Navigation of the Rivers Parana and Uruguay Between the United States and Argentina; July 10, 1853
Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation Between Argentina and the United States; July 27, 1853

• Biblioteca Americana

Digital collections includes 100s of early books on Latin America as well as other material

• Biblioteca Digital Hispanica

Digital collections from the National Library of Spain includes 100s of early books on Latin America. In Spanish.

• Caribbean Views (British Library)

Over 1,200 images, maps and texts from the 18th and 19th centuries reveal contrasting experiences of life in the former British colonies.

• Colonial Bank Correspondence 1837-1885

This collection of letters consists of the incoming correspondence to the Colonial Bank in Trinidad from its inception in 1837 to 1885.

• Early Americas Digital Archive (University of Maryland)

A collection of electronic texts originally written in or about the Americas from 1492 to approximately 1820.

• Ecclesiastical sources in slave society (Vanderbilt University)

Digital archive of ecclesiastical sources for Africans and those of African descent in Cuba, Brazil and Spanish-controlled areas of the Caribbean, covering the early 16th century through the late 19th century. 

• Expeditions and discoveries (Harvard University)

Maps, photographs, and published materials, as well as field notes, letters, and a unique range of manuscript materials on selected expeditions between 1626 and 1953 to Latin America and Asia.

• Latin American Data Base (LADB)

University of New Mexico's premier English language Latin America news service. Searchable.

• Latin American pamphlets digital collection (Harvard University)
• Latin American posters collection (Princeton University)
• Latin American Travelogues (Brown University)

Digital library of 16th-19th century Latin American travel accounts (only Brazil at the moment).

• Linking the Americas (Stanford University)

More than 100 Latin American Studies titles from the Stanford University Press; rare published and archival materials from the Stanford University Libraries Special Collections. At present, online access to these materials is available at no charge.

• Luso-Hispanic New World in Early Prints and Photographs

More than 600 images taken from 19th Century books.

• Montevideo-Oxford Latin American Economic History Database (MoxLAD)

Demographic, social and economic statistics on 20 Latin American countries 1900-2000.

• National Security Archive: Sources on Latin America

• Official documents of the UN
• Precolumbian portfolio

More than 2,000 photographs of artifacts, buldings and images.

• Vistas: Visual Culture in Spanish America, 1520-1820
• Women in world history: primary sources (George Mason University)

Argentina:

• Death of Che Guevara

Provides a brief narrative and a selection of declassified documents.

• Nunca más (Never Again): Report of Conadep (National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons) - 1984

Testimonies of 881 victims of Argentina's "Dirty War," official documents, reports, verdicts, list of detention centers, and a bibliography.

• Digital Collection of Argentinian Presidential Messages (1810-present)

Caribbean:

• Aaron Thomas: The Caribbean journal of a Royal Navy seaman
• Biblioteca Digital Puertorriquena

Includes thousands of historic photographs, maps, posters, manuscript material and more.

• Caribbean Views

Over 1,200 images, maps and texts from the 18th and 19th centuries reveal contrasting experiences of life in the former British colonies.

• Diaries of Sir William Young

Diaries of the governor of Tobago in the early 19th century.

• dLOC: Digital Library of the Caribbean

Provides access to digitized versions of Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials currently held in archives, libraries, and private collections.

Cuba:

• Castro speech database

Searchable database of Castro speeches transcribed and translated into English.

• Cuban Heritage Collection

"The Cuban Heritage Digital Collection (CHDC) is a digital gateway to finding aids and primary sources selected from the Cuban Heritage Collection (CHC) of the Otto G. Richter Library at the University of Miami. It is currently comprised of archival collection finding aids and the digitized content of those collections, including photographs, letters, manuscripts, and other documents."

• Deena Stryker Photographs, 1963-1964, undated

More than 1,500 photographs of Cuba taken during the early 1960s.

Data and Statistics

• Electoral Data Sets
• Latin American Databank
• Montevideo-Oxford Latin American Economic History Database (MOxLAD)

Online resource for comparable economic and social data series from 1900-2000 for 20 countries in Latin America.

• Political Database of the Americas

Excellent source for political data and constitutional and electoral information for Latin American countries.

• CEPALSTAT (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean)
• Latin American Election Statistics (University California, San Diego)
• Latin American Statistical Sources (Cornell)
• Statistical Institute of Jamaica

Government Documents

• Brazilian government documents (Centre for Research Libraries)
• Digital Collection of Mexican and Argentine Presidential Messages
• Latin American and Caribbean Government Documents Project (Cornell)
• Latin America and the Caribbean in the world economy
• Latin American Government Documents Archiving Project
• The National Security Archive (George Washington University)

See section on Latin America.

• Political Database of the Americas (Georgetown University)
• United States and Brazil

Guatemala:

• CIA and Assassinations: The Guatemala 1954 documents

Provides a brief overview and copies of declassified documents.

Mexico:

• Archivo de Lucas Alaman

More than 300 documents regarding colonial Mexico. In Spanish

• Archivo Fransiscano
• Bracero history archive

More than 2,500 items including oral histories and photographs.

• Colecciones Mexicanas

Collection of documents, journals, photographs and bibliographies on the history of Mexico.

• Digital collection of Mexican presidential messages (1821-present)
• LEYES Federales de Mexico
• Mexican American War and the Media, 1845-1848

Transcriptions of over 5,000 articles dealing with the Mexican-American War

• Mexican Political Pamphlets (University of Toronto)
• Mexico from empire to revolution (Getty Research Institute)

European imperialism in Mexico through 19th century photographs of which include images of cabinet cards, cartes-de-visite, albums, and postcards.

• Tlatelolco Massacre

Part of the National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book series at George Washington University. Provides a brief overview and copies of declassified documents.

• Zapatistas! Documents of the New Mexican Revolution

"Zapatistas! contains the full, English language text of every communique published (along with several that were not published, as well as many interviews, letters, and essays) from the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) from December 31, 1993 through June 12, 1994."

Newspapers

• Latin American Press Links
• The Guardian (1821-2003) [U.K.]
• New York Times Archives (1851-2007)
• The Observer (1791-2003) [U.K.]
• Times Digital Archive (1785-1985) [U.K.]

Fulltext digital image archive of London Times.

• Wall Street Journal (1889-1993)
• Washington Post (1877-1994)

Centre for Research Libraries Newpapers Collection (CRL)

Search the CRL catalogue by country to find historical newspapers for individual countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.  Most are available in microform and can be ordered through Interlibrary Loans using your RACER account.  See also the Latin American Studies Topic Guide.

Panama:

• Make the Dirt Fly

Smithsonian exhibit dealing with the building of the Panama Canal.

ARCHIVES

• Archivo General de la Nacion (Mexico)
• Arquivo Nacional (Brazil)