Research Guides: History: Find Legal Documents

Notable legal document collections

Making of Modern Law: American Civil Liberties Union Papers
Drawing from the records of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), it focuses on civil rights, race, gender, and issues relating to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The papers are held at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
A rich collection of primary sources related to U.S. history and culture; materials are drawn from the Library of Congress and other research libraries.
This collection is public domain and are not protected by copyright.
Making of Modern Law: Foreign Primary Sources
Find state and municipal codes, documents relating to constitutional conventions, and other American legal history resources. Includes Parts I and 2.
Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative, and International Law, 1600-1926
Full-text access to foreign, comparative, and international legal literature.
Part of Gale Primary Sources.
The materials in this archive are drawn from three American law libraries: the Yale Law Library, the George Washington University Law Library, and the Columbia Law Library.
Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises, 1800-1926 US & UK
(1800-1926) The Making of Modern Law features a fully searchable database of approximately 10 million pages and more than 21,000 works of U.S. and U.K. historical legal treatises; includes casebooks, local practice manuals, form books, works written for lay readers, pamphlets, letters, speeches, and more.
Part of Gale Primary Sources.
Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources
Includes published records of the American colonies, documents published by state constitutional conventions, state and territorial codes, municipal codes, city charters, law dictionaries, digests, and more.
Davidson College has access to:
Part I, 1620-1926
Part II, 1763-1979
Making of Modern Law: Trials, 1600-1926
Digital facsimiles of trial transcripts, official records of proceedings, and popular printed accounts of U.S. and U.K. trials.
Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978
(1832-1978) Digital facsimiles of over 350,000 official Court filings; covers 150,000 Supreme Court cases. Documents include briefs, petitions, transcripts, and more. Drawn from the collections of the Jenkins Memorial Law Library in Philadelphia and the Library of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Proceedings of the Old Bailey London, 1674 to 1834
The full text of the proceedings of trials along with original page images and background information on trial procedures, verdicts, and the types of crimes tried. The Old Bailey was the central criminal court for the City of London and the County of Middlesex.
State Papers Online (1509–1782)
Search or Browse British State Papers or government documents and Royal Archive’s Stuart and Cumberland Papers.

Statutes, codes, & regulations

Legal Information Institute
The full text of U.S. Supreme Court Opinions (1990 to present), federal and state court decisions, the current U.S. Code, the U.S. Constitution, and state constitutions and codes. Also provides background information on a variety of legal topics allowing users from outside the legal profession to more easily access and understand the laws that govern them.
Nexis Uni
Coverage of news and current events, government, business, medical, and legal topics, as well as general reference information is included.
Use is restricted to current faculty and staff and currently-enrolled students of Davidson College only.
WestLaw Campus Research
WestSearch examines all core legal content for the jurisdiction you choose.
Note: Usage is unlimited however document delivery is limited. Recommended best practice is to bookmark documents in your browser rather than download.

U.S. Federal cases

Legal Information Institute
The full text of U.S. Supreme Court Opinions (1990 to present), federal and state court decisions, the current U.S. Code, the U.S. Constitution, and state constitutions and codes. Also provides background information on a variety of legal topics allowing users from outside the legal profession to more easily access and understand the laws that govern them.
Nexis Uni
Coverage of news and current events, government, business, medical, and legal topics, as well as general reference information is included.
Use is restricted to current faculty and staff and currently-enrolled students of Davidson College only.
Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978
(1832-1978) Digital facsimiles of over 350,000 official Court filings; covers 150,000 Supreme Court cases. Documents include briefs, petitions, transcripts, and more. Drawn from the collections of the Jenkins Memorial Law Library in Philadelphia and the Library of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
WestLaw Campus Research
WestSearch examines all core legal content for the jurisdiction you choose.
Note: Usage is unlimited however document delivery is limited. Recommended best practice is to bookmark documents in your browser rather than download.

History

Historical law reviews & legal articles

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Notable legal document collections

Statutes, codes, & regulations

U.S. Federal cases