Congressional Papers & Publications

The West Campus storage facility holds congressional activity dating from the late-18th and early-19th centuries. These items (not all complied or printed by the government) illustrate the early days of the republic with accounts of congressional debates, votes, and activities.

This initial listing of the volumes represented in the West Campus collection is intended to answer the question of whether a trip to West Campus for a particular volume might be worthwhile.

American Archives (1688-1787)

“American archives: consisting of a collection of authentick records, state papers, debates, and letters and other notices of publick affairs, the whole forming a documentary history of the origin and progress of the North American colonies; of the causes and accomplishment of the American Revolution; and of the Constitution of government for the United States, to the final ratification thereof. In six series…”

– from the title page of The American Archives by Peter Force

Compiled by Peter Force, The American Archives was designed to document the early history of the United States from the colonial settlements to the ratification of the Constitution, covering the years 1688-1787. But only nine volumes, focused on the years 1774-1776, were published in the forty years Force was collecting material. Of these nine volumes, the library owns but a few.

These texts are considered rare and are stored in the West Campus vault. Volumes cannot be checked out and must be used in the library reading area. Ask the circulation staff for specific volumes and/or years for review and they will be brought to the reading area.

Please note: this set is stored in 176-A-1.

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American State Papers (1789-1838)

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Annals of Congress (1789-1824)

The Annals of Congress, or, as the set is more formally known, The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, were compiled between 1834 and 1856 by the publishing company of Gales and Seaton. While the material collected came primarily from newspaper accounts and not primary sources from the congressional sessions, the set is considered more complete than either the House or Senate journals.

For more information, see the following link to the Library of Congress’ collection of documents and debates: A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875.

The Annals, which become Congressional Debates and then The Congressional Globe, are listed below separately by title, although there is overlap between each set. Not all volumes published are currently owned by the library and there are some gaps between congressional sessions and congressional years.

Fortunately, the Library of Congress has digitized most of the Annals, Debates, and Globe. These are available online at the following link: Library of Congress’ Debates of Congress.

Some duplicate volumes are available at University Libraries through the following link: University Libraries Catalog Results for Annals of Congress

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Register of Debates (1824-1837)

The Debates are a continuation of The Annals, concluding in 1837 with the title change to The Congressional Globe. Visit the Library of Congress and the digitized holdings of the Debates at the following link: Library of Congress Register of Debates Digitized Holdings

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Congressional Globe (1833-1873)

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Journals of the American Congress (1774-1788)

Washinton University Libraries’ Catalog record search results for all items within the Washington University Libraries authored by the United States Continental Congress, 1774-1788 (author search for United States. Continental Congress, sorted by year).

House and Senate Journals (1790-1817)