Something for Everyone: Lexis Nexis Congressional Now Online
“We are conscious that the prosperity of each state is inseparably connected with the welfare of all … it shall be our invariable aim to divest ourselves of local prejudices and attachments, and to view the great assemblage of communities and interests committed to our charge with an equal eye. We feel, sir, the force, and acknowledge the justness of the observation, that the foundation of our national policy should be laid in private morality. If individuals be not influenced by moral principles, it is in vain to look for public virtue; it is, therefore, the duty of legislators to enforce, both by precept and example, the utility, as well as the necessity, of a strict adherence to the rules of distributive justice. We beg you to be assured that the Senate will, at all times, cheerfully co-operate in every measure which may strengthen the Union, conduce to the happiness, or secure and perpetuate the liberties of this great confederated republic.”
Senate reply to George Washington's inaugural address May 18, 1789
American State Papers, 1st Congress, 1st Session
The above quote was found using a new online resource available for The Claremont Colleges: web-based, full text access to the American State Papers and the U.S. Congressional Serial Set in Lexis Nexis Congressional. For the first time ever you will be able to do full text searches across the entire collection of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, covering years from 1789 to 1969, including the American State Papers, all maps, illustrations, photos, and lithographs found within the U.S. Serial Set during that time period. It has been suggested that a digital and searchable version of the U.S. Serial Set will greatly impact American history research.
The U.S. Serial Set was compiled under the directive of Congress. It captures many aspects of American life from the late 18th century onward: farming, westward expansion, scientific exploration, politics, international relations, business, and manufacturing. It includes Congressional reports and documents as well as executive agency and departmental reports. For those who study law, the Serial Set contains legislative reports of Congress, providing insight into the legislative intent of laws enacted by Congress prior to 1969.
Using Lexis Nexis Congressional, you can conduct in-depth research of more than 214 years worth of detailed information about Congress, including member biographies, committee assignments, voting records, financial data, and the full text of key regulatory and statutory resources. The U.S. Serial Set is only one of many collections of information about Congress and American history found in Lexis Nexis Congressional.
The breadth of the U.S. Serial Set makes it a wonderful research tool of primary materials for virtually any discipline. Below is a small sampling of how Lexis Nexis Congressional can be used. (Please understand these are very simple and broad search examples that do not reflect more sophisticated searching.)
Discipline |
Assignment |
Serial Set |
American History |
Research some aspect of slavery in the U.S. using primary historical sources dating before 1865. |
Over 333 sources related to slavery in the U.S. |
Environmental Studies |
Detail the historical context of a selected environmental topic. |
If you choose water pollution, over 170 results will display, including documents from the late nineteenth century. |
Political Science |
Examine a historical aspect of voting and elections. |
A search for information on presidential elections using the terms “president” and “elections” results in over 100 sources dating from 1800-1969. |
You will be able to search the collection by title of document, document type (e.g. annual reports, hearings etc.), keyword, subject, illustrations, maps, witnesses, etc. You will need Adobe Acrobat to use Lexis Nexis Congressional. “Smart pdfs” enable you to perform keyword searches within each pdf document to locate the exact page(s) where search terms occur within a document. In addition you can easily print selected pages or the entire document at one time.
To search this collection online, go to Databases on the Libraries homepage and browse by title for Lexis Nexis Congressional. For questions or instruction using this valuable information source, please contact Sheri Irvin, Government Information Librarian.
Sheri Irvin
Government Information Librarian
sheri.irvin@libraries.claremont.edu