- The Abraham Lincoln Papers includes more than 20,000 letters written to and from the president, as well as drafts of his speeches. (This collection is free.)
- New Orleans Slave Manifests, 1807 to 1860, has ship manifests (from National Archives microfilm) documenting more than 30,000 slaves en route to New Orleans from the upper Southern states.
You can browse the record images, but you can’t search them yet. World Archives Project volunteers are indexing them as you read this. See some transcribed information free on Afrigeneas.
- Confederate Pension Applications from Georgia includes more than 60,000 records documenting pension applications Confederate soldiers and their widows filed in Georgia. (Search some of these free on the Georgia State Archives Web site.)
- Confederate Applications for Presidential Pardons contains records of former Confederates who requested pardons.
Lincoln successor Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation of general amnesty for Confederates, but it didn’t cover certain groups such as government officials, higher ranking military officers and those with property valued at more than $20,000. Those people had to apply for pardons.
- Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles has information on nearly every officer and soldier who fought in the Civil War (compiled from sources such as state rosters and regimental histories).