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Citation Guide

The historical legislative materials in this online collection can be cited according to several styles. Brief examples are given below. For more detailed information, users should refer to the sources noted. The American Memory Learning Page resource Citing Electronic Resources provides information on evolving electronic citation conventions.

House Journal, Senate Journal, Senate Executive Journal
Chicago style (bibliographic style):

Senate Journal. 1st Cong., 2nd sess., 22 January 1790, 107. (View the page cited)
U.S. Congress. Senate Exec. Journal. 1st Cong., 2nd sess., 11 January 1790. (View the page cited)
U.S. Senate Journal. 1st Cong., 2nd sess., 22 January 1790. (View the page cited)
Chicago style (author/date style):
U.S. House Journal. 1790. 1st Cong., 2nd sess., 22 January. (View the page cited)

Annals of Congress
Chicago style (bibliographic style):

Annals of Congress, 1st Cong., 2nd sess., 975. (View the page cited)
Chicago style (author/date style):
Annals of Congress 1790, 975. (View the page cited)
Bluebook style:
for volume 1: 1 Annals of Cong. 975 (Joseph Gales, ed. 1790). (View the page cited)
for other volumes: 3 Annals of Cong. 876 (1793). (View the page cited)
Note: Annals of Congress has column numbers, two to a page, rather than page numbers.

Register of Debates
Based upon the Bluebook style:

9 Cong. Deb. 458 (1833). (View the page cited)
Note: Register of Debates has column numbers, two to a page, rather than page numbers.

Congressional Globe
Based upon the Bluebook style:

Cong. Globe, 38th Cong., 2nd Sess. 144 (1865). (View the page cited)

Congressional Record
Based upon the Bluebook style:

2 Cong. Rec. 79 (1873). (View the page cited)

Bills and Resolutions of the House and Senate
Based upon the Bluebook style:

H.R. 150, 16th Cong. (1820). (View the page cited)
S. 78, 17th Cong. (1822). (View the page cited)

United States Statutes at Large
Based upon the Bluebook style:

Act of January 2, 1800, ch. 3, 2 Stat. 4 (View the page cited)

American State Papers
Chicago style (bibliographic style):

American State Papers: Military Affairs 1:14. (View the page cited)
Chicago style (title/date style):
Speech of President Washington, 25 October 1791, American State Papers: Foreign Affairs 1:16-18. (View the page cited)

United States Congressional Serial Set
Based upon the Bluebook style, citations to the Serial Set should reference the specific House or Senate report or document.

S. Doc. No. 512, 23rd Cong., 1st Sess. (1833). (View the document cited)
H.R. Doc. No. 736, 56th Cong., 1st Sess. (1899). (View the document cited)

Journals of the Continental Congress
Chicago style (bibliographic style):

Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, ed. Worthington C. Ford et al. (Washington, D.C., 1904-37), 19:137. (View the page cited)
JCC, 1774-1789, ed. Worthington C. Ford et al. (Washington, D.C., 1904-37), 19:137. (View the page cited)
Chicago style (author/date style):
Continental Congress 1781, 19:137. (View the page cited)

Letters of Delegates to Congress

Smith, Paul H., et al., eds. Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789. 25 volumes, Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1976-2000).

For further information on humanities and social-sciences citation styles, see The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993) and Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th edition, revised by John Grossman and Alice Bennett (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996).

For legal citation information, see The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 16th edition, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Law Review Association, 1996).


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