Contributions to the discipline of history: Draper is well known also as the author of "The History of the Intellectual Development of Europe" (1862), applying the methods of physical science to history, a "History of the American Civil War" (3 vols., 1867–1870), and a "History of the Conflict between Religion and Science" (1874).
Leta 1850 je izdeloval fotografije skozi mikroskop in v svoje delo vključil svojega sina Henryja, tedaj še najstnika.