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Point/counterpoint on President Truman

A series of lectures, document analysis, cooperative learning and individual assignments.

After an examination and reading of letters from President Harry S. Truman to his wife, Bess, students will be able to come to a consensus as to the true feelings President Harry S. Truman had regarding specific Cold War events such as the Marshall Plan.

Group activity. Students in class use primary sources like Truman Doctrine speech, Marshall plan, and Iron Curtain speech to discuss foreign policy from US/USSR perspectives at the time of the Cold War.

Students will analyze the power of the Presidency in the U.S. Using a timeline of events of the Korean War (all events and people will be hidden in pseudonym during simulation), students will determine how the President exercises his authority.

Students will use a historical document (NSC-68) and compare it with the Patriot Act to find similarities and differences. The purpose is to help students understand that in times of crisis, the government often infringes on civil liberties.

This lesson will allow students to create a visual representation of the perceived threats to Europe during the Cold War. By placing cities on maps and evaluating the surrounding topography, the students will analyze the Soviet War Plan.

A class debate: To what extent was the leadership responsible for the carnage of the First World War?

Activities that help students think and work like historians

Activities that help students think and work like historians