Through a brief lecture, document analysis, and creation of museum exhibit on McCarthyism students will evaluate the political, social and cultural impact of McCarthyism in America.
A Family Perspective: Letters from Harry to Bess Truman
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Students will use a historical document (NSC-68) and compare it with the Patriot Act to find similarities and differences.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.
Students will read and analyze an excerpt from Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points speech, delivered to Congress in January 1918. The classroom activity is both an individual and a cooperative learning activity.
The students will use American World War I propaganda posters to evaluate how individual citizens were encouraged to support the war effort. Students will work both individually and cooperatively during the course of this lesson.