Download The AP instructional strategies discussed below for Chapter

Chapter 29:
The Cold War
The AP instructional strategies discussed below for Chapter 29 of American
History: A Survey focus especially, but not exclusively, on the following themes
developed by the AP U.S. History Development Committee: American Identity, Culture,
Demographic Changes, Economic Transformations, Globalization, Politics and
Citizenship, and War and Diplomacy. This chapter, as well as the primary documents
selected below, follow the content guidelines suggested for the twenty-ninth unit in the
AP Topic Outline  Truman and the Cold War.
Top-Ten Analytical Journal.
Defining the chapter terms in their journals will help students better understand:
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The background of the United States’ relations with the Soviet Union before
World War II.
The extent of collaboration between the United States and the Soviet Union
during World War II and the differences of view that developed between the two
nations concerning the nature of the postwar world.
The meaning of the doctrine of containment and the specific programs that
implemented containment.
The problems of postwar readjustment in the United States, especially controlling
inflation.
The nature of the Fair Deal -- its successes and failures.
The significance of China's becoming communist to American foreign policy in
Asia.
The circumstances that led to United States’ participation in a "limited" war in
Korea.
The reaction of American public opinion to President Harry Truman's handling of
the "police action" in Korea, including his firing of General Douglas MacArthur.
The nature and extent of American fears of internal communist subversion during
the early Cold War years.
Each of the terms below contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the Cold War
era. As your students define these terms, encourage them to demonstrate why each
person, event, concept, or issue is important to a thorough understanding of this chapter.
National self-determination
Teheran Conference
Yalta Conference
United Nations
Potsdam Conference
Chaing Kai-shek
Mao Zedong
Containment
Marshall Plan
National Security Act
Berlin Blockage and Airlift
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Warsaw Pact
National Security Council Report 68
GI Bill of Rights
United Mine Workers
The Fair Deal
Taft-Hartley Act
Election of 1948
Dixiecrats
Thomas E. Dewey
National Housing Act
Korean War
General Douglas MacArthur
House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC)
Alger Hiss trial
McCarran Internal Security Act
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
McCarthyism
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Adlai Stevenson
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Richard M. Nixon
Election of 1952
Getting students started on their journals. Remind students that they must analyze
and synthesize their understanding of these terms in two ways:
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by creating “Top-Ten” lists of their own within their journals at the end of
each chapter; and
by justifying in their journal why their terms are essential to an understanding
of “The Cold War.”
Journal entry example. Following is an example of how students might describe
“containment” and its importance to and overall understanding of “The Cold War.”
Containment. Containment became the central component of what became
known as the Truman Doctrine. His foreign policy goal  a goal that American
leaders sought for the next forty years  became to contain Russian expansion in
the post-war world. To accomplish the containment goal, Truman announced it
would also be U.S. policy to support people around the world who were resisting
the forces of communism. The policy was amended in 1950 in National Security
Council Report 68. Thereafter, the U.S. announced it must assume firm and
active leadership of the noncommunist world in order to stop the march of
communism. To support this new role, the defense budget increased nearly four
times over previous budgets.
Free-Response Questions.
1. In the years following World War II, many Americans supported the goals and
actions of Senator Joseph McCarthy. How and why do you think McCarthyism
appealed to Americans during this era? (Adapted from the 1997 A.P. United States
History free-response question.)
Some things to look for in the student response.
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Possible thesis statement: Directly after World War II, a series of events
occurred both within and outside the United States that helped create an
atmosphere of fear throughout the nation. Americans were not only afraid
that communist enemies outside the nation were plotting to take over the
world, but that communists operating within the U.S. government, living in
our communities, leading our labor unions, and teaching in our schools were
plotting to take over the nation. Consequently, when Senator Joseph
McCarthy changed the course of HUAC investigations to get rid of
communist influences in American society, most citizens applauded the effort.
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The external enemy. Americans felt increasingly endangered as they watched
the Soviet Union take over Czechoslovakia, divide Germany and Berlin, and
march into other parts of Eastern Europe. Their fear increased when the
Russians detonated a nuclear weapon in 1949, and when the U.S. spent four
years fighting in Korea and witnessed the deaths and maiming of over
140,000 Americans without resolving the border skirmish. China and Russia
emerged from the conflict stronger than ever in the American mind.
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The internal enemy. HUAC began to investigate communist subversion in
1947, beginning with a group of Hollywood actors, producers, and
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screenwriters, and continuing with federal government employees like Alger
Hiss. Around the same time, the Truman administration began a program to
test the loyalty of federal employees, which by 1951 had resulted in the
resignation under pressure of over 2,000 government employees and the
dismissal of 212. The FBI began a campaign to harass and arrest alleged
radicals. Congress passed the McCarran Internal Security Act in 1950 that
required all communist organizations to register with the government and
publish their records. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were found guilty of
passing atomic energy secrets to the Soviet Union. All of these things created
a type of anti-communist hysteria throughout much of the U.S.
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If there were both external and internal enemies threatening to subvert
American democracy and replace it with communism, then many Americans
believed that a man like Joseph McCarthy who pledged to rid the nation of its
enemies was a hero. McCarthy played on these fears and presented himself as
a man of humble origins who was fighting the forces of communism, the
liberal “eastern establishment,” and traitorous Democrats employed by the
federal government.
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Possible conclusion: McCarthyism captured the support of the American
people because they were afraid of the external and internal enemies that
appeared to threaten their government and their lives. In a time when many
Americans were almost hysterical about this threat and when the federal
government and Truman administration appeared to be “soft” on communism,
McCarthy was a hero.
2. Analyze the successes and failures of President Harry Truman’s foreign policy from
1945 to 1953. (Adapted from the 1984 A.P. United States History free-response
question.)
Some things to look for in the student response.
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Possible thesis statement: Harry Truman was unexpectedly propelled into the
presidency after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. His responsibilities were
almost overwhelming  to end the war and shape the peace, to deal with the
communist threats in the post-war world, and to help Americans at home cope
with the changes brought about by war. Thus, it was no surprise that his
foreign policy efforts met with some successes and some failures.
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Potsdam. During Truman’s first meeting with Soviet leaders, he adopted a
“Get Tough” policy, in which he chastised the Soviets for violating the
accords at Yalta and insisted that the U.S. should get “85 percent” of what it
wanted in terms of agreements. Despite the tough talk, Truman was forced to
concede quite a bit to Stalin, especially in terms the Polish-German border.
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Support of Nationalist Chinese. Truman choose to support the nationalist
government of Chiang Kai-shek rather than try to reach some accommodation
with Mao Zedong’s communist forces that had been battling Chiang for
control over China since 1927. Truman supported Chiang with weapons and
money during what became a full-scale civil war in which Mao won. When
the nationalists eventually lost, Truman decided to help revive Japan so it
could become a strong western force in Asia.
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Containment. Truman’s 1947 announcement that the U.S. would thereafter
seek to contain communist aggression and to support those seeking to resist
such aggression became the foundation of U.S. foreign policy for over 40
years. In this respect, it was certainly successful  the policy lasted through
seven presidential administrations. But it failed to contain communist
aggression in many parts of the world  first in Czechoslovakia, then in East
Germany. The policy was amended in 1950 with an NSC68 report that
called for the expansion of military power and the defense budget to support a
greater U.S. role in stopping communist expansion virtually anywhere it
occurred. This stepped-up role led the U.S. into the Korean War.
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Marshall Plan. Truman’s plan to provide economic assistance to all European
nations that would join together to plan a recovery program was extremely
successful in the 16 Western European nations that elected to participate. By
the end of 1950, European industrial production was at 64 percent and
opportunities for American trade had increased, while the strength of
communist nations declined.
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Korean War. Korea was Truman’s first expression of the expanded
containment foreign policy expressed in NSC68. However, upon U.S.
entrance, Truman declared America would not just contain North Korea, but
would also liberate the North Koreans. The U.S. achieved the former, but
failed to achieve the latter goal. Furthermore, the war ended in a stalemate
with no permanent peace.
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Possible conclusion: Truman’s greatest foreign policy successes were the
enunciation of containment  a policy that guided the U.S. for over 40 years;
the creation and support of the Marshall Plan that brought economic recovery
and stabilization to Europe and guaranteed continued markets for American
goods; and the prevention of a “hot” war with the Soviet Union and China.
However, containment did not stop the march of communism into Eastern
Europe and mainland China. Furthermore, while the U.S. did not directly
engage the Soviets and Chinese in war, it indirectly fought them in the
unpopular Korean War.
3. Dr. Brinkley states, “Few issues in twentieth-century American history have aroused
more debate than the question of the origins of the Cold War.” (p. 768) Explain this
debate. With which historical interpretation do you most agree and why?
Some things to look for in the student response.
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Possible thesis statement: In the early years following the Cold War era,
historians largely argued that leaders from the USSR were primarily
responsible for the Cold War. Later revisionist scholars, however, argued that
the U.S. was most responsible for Cold War tensions. By the early 1970s,
many scholars supported a dual responsibility approach. This debate has
continued into the 21st century.
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Soviet responsibility. The early and traditional interpretation of Cold War
origins was that Soviet expansion and Stalin’s duplicity created Cold War
tensions. This viewpoint was formally explained in 1950, when Thomas
Bailey argued that Stalin’s government violated its promises at Yalta, forced
Soviet-controlled governments on Eastern European nations, and sought to
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spread communism throughout the world. America’s aggressive foreign
policy was both a logical and necessary response.
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U.S. responsibility. Revisionist interpretations argued that American imperial
ambitions and political provocations created Cold War tensions. In 1959,
William Appleman Williams argued that the responsibility for the Cold War
fell to the Americans who were fighting to maintain a global commitment to
an “open door” for American trade and capitalist expansion. He further
argued, as did subsequent historians, that the USSR had no aggressive designs
toward the West, was too weak at the end of WWII to pose any real threat,
and that it had responded legitimately to the fear of American capitalist
encirclement. Harry Truman, in turn, used his nuclear monopoly to intimidate
Stalin and thus took a provocative, hard line stance against the Russians. In
1967, Walter LaFeber took this revisionist approach one step further by
arguing that the post-WWII American vision of national self-determination
was simply a façade for the real goal  ensuring a world shaped in the
American, capitalistic image.
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Dual responsibility. In 1973, Thomas Patterson argued that both American
efforts to dominate the post-war world and Soviet hostility toward those
efforts brought about the Cold War. In the several scholarly works of John
Lewis Gaddis, the argument is made that neither side could claim sole
responsibility for Cold War hostilities. Americans were limited by domestic
pressures in terms of how they could handle the Soviet Union. Stalin was
obsessed with maintaining power and securing absolute security for his
nation. Melvyn Leffler added in 1991 that American policymakers were
genuinely worried about a Soviet threat and responded by trying to remain
stronger than their enemies. Ernest May believed that both the U.S. and
USSR were “doomed” to a hostile relationship after WWII. Their past
histories, belief systems, and traditions were so different that antagonism and
conflict was inevitable.
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Possible conclusion: While contemporary scholars still debate the origins of
the Cold War, most now agree that both the USSR and the US contributed to
the suspicion and hostility that characterized the Cold War era after World
War II and made a permanent peace impossible. (The remainder of this
answer will vary from student to student.)
Historians, Historical Detection, and Primary Documents.
The following primary documents and suggested assignments will give your students a
more thorough, first-hand knowledge of the Cold War era.
1. Provide your students with some background about the great actor, singer, and
political activist, Paul Robeson. Be sure to explain that 1949, Robeson publicly
stated that African Americans would not fight in “an imperialist war.” Subsequently,
in 1950, the U.S. State Department revoked his passport. Several years later, Robeson
refused to sign an affidavit stating that he was not a communist. In his 1956
testimony to HUAC, Robeson refused to answer questions concerning his political
activities and lectured the committee members about African-American history and
civil rights. Then, have students read excerpts from the hearing. (Available at
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6440/.) After a discussion about this speech, tell
your students that in 1958, the Supreme Court held that Robeson’s passport must be
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returned upon ruling that a citizen’s right to travel could not be taken away without
due process. Ask if they agree or disagree with the decision and why.
2. Have your students learn more about the Truman Doctrine by accessing the Online
Learning Center for Chapter 29. Once at the site, refer them to the “Primary Sources”
section. Have them click on the “Truman Doctrine” excerpt from the President’s
March 1947 speech. Then ask them to respond to the following questions: What
were the implications of a president who unilaterally issued what was, in essence, a
treaty-like commitment? Was the speech based on a false dichotomy between
communist and "free" peoples? What in the speech foreshadows the economic
containment approach of the Marshall Plan? Does American foreign policy continue
to be based on the assumptions of containment and the Truman Doctrine?
3. Have your students read excerpts from Joseph McCarthy’s “red baiting” speech by
accessing the Online Learning Center for Chapter 29. Once at the site, refer them to
the “Primary Sources” section. Have them click on the “Joseph McCarthy” excerpt
delivered in Wheeling, West Virginia on February 9, 1950. Then, ask them to
respond to the following questions: How did McCarthy, a Roman Catholic,
incorporate religion into his appeal? What sentiments does he express about those
who are better educated than he? What specific individual(s) might he have been
alluding to? How would such charges help McCarthy's own political career and the
general fortunes of the Republicans?
4. Read Senate Resolution 301, December 2, 1954 (Primary Source Investigator
document) in which the U.S. Senate censured Senator McCarthy and finally ended his
reign of terror. Then ask them to respond to the following questions: For what
actions did the Senate censor McCarthy? Do you think this formal statement was
appropriate when compared with the damage McCarthy inflicted? Why or why not?
Why do you think it took the Senate four years to silence McCarthy? Do you think
the same thing could happen today? Why or why not?
5. Have your students read the July 26, 1948 Executive Order 9981 that desegregated
the nation’s armed forces. (Primary Source Investigator document ) Then ask them
to respond to the following questions: Specifically, what did the order require? Why
was Truman’s decision to sign the order so controversial? Do you agree or disagree
with some historians who believe this was one of the first major steps of the Civil
Rights Movement? How and why?
Creative Extensions.
1. Before reading Chapter 29, ask students to take 510 minutes to respond to the
following journal prompt: “What is a ‘cold war’? How does it differ from a
conventional war? Is the war on terrorism a cold or a hot war?” When done, have
students share their answers.
2. After reading Chapter 29, spend a week reading Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible.
Be sure to take time in class to read aloud those parts of the play that lend themselves
to dramatic dialog. While students are reading the play, have them keep a journal in
which they discuss the parallels between the Salem witchcraft trials and the HUAC
trials under Senator McCarthy in the early 1950s. On the day the journals are due,
read excerpts from “Why I Wrote The Crucible”  an article Miller wrote for The
New Yorker in 1996 writing the screenplay for The Crucible. (Available at
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/?020422fr_archive02.) Begin a
discussion about the effectiveness of The Crucible in the 21st Century as a mechanism
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for learning about mistakes of the past and for preventing a future outbreak of witch
hunting in America.
3. Stage a classroom debate on any one of the following:
Resolved:
Resolved:
Resolved:
Resolved:
Resolved:
Resolved:
The United States was responsible for the Cold War.
The Korean War was worth fighting.
Harry Truman was one of the best presidents of the 20th Century.
Labor was to blame for its own demise.
Harry Truman was less effective in his domestic and foreign policy
than Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Truman made a good choice by relieving General MacArthur of his
military command.
4. Give students a homework assignment in which they learn more about “The
Hollywood Ten” and then address the following questions in a brief essay: Who were
they? What were their goals? What did they accomplish? Do you agree with HUAC
that they were involved in “subversive activity?” Why or why not? For extra credit,
have students watch a movie fo which one of the Hollywood Ten wrote the
screenplay. Then, ask them if they saw any actual or symbolic evidence of
subversion as HUAC would have defined it.
5. Have students listen to Richard M. Nixon’s famous 1952 “Checkers Speech”
available in the Primary Source Investigator. What are his problems with the
Truman administration? What is his “truth?” If you were one of the 55 million
people who heard this speech, would you have been convinced of his innocence?
What were the three things that made this speech convincing  or not  to you? Who
was Checkers and how does Nixon use him to make his case for innocence? How do
the accusations against Richard Nixon compare and contrast with early 21st Century
accusations against Senators and Congress people? Why do you think corruption in
public office has been such a constant in American history?
6. Ask students to write a persuasive speech in which they accuse a public official in the
1950s of being “soft” on communism. Have students read the best ones aloud to the
class. Then, begin a discussion on the following: How are these speeches similar and
dissimilar? How effective do you think these speeches would have been in the
1950s? How did the fear of being “soft” on communism shape politics at the federal
level in the 1950s? Do they see any 21st Century parallels with public officials
feeling fearful that they would appear to be “soft” on terrorism?
7. Prepare and present an in-depth discussion entitled “Korea  The Forgotten War.” Be
sure that you not only include a detailed history about the causes and consequences of
the war, but also a discussion about the 21st century relationships between North and
South Korea and between the two Koreas and the United States. Then, begin a
discussion in which you ask the following: Why is Korea often called “the forgotten
war?” What did the United States achieve after several years of fighting in Korea?
What was the price? How did the Korean War shape our 21st century foreign policy
with both North and South Korea? Then, have students write an exit journal as
follows: If you could meet with presidential advisors, what would you tell them about
how to carry out future relations with the two Koreas?
8. Show students “Duck and Cover,” the U.S. Federal Civil Defense Administration’s
educational film designed to prepare Americans for an atomic attack, available on the
Primary Source Investigator. Then, ask them the following questions: Do you think
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the producers of the film believed that the "duck and cover" response would save
lives? Why or why not? If not, what do you believe was their motivation for
promoting “duck and cover?” Do you think the "duck and cover" film helped to
alleviate the anxiety of Americans in regard to their Cold War fears, or do you think
the campaign aggravated the fear and paranoia of the era? For homework, have the
students design a cartoon character and slogan that might help Americans in the early
21st century deal with their fears related to the war on terrorism.
9. Divide students into nine groups, five of which will examine the origins, activities,
and the short- and long-term successes and failures of the following national and
international agencies created in the Cold War era: Economic Cooperation
Administration; National Security Council; Central Intelligence Agency; North
Atlantic Treaty Organization; and House Un-American Activities Committee. The
other four will examine the origins, activities, and short- and long-term successes and
failures of the following federal acts passed during the Truman administration: the
Marshall Plan; Taft-Hartley Act; National Housing Act; and the McCarran Internal
Security Act. After each group gives a brief presentation that addresses the above
issues, begin a class discussion on the following questions: What common postWorld War II and Cold War concerns are apparent in the origins of each of these
agencies? Which of these organizations continued to operate after the Cold War? To
what do you attribute their long-term existence? How are their contemporary goals
and activities the same as and different from their goals and activities during the Cold
War?
10. Invite students to watch any of the following movies at home either with their family
or with a group of friends from class: Dr. Strangelove; Failsafe; Invasion of the
Body Snatchers; and Atomic Café.
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What does this production tell you about the Cold War?
Do you think this film was a realistic portrayal of a historical event? Why or why
not? Be specific.
In your opinion, is this movie of any real use to understanding this period in
American history? Be specific about how and why  or why not.
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