The Cold War Primary Source Documents

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Subject Area

Social Studies

Grade(s)

6, 11

Overview

In this lesson, students explore a variety of documents highlighting various issues and perspectives that led to the Cold War and address the question: Who was primarily responsible for the Cold War, the United States or the Soviet Union? Students will read and analyze four primary documents about the Cold War including excerpts from Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech and the Truman Doctrine, to answer the essential question. 

The website includes lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, primary source documents, and student graphic organizers. Teachers will need to create a free account to access the materials. 

Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 6

SS10.6.8

Describe how the United States’ role in the Cold War influenced domestic and international events.

UP:SS10.6.8

Vocabulary

  • Cold War
  • domestic
  • international
  • Iron Curtain
  • communism
  • democracy
  • embargo
  • blockade
  • diplomacy
  • strategic diplomatic initiative
  • proxy war
  • destruction
  • invasion
  • crisis
  • weapons of mass destruction
  • Strategic Defense Initiative

Knowledge

Students know:
  • How the role the U.S. played in the Cold War influenced domestic and foreign policy.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Appraise the value of technological advances during the Cold War.
  • Cite specific textual evidence to analyze the influence of the super powers on cultural, technological, and political changes during the Cold War.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • The United States played an important role in the Cold War and this influenced U.S. domestic and foreign policy.
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 11 - United States History II

SS10.US2.11

Describe the international role of the United States from 1945 through 1960 relative to the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Blockade, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). [A.1.b., A.1.c., A.1.d., A.1.e., A.1.g., A.1.i., A.1.k.]

UP:SS10.US2.11

Vocabulary

  • Cold War
  • domino theory
  • McCarthyism
  • space race

Knowledge

Students know:
  • The international role of the United States from 1945 through 1960.
  • Important events, policies, and issues such as the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Blockade, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the domino theory, Sputnik and the beginning of the space race, and the consequences of each.
  • Important domestic events, policies, and issues such as McCarthyism, the institution of loyalty oaths, the Alger Hiss case, the House Un-American Activities Committee, the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the G.I. Bill of Rights, growth in the consumer economy, rock and roll, bomb shelters, Federal-Aid Highway Act and the consequences of each.
  • Location of areas of conflict during the Cold War.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Locate specific points on a map and identify political, social, and geographic changes that occurred during or as a result of a historical event.
  • Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media.
  • Evaluate an author's premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information related to historical events.
  • Read and comprehend historical texts independently and proficiently on various topics related to historical events.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • The United States played an important international role from 1945 through 1960, including domestic and foreign policies and actions related to this expanded role and the Cold War.

CR Resource Type

Lesson/Unit Plan

Resource Provider

Other

License Type

CUSTOM

Resource Provider other

Stanford History Education Group
https://sheg.stanford.edu/history-lessons/cold-war

Custom License Type (URL)

https://www.stanford.edu/site/terms/

Accessibility

Text Resources: Content is organized under headings and subheadings

Comments or Notes

This lesson assumes students have an understanding of the differences between communism and capitalism. 

Students should also know the following:

  • The US and Soviet Union were allies in WWII.
  • After WWII, Europe was in ruins, and former colonial empires were crumbling.
  • This set the scene for increased competition between the two superpowers, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. 
  • The Soviet Red Army remained in Eastern Europe after the war, which led to the Soviet Bloc.
  • At the same time, the United States developed policies of containment – in particular, the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.

This lesson assumes that students have learned how to write clear topic sentences and support them with evidence. If students have not practiced these skills in the past, you may want to provide more support and scaffolding for this activity.

Approved Date

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