The Cold War in America

Essential Questions: What factors unraveled the wartime alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union?  What patterns emerged in the United States’ response to the threat of communism?  What influence did these patterns have on American society?  In what ways were international relations affected by the Cold War?

Course Summary: For almost half a century after World War II, the social, cultural, political, and economic life of much of the world was involved in an international struggle known as the Cold War. The intense rivalry preoccupied both the United States and the Soviet Union as each tried to spread its influence and competing economic and political systems worldwide. To understand how anxiety and fear in America played into the power struggles, we will analyze a variety of primary and secondary sources including government plans, comics, anti communist propaganda videos and posters. In addition, we will examine key figures and events of the early Cold War period including: the iron curtain, Truman Doctrine, the Red Scare, McCarthyism and the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Due to the complexities of this era, we will focus the majority of our time on the early Cold War period from the end of World War II and into the mid 1960s, though, students will have opportunities to explore further. Resources will include Edward H. Judge and John W. Langdon's The Cold War: A Global History with Documents (2nd Edition) and Brown University's Choices Curriculum Unit The Origins of the Cold War: U.S. Choices After World War II.