Grade: 11
Unit 9: U.S. foreign policy during the cold war
California State Content Standards
11.9 Students analyze U.S. foreign policy since World War II.
1.Discuss the establishment of the United Nations and International Declaration of Human Rights, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and their importance in shaping modern Europe and maintaining peace and international order.
2.Understand the role of military alliances, including NATO and SEATO, in deterring communist aggression and maintaining security during the Cold War.
3.Trace the origins and geopolitical consequences (foreign and domestic) of the Cold War and containment policy, including the following:
• The era of McCarthyism, instances of domestic Communism (e.g., Alger Hiss) and black listing
• The Truman Doctrine
• The Berlin Blockade
• The Korean War
• The Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis
• Atomic testing in the American West, the “mutual assured destruction” doctrine,and disarmament policies
• The Vietnam War
• Latin American policy
4.List the effects of foreign policy on domestic policies and vice versa (e.g., protests during the war in Vietnam, the “nuclear freeze” movement).
5.Analyze the role of the Reagan administration and other factors in the victory of the West in the Cold War.
6.Describe U.S. Middle East policy and its strategic, political, and economic interests,including those related to the Gulf War.
7.Examine relations between the United States and Mexico in the twentieth century,including key economic, political, immigration, and environmental issues.
11.9 Students analyze U.S. foreign policy since World War II.
1.Discuss the establishment of the United Nations and International Declaration of Human Rights, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and their importance in shaping modern Europe and maintaining peace and international order.
2.Understand the role of military alliances, including NATO and SEATO, in deterring communist aggression and maintaining security during the Cold War.
3.Trace the origins and geopolitical consequences (foreign and domestic) of the Cold War and containment policy, including the following:
• The era of McCarthyism, instances of domestic Communism (e.g., Alger Hiss) and black listing
• The Truman Doctrine
• The Berlin Blockade
• The Korean War
• The Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis
• Atomic testing in the American West, the “mutual assured destruction” doctrine,and disarmament policies
• The Vietnam War
• Latin American policy
4.List the effects of foreign policy on domestic policies and vice versa (e.g., protests during the war in Vietnam, the “nuclear freeze” movement).
5.Analyze the role of the Reagan administration and other factors in the victory of the West in the Cold War.
6.Describe U.S. Middle East policy and its strategic, political, and economic interests,including those related to the Gulf War.
7.Examine relations between the United States and Mexico in the twentieth century,including key economic, political, immigration, and environmental issues.
Essential Historical Questions
This unit will encourage students to think about these essential questions:
This unit will encourage students to think about these essential questions:
- How did U.S. foreign policy change throughout the Cold War?
- What were the events that caused tensions between the two Super Powers to increase or "heat up"?
- How did the administrations of Kennedy, Nixon, and Reagan contribute to the success of the United States in the Cold War?
- How did the nuclear arsenal of the two Super Powers affect their foreign policy?
Big Ideas
- Different strategies the U.S. employed to contain the Soviet expansion.
- What each presidential administration succeeded in doing against the Soviet Union
- How the Cold War presented a bi-polar world
- The significant events that increased tensions during the Cold War, making it somewhat of a Hot War.
Unit Summative Assessments
Students will compare two different documents explaining different strategies of containment against Soviet Expansion in the form of a well structured essay.
Students will be able to summarize the successes of the three major presidential administrations during the Cold War.
Students will debate on which policy of containment was more effective against Soviet Expansion.
Students will compare two different documents explaining different strategies of containment against Soviet Expansion in the form of a well structured essay.
Students will be able to summarize the successes of the three major presidential administrations during the Cold War.
Students will debate on which policy of containment was more effective against Soviet Expansion.