Thomas Sangermano
Danvers High School
Title Page
The Cold War Begins
1945 -1952
The American Pageant
Danvers High School
Danvers Public Schools
January 25, 2009
11 Grade U.S. History
th
The Cold War: The United States on the World Stage
Primary Source
Abstract:
As part of the Cold War unit from the 11th grade textbook, The American Pageant that
we use at Danvers High School, and in conjunction with Brown University’s The Origins
of the Cold War: U.S. Choices After World War II, and The Cuban Missile Crisis:
Considering its Place in Cold War History (www.choices.edu ) this unit will
supplement our district’s curriculum on the Cold War. The focus and design is to have
students look at one Cold War Era propaganda cartoon/video that stresses the evils of
Communism (Make Mine Freedom, a John Sutherland Production
http://www.archive.org/details/MakeMine1948) and two Cold War cartoons by Leslie
Gilbert Illingworth (http://www.llgc.org.uk/illingworth/illingworth_s012.htm) that stress
the political and social aspects of the Cold War from the European perspective. This
lesson will take two days to complete. The assignment before class will include the
Readings from The American Pageant and Origins of the Cold War. Both resources
provide enough background information to complete the two day lesson.
This preliminary assignment will give students sufficient information to interpret the
primary sources over the two-day lesson. On day one students will view the ten-minute
propaganda cartoon Make Mine Freedom. Working in small groups, students will be
asked to answer two to three questions about the film and how it reflects the attitude of
Americans and their fear of the Communists. They will then present their views to the
class for discussion and reflection.
On the second day, students working in different groups or the same group (whatever
your preference might be) will interpret two cartoons by British cartoonist Leslie Gilbert
Illingworth. The two cartoons focus on two topics that reinforce themes from the
previous lesson Make Mine Freedom. The two images are under the heading Living
Standards and Cuba. This link will bring you to the images: Scroll down until you find
the Headings Living Standards and Cuba
http://www.llgc.org.uk/illingworth/illingworth_s012.htm
These cartoons are copyrighted and cannot be reproduced. They can be projected on the
LCD projector in the classroom or they can be viewed in the computer lab.
Key Questions:
For Video (Make Mine Freedom) http://www.archive.org/details/MakeMine1948
1. As you watched the cartoon, what social, economic, and political aspects did the
film present as consequences of what would happen to you as a result of a
Communist regime? Do you agree or disagree with the cartoons assumptions?
2. To what extent does the cartoon portray American ideals and how they are
fundamentally different from communist ideals? Do you agree with the film’s
perspective and view of American society?
3. Can you use the themes of good vs. evil or us vs. them interchangeably and can
you use the same themes to represent different periods of time. Please provide
several examples and why you used them?
Key Questions
For the Illingworth Cartoons: http://www.llgc.org.uk/illingworth/illingworth_s012.htm
Cartoon # 1 Living Standards
1. How does this cartoon contradict the assumptions made in the movie Make Mine
Freedom?
2. How does the cartoon represent the ideological struggle of both nations during the
Cold War?
3. What are the social, political, and economic aspects of this cartoon and how do
they describe the Cold War.
Cartoon # 2 Cuba
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is happening in this cartoon?
Does this cartoon describe the Cold War, if so why, if not then why not?
Who are the people in the cartoon and what do they represent?
What are the social, political, and economic aspects of the cartoon?
Do these cartoons reflect an European perspective of the Cold War, if so how and
why?
Learning Objectives:
1. Students will be able to recognize that propaganda can be used for many
purposes, and that during the Cold War propaganda was as widespread here in the
United States as it was in other nations.
2. Students will be able to view comic / cartoon images and see how simple but yet
how powerful these images can be in describing periods of history.
3. Students will be able to interpret the Social, Political, and Economic meanings of
various media.
4. Students will be able to articulate and describe important events of the Cold War
by using the images in this lesson.
5. Students will have a better understanding of the Cold War and why it was called
the “cold war” for nearly fifty years.
Learning Activities:
The Learning activities for this lesson are very much student based and student
driven. Prior to the lesson students will be assigned readings from the American
Pageant textbook for background information and the Brown University’s Choices
program on the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis, these classroom resources will
provide enough background information so that students will be able to interpret the
primary sources in this lesson. This lesson will work very well if students are placed
in small groups so that discussion in the groups will lead to a variety of
interpretations of the resources. Also because these resources are copyrighted they
should be viewed online only, and preferably in the classroom with a LCD projector.
Prior to the activity assign students the following readings from the American
Pageant and the Choices program.
Readings from American Pageant:
Chapter 39, The Cold War Begins 1945 – 1952, and Chapter 41, The Stormy Sixties.
Readings From Choices: (These are optional and at the discretion of the teacher, you
may choose the introductory summaries that provide rich detail to the students)
U.S.-Soviet Relations during World War II
The Cuban Missile Crisis: Considering its Place in Cold War History
Readings from Primary Source workshop:
1. John F. Kennedy: “The Lesson of Cuba”
www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1961-kennedy-cuba1.html
2. Khrushchev writes Kennedy
http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/Crisis/Cltr-1.htm
Activity #1 viewing the cartoon film Make Mine Freedom
http://www.archive.org/details/MakeMine1948
During the activity have students fill out Film Analysis Worksheet
(see page 7) Students should watch the film, but not in groups, recording what they are
viewing and documenting it on the worksheet. Once the video is done, then they should
work in groups answering the following questions.
1. As you watched the cartoon, what social, economic, and political aspects did the
film present as consequences of what would happen to you as a result of a
Communist regime? Do you agree or disagree with the cartoons assumptions?
2. To what extent does the cartoon portray American ideals and how they are
fundamentally different from communist ideals? Do you agree with the film’s
perspective and view of American society?
3. Can you use the themes of good vs. evil or us vs. them interchangeably and can
you use the same themes to represent different periods of time. Please provide
several examples and why you used them?
Once they have completed the questions each group should write a question about
something they found important or relevant in the film. This question can then be given
to the adjacent group to answer. The purpose of this is to spark discussion, one all
questions are done then each group will report to the class their answers. The hope is that
this will generate a lively discussion of the film through the discussion questions.
Activity #2 Viewing the political cartoons by Leslie Gilbert Illingworth
(http://www.llgc.org.uk/illingworth/illingworth_s012.htm)
During this activity, students should be working in groups viewing the two political
cartoons and answering the following questions.
Cartoon # 1 Living Standards
1. How does this cartoon contradict the assumptions made in the movie Make Mine
Freedom?
2. How does the cartoon represent the ideological struggle of both nations during the
Cold War?
3. What are the social, political, and economic aspects of this cartoon and how do
they describe the Cold War.
Cartoon # 2 Cuba
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is happening in this cartoon?
Does this cartoon describe the Cold War, if so why, if not then why not?
Who are the people in the cartoon and what do they represent?
What are the social, political, and economic aspects of the cartoon?
Once the students have answered all the questions, each group should report to the
class one or two answers from the set of questions answered. Once this is done,
ask students to reread the article John F. Kennedy: “The Lesson of Cuba”
www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1961-kennedy-cuba1.html and if the cartoon and
the letter have any similarities or differences. Again this activity is designed to
create open discussion of the resources.
Culminating Activity:
Once both activities are done, or the two-day lesson is finished you can extend the lesson
by having the groups create their own poster, comic, or handbill, about one aspect of the
Cold War. The only requirement would be that the finished product would have to
demonstrate the social, economic, and political aspects of the Cold War. Students can
either build upon the themes explored in this lesson, or some other Cold War event. I
want to leave it as open-ended as possible so that students can be as creative as possible.
The groups would then present their propaganda to the class and field questions from
other students. A grading rubric can be design based on the needs of the class or
individual teacher.
Bibliography
Bailey, Thomas A., Kennedy, David M., and Cohen, Lizabeth. The American Pageant A
History of the Republic. 11th Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998
The Choices for the 21st Century Education Program. The Origins of the Cold War:
U.S. Choices After World War II. Brown University: Watson Institute for
International Studies.
The Choices for the 21st Century Education Program. The Cuban Missile Crisis:
Considering its Place in Cold War History. Brown University: Watson Institute for
International Studies.
Make Mine Freedom 1948. Accessed 15 January 2009. Available
http://www.archive.org/details/MakeMine1948
Illingworth, Leslie Gilbert. “Political Cartoons.” Accessed 15 January 2009. Available
http://www.llgc.org.uk/illingworth/illingworth_s012.htm
Kennedy, John F. “The Lesson of Cuba.” Accessed 1 March 2009. Available
www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1961-kennedy-cuba1.html
Khrushchev, Nikita. “Khrushchev writes Kennedy” Accessed 1 March 2009. Available
http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/Crisis/Cltr-1.htm
FILM ANALYSIS WORKSHEET
Hollywood Film of the 1950s and 1960s: Cold War Themes
Name of Film:
Genre (type of film):
Year of Release:
List some things you observe/notice in the
film clip:
Connect those observations to the Cold
War: