Section V: Cold War/Vietnamamhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/resources/Lesson12.pdf · of major cold...
Transcript of Section V: Cold War/Vietnamamhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/resources/Lesson12.pdf · of major cold...
Title: Cuban Missile Crisis
Grade Level: Advanced High School
Objectives: Understand the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962. Understand how
the United States and the Soviet Union came to the brink of nuclear war.
National History Standards:
Standard 1: Chronological Thinking; Standard 2: Historical
Comprehension; Standard 3: Historical Analysis and Interpretation;
Era 9:1B: Explain the causes and international and local consequences
of major cold war crises like the Cuban missile crisis.
Time: 90 minutes
Background:
Following World War II, an ideological, economic, and military rivalry between the
United States and the Soviet Union led to a global competition known as the cold
war. In 1949, the cold war became a nuclear arms race when the Soviets detonated an
atomic bomb. No longer was the United States the only nation in possession of
nuclear weapons. In an understatement, a secret report prepared by the Pentagon
noted: “The United States has lost its capability of making an effective atomic attack
upon the war-making potential of the USSR without danger of retaliation in kind.”
In 1952, the United States exploded its first hydrogen bomb—a device 1,000 times
more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima; the Soviets followed in
1953. By the late 1950s, both the Soviet Union and the United States had targeted
each other’s capitals and other major cities for nuclear attack. And both sides had
developed rocket-launched nuclear warheads (ballistic missiles) that could not be
intercepted and destroyed. As the two rivals raced to outmatch each other, their
nuclear arsenals grew.
In October of 1962, President John F. Kennedy learned that the Soviet Union was
deploying nuclear missiles in Cuba, threatening the United States. He demanded that
the missiles be withdrawn and indicated his willingness to risk nuclear war if they were
not. U.S. ships blockaded Cuba. B-52 bombers loaded with nuclear weapons flew in
holding patterns just beyond Soviet airspace, ready to attack. The United States and
the Soviet Union stood on the brink of nuclear war. The crisis abated only when the
Soviets agreed to remove the missiles and the United States quietly removed similar
medium-range missiles from Turkey. The faceoff was a turning point in the cold war:
the superpowers continued to develop nuclear weapons, but began to seek ways to
avoid a nuclear exchange.
5 0 t he pr ice of fr eedom: amer icans at war cuban miss i le cr is i s
Section V: Cold War/Vietnam
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“Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has
established the fact that a series of offensive missile
sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island.”
—President John F. Kennedy, address to the nation,
October 22, 1962
Missile site in Cuba Courtesy of John F. Kennedy Library
5 2 T H E P R I C E O F F R E E D O M : A M E R I C A N S A T W A R C U B A N M I S S I L E C R I S I S
Materials: Surveillance photographs of Cuban missile sitesMap prepared for President Kennedy showing the range of theballistic missiles in CubaPresident John F. Kennedy’s October 22, 1962, address to the nation(available on the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum website at
Lesson:
Warm-up: Discuss with students the background material above and use the mapprovided to help them understand the threat and impact of a nuclear attack.
Activity: Tell the class that today they are taking on the role of Central IntelligenceAgency analysts in 1962. Hand out copies of the surveillance images along with thekey to interpreting them. Give the class a few minutes to analyze the aerialreconnaissance photos of Cuban missile installations and make notes about what theythink they see. Ask the students to consider the following questions: What are theorigins and purposes of these images? What is the value of the pictures? Do theyrepresent an immediate threat to the United States?
Then pose the important question: Does the evidence you see warrant notifying thepresident? This should lead to an in-depth discussion of the consequences that wouldresult from notifying the president.
Finally, have the students analyze President John F. Kennedy’s October 22, 1962,radio/television address to the nation making the case for military action against Cuba.
Students should consider the following questions as they analyze the speech: Whataudiences does the president address? What country/countries posed a threat,according to Kennedy? How does Kennedy characterize/describe the degree of dangerfacing the United States? Cite speci cs. How does he make the case for the proposedaction to be taken by the United States? What speci c evidence is presented? Howdoes Kennedy outline America’s responsibility for reacting to these dangers? Referencethe speech as appropriate. How does Kennedy involve the world community? Howdoes he discuss liberty/freedom? Cite speci c examples. Are there references to pastdangers that faced America? Which ones? Why does the president use these examplesin his speech?
Follow-up Activity:
Have students research similar situations in American history and analyze how otherpresidents have presented their cases for military action to the nation. For example:James Polk and the Mexican War, Harry Truman and the Korean War, Lyndon Johnsonand the Vietnam War, George H. W. Bush and the Gulf War, George W. Bush and theIraq War.
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GeneralDaso, Dik, ed., with Howard Morrison and David Allison. The Price of Freedom: Americans at War. Marquand Books, 2004.
Section I: War of IndependenceBrenner, Barbara. If You Were There in 1776. Bradbury Press, 1994.
Galvin, John R. The Minute Men: The First Fight—Myths and Realities of the American Revolution. AUSA Books, 1989.
Marrin, Albert. George Washington and the Founding of a Nation. Dutton Children’s Books, 2001.
Meltzer, Milton. The American Revolutionaries: A History in Their Own Words 1750–1800. HarperTrophy, 1993.
Tourtellot, Arthur B. Lexington and Concord: The Beginning of the War of the American Revolution. W. W. Norton, 2000.
Whitelaw, Nancy. The Shot Heard ’Round the World: The Battles of Lexington & Concord. Morgan Reynolds, 2001.
Section II: Wars of ExpansionBachrach, Deborah. Custer’s Last Stand: Opposing Viewpoints. Greenhaven Press, 1990.
Christensen, Carol and Thomas. The U.S.-Mexican War. Bay Books, 1998.
Herb, Angela M. Beyond the Mississippi: Early Westward Expansion of the United States. Lodestar, 1996.
Marrin, Albert. Tatan’ka Iyota’ke: Sitting Bull & His World. Dutton Chidren’s Books, 2000.
Section III: Civil WarBetter, Susan Provost. Billy Yank and Johnny Reb: Soldiering in the Civil War. Twenty-First Century, 2000.
Chang, Ina. A Separate Battle: Women & the Civil War. Lodestar Books, 1991.
Everett, Gwen. John Brown: One Man Against Slavery. Rizzoli, 1993.
McPherson, James M. Fields of Fury: The American Civil War. Simon & Schuster/Atheneum, 2002.
Meltzer. Milton. Voices from the Civil War: A Documentary History of the Great American Conflict. HarperCollins, 1989.
Murphy, Jim. The Boy’s War. Confederates & Union Soldiers Talk about the Civil War. Clarion Books, 1993.
Reef, Catherine. Civil War Soldiers: African-American Soldiers. Twenty-First Century, 1993.
Section IV: World War IIBachle, Rosemary Eckroat. Women’s War Memoirs. Western Heritage Books, 1999.
DeLee, Nigel. Voices from the Battle of the Bulge. David and Charles, 2004.
Gluck, Sherna Berger. Rosie the Riveter Revisited: Women, the War, and Social Change. Twayne, 1987.
Green, Gladys and Michael. Patton and the Battle of the Bulge. Motorbooks International, 1999.
Josephson, Judith Pinkerton. Growing Up in World War II 1941–1945. Lerner Publications, 2003.
McNeese, Tim. Battle of the Bulge. Chelsea House, 2003.
Section V: Cold War/VietnamBlight, James G., and David A.Welch. Intelligence and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Frank Cass, 1998.
Brugioni, Dino A. Eyeball to Eyeball: The Inside Story of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Random House, 1991.
Edelmann, Bernard. Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. W. W. Norton, 2002.
Palmer, Svetlana, and Sarah Wallis. Intimate Voices from the First World War. William Morrow, 2004.
Section VI: September 11 and Its AftermathDudley, William, ed. The Attack on America: September 11, 2001. Greenhaven, 2002.
Frank, Mitch. Understanding September 11th. Viking, 2002.
Thoms, Anne, ed. With Their Eyes: September 11th—the View from a High School at Ground Zero. HarperCollins, 2002.
6 6 t he pr ice of fr eedom: amer icans at war b ibl iogr aph y
Bibliography
Americans at War, produced by The History Channel An introduction to the themes of the exhibition
War of IndependenceFirst-Person Accounts, produced by Pyramid Studios:
Lydia Minturn Post, Long Island housewife, 1776
James Collins, teenage soldier, no date
Doonyontat, Wyandot chief, 1779
Elijah Churchill, recipient of the first Purple Heart, 1783
Mexican WarFirst-Person Accounts, produced by Pyramid Studios:
José María Tornel y Mendívil, Mexican secretary of war, 1837
George Ballentine, English volunteer for the United States, 1853
Juan Bautista Vigil y Alarid, acting governor of New Mexico, 1846
Ulysses S. Grant, American soldier, 1885
Civil WarFirst-Person Accounts, produced by Pyramid Studios:
Louis Myers, Third West Virginia Infantry, 1862
William G. Christie, Minnesota soldier, 1863
Eugenia Phillips, spy for the South in Washington D.C., 1861
Spottswood Rice, African American Union soldier, 1864
World War IWorld War I Overview, produced by The History Channel
World War IIWorld War II Cartoons, produced by The History Channel
World War II Overviews in the Newsreel format,
produced by The History Channel
From World War I to World War II
The North Atlantic and North African Theater
The European Theater
The Pacific Theater
The USO in World War II, produced by The History Channel
First-Person Accounts, produced by Pyramid Studios:
George Hynes, U.S. Army, a last letter home, 1942
Robert Morris, U.S. Coast Guard, fighting in Italy, 1943
Robert Sherrod, journalist, the beach at Tarawa, 1943
Ann Darr, Women Airforce Service Pilots, 1997
Daniel Inouye, Medal of Honor recipient, 2000
VietnamExcerpt from Huey Helicopter—Air Armada, The History Channel
documentary, 2002
First-Person Accounts, produced by Arrowhead Film & Video:
Hal Moore, commander of a Seventh Cavalry Regiment
battalion, 2003
Fred Castleberry, veteran of the Twenty-fifth Infantry Division, 2002
Clarence Sasser, recipient of the Medal of Honor, 2004,
(produced by Pyramid Studios)
The Price of Freedom: Americans at War Teacher’s Manual DVD Menu
Department of Education and Public Programs
National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution, MRC 603
Washington D.C. 20013-7012
http://americanhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory