Teaching American History: Conflict and Consensus: Key Moments in U.S. History

Enduring Understanding

In this lesson students will examine the reasons for US involvement in Vietnam by analyzing primary source documents that relate to the Containment Doctrine. George Kennan’s Containment Doctrine, which aimed to stop communism from spreading or keep it within its borders, and the Truman Doctrine, which funded any group in any nation fighting communist takeover efforts, greatly influenced U.S. foreign policy, especially in Asia. After successfully containing communism on the Korean peninsula, the United States gradually became firmly entrenched in a containment war in Vietnam. After losing 58,000 lives and spending $140 billion on the Vietnam War, the U.S. did not achieve its stated war aims, specifically to prevent communism from spreading to South Vietnam. The war changed America in many ways, both at home and abroad. The power of the President to wage war was severely limited after the War Powers Act of 1973. Many citizens were less likely to believe their government, after feeling like they were lied to during the war, and more likely to protest if they disagreed with a government action. Finally, U.S. foreign policy was radically changed for the next twenty years, after the domino theory seemed to not hold true in South East Asia. After the fall of South Vietnam, other South East Asian countries, such as Thailand, did not succumb to communism. Without the presence of U.S. troops, Vietnam proved to be of little strategic or economic importance. As a result of the Vietnam War experience, future U.S. presidents and members of Congress would have to work to rally and sustain the support of the American people before leading the nation into war.

Objectives

Students will be able to analyze the actions of the U.S. during the Vietnam War by analyzing primary source documents from U.S. and Vietnamese leaders at that time period. Students will write a free response assessing the effectiveness of the containment policy in Asia between 1945–1975.

MCPS Unit

Unit 9.7 "Balance in Foreign Policy"

Materials

• Webquest Assignment
• Textbook: David M. Kennedy, et. al., The American Pageant, 13th Edition edition.

• Download complete packet of Webquest resources

Procedures

Lesson Objectives

During this lesson, students will:

• Contextualize by considering the larger historical picture and situate the sources within the framework of the Containment Doctrine and the Vietnam War.
• Corroborate by considering multiple sources in relationship to one another, looking for similarities as well as differences.
• Debate, discuss, and disagree about the meaning of the various sources in relation to the Containment Doctrine.
• Gain a more complex understanding of the past by looking at multiple perspectives.

Individual Work

Students will visit various websites to read and analyze letters from Diem; Ho Chi Minh; Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson; and George Kennan.

Students will analyze the reasons for positions taken by these leaders on the U.S. involvement in Vietnam; particularly in relation to the Containment Doctrine.

These letters are all listed in the Webquest assignment handout and listed annotated Website References section.

Group Work

After analyzing the documents, students will meet in groups to discuss and debate the meaning of the sources in relation to the Containment Doctrine. Students will discuss the following points:

• What do these primary sources tell you about U.S. involvement in Vietnam and the impact of the Containment and Truman Doctrines on U.S. foreign policy, especially in Vietnam?
• What can you say about the involvement of the U.S. in Vietnam from Eisenhower through Johnson?
• How does each president apply the Truman and Containment Doctrines?

Once groups are finished discussing, the teacher will lead a discussion about the sources.

Class Discussion

After groups meet to discuss the above questions, the teacher will lead a discussion based on the questions, addressing each of the following bullets:

• Contextualize by considering the larger historical picture and situate the sources within the framework of the Containment Doctrine and the Vietnam War.
• Corroborate by considering multiple sources in relationship to one another, looking for similarities as well as differences.
• Debate, discuss, and disagree about the meaning of the various sources in relation to the Containment Doctrine.
• Gain a more complex understanding of the past by looking at multiple perspectives.

Homework

Students will organize their notes into a pre-writing sheet for a Free Response Question they will write in class the next day.

Assessment (For Final Day)

Finally, students will write a response to a Free Response Question assessing the effectiveness of the Containment Policy in Asia. The question is from a released AP US Test:

Assess the success of the United States policy of containment in Asia between 1945 and 1975.

Differentiation

Copies of the textbook will be available for students who are struggling with the context or purpose of any of the primary source documents.

References: Web

Historical Documents and Speeches, Seattle University
http://www.seattleu.edu/artsci/history/us1945/docs/esdiem.htm

Good website, has many important historical documents and speeches from Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt to Clinton.

Vincent Ferraro, The Ruth C. Lawson Professor of International Politics Mount Holyoke College
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon2/ps14.htm

Simple website, serves purpose of showing President Kennedy’s letter to President Diem, December 14, 1961

Thomas E. Gort, Personal Site
http://www.luminet.net/~tgort/johnson.htm

A website set up by a history fan. Has Johnson’s message to Congress in 1964 as well as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

PBS, American Experience: Vietnam Online
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/reflect/chung.html

This is an excellent PBS website dealing with the Vietnam War. There are letters and pictures from many soldiers and citizens on all sides of the war. The site provides students a chance to see many different perspectives.

Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/coldwar/documents/index.php?documentdate=1946-02-22&documentid=6-6&studycollectionid=&pagenumber=1

View Kennan’s telegram from Moscow among many other documents from the Truman Presidency.

The Avalon Project, Truman Doctrine
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/trudoc.htm

View the Truman Doctrine speech to Congress, March 1947.

References: Books & Media

Foner, Eric, and John Garraty. The Reader's Companion To American History. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991.

This book does a fabulous job summarizing the major events and people in United States History.

Kennedy, David M., Lizbeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant. 13th Edition edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.

This is the textbook that is used by my AP US classes. It does a decent job covering United States History from before Columbus to today.

Newman, John J., and John M. Schmalbach. United States History, Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination. 1998. New York: AMSCO School Publications, Inc., 2006.

This book is a great resource for AP US teachers and students, as well as teachers of any US History class. Topics from pre-Columbus America to today are covered in the book. There are also Document Based Questions, Free Response Questions, and multiple choice questions at the end of each chapter.