Unit 8 DBQs
DBQ 1: Cold War Origins and Early U.S. Foreign Policy
Essential Question:
How and why did U.S. foreign policy change in the early Cold War period (post-1945)? What were the causes of that shift, and what were its immediate consequences domestically and internationally?
Prompt:
After World War II, the United States adopted new foreign policy doctrines and took on an international leadership role. Using the documents provided, analyze the causes and effects of this shift. In your answer, consider both foreign and domestic factors.
Documents:
Skills Developed:
DBQ 2: Civil Rights and Social Movements, 1950-1970
Essential Question:
What transformations occurred in the United States during the mid-20th century in terms of civil rights and social justice? How effective were movements and legal changes in challenging segregation and discrimination?
Prompt:
Between 1950 and 1970, civil rights activists, legal rulings, and grassroots movements pushed for equality. Using the documents provided, analyze how significant these changes were, and evaluate their limitations.
Documents:
Skills Developed:
DBQ 3: Cold War, Culture, and Conflict — Vietnam & Domestic Unrest
Essential Question:
How did the conflicts of the Cold War era — particularly the Vietnam War — influence domestic culture and politics in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s?
Prompt:
During the Vietnam War era, foreign conflict and Cold War pressures deeply affected American domestic life. Using the documents provided, analyze the cultural and political impact of Vietnam and related movements, and evaluate their significance in U.S. history.
Documents:
Skills Developed:
DBQ 1: Cold War Origins and Early U.S. Foreign Policy
Essential Question:
How and why did U.S. foreign policy change in the early Cold War period (post-1945)? What were the causes of that shift, and what were its immediate consequences domestically and internationally?
Prompt:
After World War II, the United States adopted new foreign policy doctrines and took on an international leadership role. Using the documents provided, analyze the causes and effects of this shift. In your answer, consider both foreign and domestic factors.
Documents:
- *George F. Kennan, “Long Telegram” (1946) — Excerpts (public domain portions)
“…the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies… Soviet pressure against the free institutions of the Western world is something that can be contained by the adroit and vigilant application of counter-force at a series of constantly shifting geographical and political points…”
“…you have in the Soviet leadership a traditional and instinctive sense of insecurity and distrust of the outside world, especially of the capitalist countries. They are driven by a belief, grounded in Marxist-Leninist ideology, that capitalism will inevitably seek to undermine them unless they act first….” - Truman Doctrine Speech (March 12, 1947) by President Harry S. Truman — Excerpts (public domain)
“I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.”
“The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their freedom.… I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes…” - Marshall Plan Speech (1947), Secretary of State George C. Marshall — Excerpts (public domain)
“Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos.”
“Between the war and the treaty which has been formed, there are millions of people in Europe unemployed, moving, displaced, homes destroyed, communities shattered. The consequences of this suffering are political, as well as economic and social.”
“Our aim is to help Europe to help itself, so far as possible, but that aid should be extended only to those who are willing to make their economy work, and to render the assistance proper use.” - U.S. National Security Act (1947) — Excerpt of relevant sections (public domain)
“An Act to promote the national security by providing for a Secretary of Defense, a National Military Establishment, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Department of the Air Force, and other purposes.”
“The Secretary of Defense shall…exercise authority, direction, and control over the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force…”
Skills Developed:
- Understanding of causation (why policy changed)
- Interpreting primary sources for foreign policy, ideology, and strategic interest
- Synthesizing how domestic politics, international pressures, and institutional changes intertwined
DBQ 2: Civil Rights and Social Movements, 1950-1970
Essential Question:
What transformations occurred in the United States during the mid-20th century in terms of civil rights and social justice? How effective were movements and legal changes in challenging segregation and discrimination?
Prompt:
Between 1950 and 1970, civil rights activists, legal rulings, and grassroots movements pushed for equality. Using the documents provided, analyze how significant these changes were, and evaluate their limitations.
Documents:
- Brown v. Board of Education Decision (1954) — Excerpt from the Supreme Court’s Majority Opinion (public domain)
“We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other ‘tangible’ factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does.
Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn…” - Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963), Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — Excerpts (public domain)
“…Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.… Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.”
“…We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights.… One hundred years later, the Negro was still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.” - Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title II — Excerpt (public domain)
“All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation…”
“It shall be unlawful for any person to refuse, withhold from, or deny to any person because of race, color, religion, or national origin, any of the accommodations…” - Malcolm X, “The Ballot or the Bullet” (1964) — Excerpts (public domain)
“We don’t see any American dream; we see an American nightmare. The best conditioned job has been taken by whites. The best conditioned house, the best schools, the best transportation, the best water, the best light, the best roads … All of these, in practically every instance, are occupied by white people.”
“It’s time for Africa, Asia, and Latin America, it’s time for black people here at home to make their voices heard … It’s time for the ballot or the bullet.”
Skills Developed:
- Comparing nonviolent vs. militant approaches to civil rights
- Evaluating legal changes versus social attitudes
- Continuity and change over time: what improved and what limitations persisted
DBQ 3: Cold War, Culture, and Conflict — Vietnam & Domestic Unrest
Essential Question:
How did the conflicts of the Cold War era — particularly the Vietnam War — influence domestic culture and politics in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s?
Prompt:
During the Vietnam War era, foreign conflict and Cold War pressures deeply affected American domestic life. Using the documents provided, analyze the cultural and political impact of Vietnam and related movements, and evaluate their significance in U.S. history.
Documents:
- Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964) — Excerpt (public domain)
“That the President is authorized to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom.”
“To promote the maintenance of international peace and security in Southeast Asia.” - LBJ’s Great Society Speech (1964), Address at University of Michigan — Excerpts (public domain)
“Our aim is not only to relieve suffering but to cure it; not simply to provide charity but to change the society which makes poverty inevitable.”
“We seek not only to reduce inequality of income but inequality of opportunity for education, employment, housing and places of worship.” - Photograph or Visual: Anti-War Protest, Kent State (1970) — Visual Document (public domain via U.S. government archive)
- Students can view image showing students being tear-gassed or protesting: strong symbolic content.
- Prompt for visual analysis: composition, message, emotional effect.
- Supreme Court Decision: Roe v. Wade (1973) — Excerpt (public domain) — portions especially concerned with privacy in American constitutional tradition.
“This right [to privacy] … is broadly based on several guarantees in the Bill of Rights … exercised against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment ... Precise boundaries of the zone of privacy are not mandated by the Constitution. … But in the field of these personal relationships, the state is powerless to regulate the intimate relationships which are properly private.”
Skills Developed:
- Interpreting how foreign policy (Vietnam) intertwines with domestic dissent
- Visual as well as textual analysis
- Evaluating cultural change, legal change, and political polarization