The Cold War at home and abroad, 1945–1960

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to D on the Internal Security Act of 1950 (the excerpts are exact; the summaries are in our words). Card A, "The Act's findings". Who made it: The 81st Congress. When: September 23, 1950. For whom: The agencies that would carry out the Act, and the courts. Why: To state why Congress thought the law was needed. Excerpt (Internal Security Act of 1950, section 2, approved September 23, 1950): "(1) There exists a world Communist movement which, in its origins, its development, and its present practice, is a world-wide revolutionary movement whose purpose it is, by treachery, deceit, infiltration into other groups (governmental and otherwise), … and any other means deemed necessary, to establish a Communist totalitarian dictatorship in the countries throughout the world through the medium of a world-wide Communist organization. … (4) The direction and control of the world Communist movement is vested in and exercised by the Communist dictatorship of a foreign country." Card B, "The Act on speech and press". Who made it: The 81st Congress. When: September 23, 1950. For whom: The agencies that would carry out the Act, and the courts. Why: To limit how the Act could be used. Excerpt (Internal Security Act of 1950, section 1(b), approved September 23, 1950): "Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize, require, or establish military or civilian censorship or in any way to limit or infringe upon freedom of the press or of speech as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States …" Card C, "Truman's veto message". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Truman wrote that the bill would not hurt the Communists and would help them. He wrote that the Justice, Defense, Central Intelligence and State departments had warned that it would harm security and intelligence work. He also wrote that registering so-called Communist-front organizations could be the greatest danger to free speech, press and assembly since the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798. Card D, "The vetoes and votes". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: President Truman vetoed the bill on September 22, 1950. The House voted 286 to 48 to override the veto on September 22, and the Senate voted 57 to 10 on September 23. The Act became law over the veto.

2. 1.

   Ari compares the two override votes in card D. Which conclusion about them is best supported?

   • Both cleared two-thirds of the whole membership, about 66 percent of the House's 435 and 57 percent of the Senate's 100
   • Their shares of those voting were about equal, 86 and 85 percent, though the Senate's raw margin was smaller
   • The wide margins show that the public also wanted the Act, since two houses voted by large majorities to override
   • The House supported the override much more strongly, since its margin of 238 votes is far larger than the Senate's margin of 47
3. 2.

   A classmate says, "Truman vetoed the Act because he thought communism was no danger." Which objection is strongest for Bo?

   • Card C says the bill would not hurt the Communists, so Truman must have thought they were harmless to the nation
   • The override votes show Congress thought communism was a danger, so Truman must have agreed with Congress
   • Card C says he thought the bill would help the Communists and harm security work, so he objected to the bill's method
   • Card C is a summary written today, so it shows what Truman wrote but not whether he was right about the harm
4. 3.

   How do the Act's text (cards A and B) and Truman's veto (card C) differ in what each treats as the main danger, as Esme sees it?

   • The Act's findings stress harm to free speech from the bill, and Truman's veto stresses a foreign-directed Communist movement
   • The Act names a foreign-directed Communist movement and denies limiting speech; the veto warns the bill itself could harm speech
   • They agree about the danger, since card B and card C both mention free speech and a Communist threat together
   • The two cannot be compared, since one is a law's findings and the other is a President's message to Congress

5. Use this

   Cards A to C on the Senate and Senator McCarthy (all are in our words; the readings are written for this sheet). Card A, "Senator Smith's speech in the Senate". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: On June 1, 1950, Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine said the Senate had too often become a forum of hate and character assassination. She named four principles of Americanism: the right to criticize, to hold unpopular beliefs, to protest, and to think independently. She also said that some proved cases had caused wide suspicion. Card B, "The censure of Senator McCarthy, December 2, 1954". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The Senate censured McCarthy for non-cooperation with, and abuse of, a 1952 subcommittee and for abuse of the 1954 select committee. The select committee based its advice on his conduct toward the Senate and did not judge his campaign against Communists. The vote was 67 to 22. Card C, "Two readings of the censure" (written for this sheet, in our words, not a quotation): Reading 1: The censure shows that the Senate turned against the fight against Communists. Reading 2: The censure shows that the Senate defended its own rules and committees.

6. 4.

   Kira reads the vote of 67 to 22 in card B. Which statement about it is best supported?

   • The vote shows the Senate rejected anticommunism, since three in four voted to censure the senator who led it
   • About 25 percent opposed it, which shows the Senate was split into two nearly equal camps over McCarthy's conduct
   • About 67 percent of the Senate wanted censure, since 67 of the 100 senators voted yes, and the rest were opposed
   • About 75 percent of those voting wanted censure, but 11 senators did not vote, so the whole Senate's view is not shown
7. 5.

   A classmate says, "The Senate censured McCarthy for his anticommunist views." Which objection is strongest for Luz?

   • The select committee advised censure, so the Senate was following a recommendation and not judging McCarthy
   • Senator Smith's speech of 1950 shows the Senate had already rejected his views before the censure of 1954, so the censure was just a formality
   • Card B says the censure rested on his conduct toward Senate committees, and the committee did not judge his campaign
   • The vote was 67 to 22, so most senators must have agreed with Smith's four principles of Americanism
8. 6.

   Noah wants to test the claim that the censure ended McCarthy's influence. Which added evidence would help most?

   • The text of the Senate's resolution of censure, which lists the conduct that the Senate condemned in him
   • A newspaper headline from the day after the vote, which calls the vote a defeat for him and for his supporters
   • Records of his activities, public support and Senate role before and after December 1954, compared over time
   • More summaries of the vote of 67 to 22 and of what the select committee advised the Senate to do

9. Use this

   Cards A to C on the Truman Doctrine (the excerpt is exact; the summary and the readings are in our words). Card A, "Truman's address to Congress". Who made it: President Harry S. Truman. When: March 12, 1947. For whom: A joint session of Congress, and the American public by radio. Why: To ask Congress to approve aid for Greece and Turkey. Excerpt (President Truman, address to a joint session of Congress, March 12, 1947): "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. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way. I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes. … The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want. They spread and grow in the evil soil of poverty and strife." Card B, "Britain and Greece". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In early 1947 Britain told the United States that it could give Greece no more aid after March 31. Card C, "Two readings of the address" (written for this sheet, in our words, not a quotation): Reading 1: The address began a worldwide policy of containment, which means holding a rival's power within its present limits. Reading 2: The address answered one crisis in Greece, and its wider wording came from the moment.

10. 7.

    Pia combines card A (the address) with card B (Britain and Greece). What do the two cards show together?

    • The address was about Greece alone, since the excerpt names Greece in its first sentence and speaks of no other place
    • The address created NATO and the Marshall Plan, since both followed it and shared its goal of aid
    • Britain's notice caused the address, so the policy's wider wording shows the crisis was not the real reason
    • A specific crisis in Greece set the timing, while the address argued for a broad policy of supporting free peoples
11. 8.

    A classmate says, "The Truman Doctrine committed the United States to fight wars anywhere." Which objection is strongest for Ren?

    • The excerpt is one passage of a longer speech, so it cannot show what the policy meant in practice later
    • The excerpt says totalitarian regimes grow from misery, so Truman meant the aid must end poverty everywhere at once
    • The excerpt says the United States will support free peoples, which means sending soldiers wherever they ask for help
    • The excerpt says help "should be primarily through economic and financial aid," which describes aid first and not war
12. 9.

    Card C gives two readings of the address. How should Tala weigh them against cards A and B?

    • Reading 2 is right, since Britain's notice is the one dated fact and the address's wording is just rhetoric
    • They are the same reading, since containment and the Greek crisis both describe one policy of aid to Europe
    • Both have support: Britain's notice shows a specific crisis, and the address's wording speaks of free peoples generally
    • Reading 1 is right, since the Cold War lasted until 1991 and the policy of containment continued until then, shaping later foreign policy
13. 10.

    Zee wants to test reading 1, that the address began a worldwide policy. Which added evidence would help most?

    • Later American decisions about aid in places beyond Greece and Turkey, and the reasons officials gave for them
    • The full text of the address, read again from the first line to the last, with the policy sentence marked
    • One newspaper editorial from March 1947 praising the address, written the morning after the speech was given
    • More details about British finances in 1947 and how much money Britain had left to spend abroad that year in total