Focus/Summary: This lesson will focus on the progression of the fear of Communism in the United States as well as its manifestation.

Vital Theme and Narrative: Conflict and Cooperation. Particular attention to "relations between domestic affairs and ways of dealing with the outside world.
The consequences of war and peace for societies and their cultures."

History Habit of Mind: Grasp the complexity of historical causation.

Objectives: The student will become aware of the progression and growth of anti-communist fear in the United States and the Cold War that resulted from it.

Procedures and activities: Using the book The Specter of Communism by Melvyn P. Leffler, students will in groups plot out the events leading up to and including the Cold War. Each group will be given one of the time periods discussed in the book
and will present in order their findings to the class. At the end of the lesson the class will hold a debate on the consequences of the growing fear in the United States.

Sources: Leffler, Melvyn P. The Specter of Comminism: the United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1917-1953, Hill and Wang, 1994.

Ideas for Assessment of Student Learning:
Group layout of time-line
Class presentation of findings
Class discussion