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American Centuries > Lessons > History Lessons By Teachers > Comparing Attitudes: Three American Wars

Comparing Attitudes: Three American Wars

Details

Author
Sean Gillane
Topic/Subject Area
Military, Wars, Battles
Historical Era
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877, Great Depression and World War II, 1929–1945, Counterculture, Civil Rights, and Cold War, 1946–1989
Grade Level
High School (9–12)
Creation Date
2009
Last Revision Date
2024

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About This Lesson

Summary and Objective

Students will understand that public attitudes toward fighting a major war vary, and are expressed through media, whether newspaper articles, art, advertisements, or music. Through completing this activity, students will understand that attitudes varied greatly between the Civil War, World War II, and the Vietnam War. Students will also understand that media and artifacts can stir up emotions which play into the attitudes surrounding a war effort, or anti-war effort. Students will also understand that as students of history and as responsible citizens, we need to recognize differing opinions in evaluating a war effort and the images or impressions we encounter.

Materials & Resources

Collection Items
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Teaching Plan

  1. This activity can be completed either in a computer lab or in the classroom as a sequence of “stations” through which the students rotate. The audio portions would need to be available on a teacher’s computer. The balance of images can be printed from this activity and links and distributed around the room. This activity is designed for presentation during a unit on Vietnam.
  2. “Do Now/Activator”- Students should brainstorm examples of attitudes toward the current world conflicts, and describe images or speeches they have encountered. The teacher should ask students to briefly discuss what this says about public opinion surrounding the conflicts.
  3. Students will act as “reporters” as they roam the room in search of evidence regarding public opinion regarding the Civil War, WW II, and the Vietnam War. Students should be aware of what they see, read, and hear, and how what they observe impacts their feelings about that particular war. As they rotate, students should take notes in a 3-column worksheet with headings for each war.
  4. Students should experience a minimum of five artifacts from each war. Once they are done, they should form small (3-4 students) groups and compare what they observed about each war to get a full picture of all of the artifacts.
  5. The groups should then create a large organizer using poster paper. In three columns, students should list what they deem to be important examples of attitudes from all three wars. After compiling 3-5 examples, students should list how these artifacts impacted them, how they made them feel about each war, and what their reaction was. They should then list their conclusions as to the homefront attitudes toward the war-what efforts were made by the public regarding the war?
  6. Students should then, individually, compose three short news articles describing the atmosphere of the times, generated from their fact-finding and group observations. This could be done as homework or in class the following day.
  7. Optional debrief: The teacher and students should revisit their beginning activator discussion, and examine evidence of attitudes toward conflict today, and re-examine how media impacts their attitudes toward war.