This collection contains over 75 films for use in the AP United States History course. The resources for Units 8 and 9 are separated by topic. Pre-1900 (Periods 4-6): The films and lessons in this section focus on two political party conventions of the 1800s and an essential period of indigenous history that began during westward […]
Postwar Era
Why Are Schools Still Segregated? The Broken Promise of Brown v. Board of Education
The history of racial integration in public schools, and what happened after the buses stopped rolling.
Putin’s Nuclear Threats Evoke Cold War Tensions of the Cuban Missile Crisis
Russia’s recent nuclear threats have revived Cold War animosity with roots in the Cuban missile crisis. During a standoff in 1962, a tense confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union nearly resulted in a nuclear war.
Nuclear Meltdowns Raised Fears, but Growing Energy Needs May Outweigh Them
Catastrophic accidents at power plants have heightened fears about the safety of nuclear energy, but environmentalists and others are giving it renewed attention as a way to fight global warming.
How Watergate and Citizens United Shaped Campaign Finance Law
The Watergate campaign finance scandals led to a landmark law designed to limit the influence of money in politics. Decades later, some say the scandal isn’t what’s illegal, it’s what’s legal.
Presidents v. Press: How the Pentagon Papers Leak Set Up First Amendment Showdowns
Efforts to clamp down on White House leaks to the press follow a pattern that was set during the Nixon era after the publication of the Pentagon Papers.
Cold War in Latin America
The Cold War was an ideological, and sometimes military, struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. By the 1950s, these tensions were seen in Latin America, and revolutions, coups, and uprisings became commonplace throughout most of the latter half of the twentieth century. Putin’s Nuclear Threats Evoke Cold War Tensions of the Cuban […]
Why the Cold War Race for Nuclear Weapons Is Still a Threat
Russian President Vladimir Putin controls the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, and his invasion of Ukraine is a reminder that Russia, the U.S. and many other countries have thousands of nuclear missiles, even as safeguards once in place have fallen away.
How the Korean War Changed the Way the U.S. Goes to Battle
In the Cold War, North Korean Communists invaded South Korea. President Truman’s decision to intervene had consequences that shape the world today.
The Cold War on TV: Joseph McCarthy vs. Edward R. Murrow
In the heat of the Cold War, Joe McCarthy’s anti-communist crusade became a media sensation.