How was the role of “President” defined in the Articles of Confederation? What were the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation regarding the role of the President?
What important developments occurred during John Hanson’s term as the first full-term "President of the United States in Congress Assembled"? How did they affect the future of the U.S. and the office of the President?
The unwillingness of the Soviet Union to allow the creation of independent and democratic states in Eastern Europe, and the failure of East and West to reach a compromise on Germany, left many Americans puzzled. Why were the Soviets acting as they did? Moreover, how should the United States respond? This lesson will consider containment through the use of original documents, mostly from the Truman Presidential Library. They will study what it meant in theory, and then examine the first two major instances of its application—the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.
Students will learn how the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution was shaped by historical events and how it reflected the fundamental values and principles of a newly independent nation.
