Public Education During The Cold War
The Cold War transpired during the mid-twentieth century. As a result, The United States feared the possibility of a surprise attack from the Soviets and the doctrine of communism coming to America. As President Truman declared, “Education is our first line of defense (Brown, 1988, p.74).” In this essay I will argue that the government transformed public education’s curriculum and structure into a survival program to prepare the nation for the potential of nuclear war. Additionally, increased federal intervention in public education was vital to ensure national security.
The Cold War was a catalyst to growing concern that the U.S. public education curriculum did not properly reflect the strength of the nation’s character. The curriculum was …show more content…
School textbooks were believed to be portraying the collectivist viewpoint of the communist Soviets (Zimmerman, 2002). Hence, there was uproar that student minds were being filled with communist ideals. Some books, such as Building America contained chapters about Russia that portrayed the country as a harmless entity (Zimmerman, 2002). In addition, it was believed that school textbooks were too focused on internationalism and not enough on national endeavors (Zimmerman, 2002). Opposite of popular thought during the WWI era, worldliness was not perceived as an option if the nation was to be kept safe from the enemy’s influence. A book series created by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization sparked controversy as well. It promoted social reform such as birth control which was alleged to be an attack on the foundation of the American family (Zimmerman, 2002). Other textbooks that mentioned groups such as the Ku Klux Klan or segregation were also criticized because any provoking of racial tension played right into the communist’s hands (Zimmerman, 2002). Although there was debate about whom the country should support, the criticism of school textbooks became a powerful movement that many could not ignore. The Cold War was imminent and the government and public education system needed to do what they could to shield the nation by removing textbooks that would evoke student
The Cold War was a catalyst to growing concern that the U.S. public education curriculum did not properly reflect the strength of the nation’s character. The curriculum was …show more content…
School textbooks were believed to be portraying the collectivist viewpoint of the communist Soviets (Zimmerman, 2002). Hence, there was uproar that student minds were being filled with communist ideals. Some books, such as Building America contained chapters about Russia that portrayed the country as a harmless entity (Zimmerman, 2002). In addition, it was believed that school textbooks were too focused on internationalism and not enough on national endeavors (Zimmerman, 2002). Opposite of popular thought during the WWI era, worldliness was not perceived as an option if the nation was to be kept safe from the enemy’s influence. A book series created by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization sparked controversy as well. It promoted social reform such as birth control which was alleged to be an attack on the foundation of the American family (Zimmerman, 2002). Other textbooks that mentioned groups such as the Ku Klux Klan or segregation were also criticized because any provoking of racial tension played right into the communist’s hands (Zimmerman, 2002). Although there was debate about whom the country should support, the criticism of school textbooks became a powerful movement that many could not ignore. The Cold War was imminent and the government and public education system needed to do what they could to shield the nation by removing textbooks that would evoke student