Curated OER
The Cuban Missile Crisis-Three Perspectives
Pupils examine the viewpoints of the major players in the Cuban Missile Crisis. In groups, they research the topic and organize the information into a presentation. They evaluate the decisions made at the time. They also discover the...
Curated OER
Investigating the Cuban Perspective
Students examine different perspectives on the events during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Using the internet, they research the Cuban perspective on the issue and discover the need for empathy in a situation like this. They use primary...
Curated OER
If We Knew Then What We Know Now -- Cuban Missile Crisis (Background)
High schoolers examine the background of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Using the foreign policy decision-making process, they simulate and elaborate the processe involved. They identify the causes of the misconceptions that plagued the...
Curated OER
Colin Powell, a New Adlai Stevenson?: The Cuban Missile Crisis
Learners compare and contrast a speech given to the United Nations by Colin Powell and a speech given to the UN by Adlai Stevenson. Clearifying the objective of each, they evaluate their proposals to the United Nations. In groups, they...
Curated OER
At What Price the Truth?
Students read President Kennedy's speech to the nation on October 22, 1962. Using the text, they identify the deception by the Soviets. In groups, they create a comip strip showing what they believe might have happened had there been no...
Digital History
Digital History: Cuba and the Bay of Pigs Invasion
In 1959, rebel leader Fidel Castro toppled Cuban dictator Fugencio Batista. In Washington, Castro told U.S. officials that "The [Cuban] movement is not a Communist movement. We have no intention of expropriating U.S. property, and any...
Digital History
Digital History: Cuban Missile Crisis
In October 1962, the Soviet Union and the United States went eyeball-to-eyeball and were on the brink of nuclear war. Surveillance photographs taken by a U-2 spy plane over Cuba revealed that the Soviet Union was installing...
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: John F. Kennedy
From the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, this biographical account of JFK includes his military service during WWII, the significant events of his political career and presidency including Cabinet and Supreme Court appointments, and...
Flow of History
Flow of History: The Height of the Cold War (1957 72)
The events surrounding the Cold War at its very height are the focus. Text plus a colored graphic flowchart make the topic visually appealing and of interest to both students and educators.
Virginia History Series
Virgina History Series: Virginia State History Post Wwii to Present Day [Pdf]
Visualize the major events in the last half of the 20th century such as major wars and civil rights issues through the lens of the state of Virginia. In addition, learn about the pop culture of this time specifically in Virginia. Enjoy...
Other
Cloud Over Cuba: The Cuban Missile Crisis and What Might Have Been
Interactive documentary on JFK's role in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Resource will not work in Firefox internet browser.
Yale University
1961 1963 Cuban Missile Crisis and Aftermath
This site has information from the Yale Law School on international relations resulting from the Cuban Missile Crisis. Links to further information and related topics can be found within the text.
Library of Congress
Loc: Cold War: Cuban Missile Crisis
This brief Library of Congress site has info on the Russian's role in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
PBS
Pbs Online News Hour: Cuba and the United States
Site is an Online NewsHour report on the relations between Cuba and the U.S. Trade, trade embargo, life in Cuba, Cuban Missile Crisis, and many more topics are discussed.
National Geographic
National Geographic: 13 Days: President Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
This lesson focuses on the Cuban Missile Crisis from President Kennedy's perspective. Students role-play Kennedy's advisors over the critical 13-day period of the crisis, researching, discussing, and presenting the different policy...
US Department of State
Office of the Historian: The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962
This site gives a clear, succinct look at the Cuban Missile Crisis, its causes, and the results. See how direct and indirect communication between President Kennedy and Soviet leader, Nikita Khruschev, resolved this potentially horrific...
OpenStax
Open Stax: Contesting Futures: America in the 1960s: The Kennedy Promise
Discusses Kennedy's rise to power and the challenges he faced from within the government, his focus on foreign policy, the conflict with Cuba, American involvement in Vietnam, support for racial equality and civil rights, and Kennedy's...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Cuban Missile Crisis
In October 1962, Americans "peered into the abyss of nuclear destruction". Investigate how America got this close to nuclear war by reading the following summary, answering critical thinking questions, using the bibliography for further...
Stanford University
Stanford History Education Group: Cold War
[Free Registration/Login Required] A comprehensive social studies unit honing in on the Cold War. Students will rely on various resources covering topics like the Cuban Missile Crisis, Truman and MacArthur, and the Korean War, to analyze...
Stanford University
Sheg: Document Based History: Reading Like a Historian: Cuban Missile Crisis
[Free Registration/Login Required] After reviewing documents related to United States and Soviet Union national leadership, students will discuss the reasons Russia extracted their missiles from Cuba.
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson Center: Digital Archive: Cuban Foreign Relations
Documents on Cuban's international relations, focusing on its relationship with the Soviet Union, China, and the United States.
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson Center: Digital Archive: Cuban Missile Crisis
Documents concerning the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962-a major confrontation that brought the Soviet Union and the United States close to war over the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Fordham University: Modern History Sourcebook: United Nations and Ussr
This site from Fordham University contains actual letters between the United Nations and the USSR. These letters are attempts to reach a resolution in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Smithsonian Institution
National Portrait Gallery: The Presidency and the Cold War: John F. Kennedy
The National Portait Gallery explores the actions of presidents during the Cold War. Here find President Kennedy's decisions during the Berlin Crisis, the building of the Berlin War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Watch a video of...