From 1961 to 1973, the North Vietnamese and Vietcong held hundreds of Americans captive.
The Vietnam War
Grade Range: 4-12
Resource Type(s): Reference Materials
Date Posted:
10/14/2008
From 1956-1975, Americans fought a protracted and divisive war against Communist expansion in Southeast Asia. Students will focus on the war in Vietnam and its effects on public opinion back home, look an in-depth at the realities faced by American prisoners of war, and the legacies of the war, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in this section of The Price of Freedom: Americans at War, an online exhibition. A non-flash version of this site is available: The Vietnam War.
National Standards
Historical Thinking Standards (Grades K-4)
Historical Thinking Standard 3: Historical Analysis and Interpretation
3A: Formulate questions to focus their inquiry or analysis.
3B: Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas, values, personalities, behaviors, and institutions.
3C: Analyze historical fiction.
3D: Distinguish between fact and fiction.
3E: Compare different stories about a historical figure, era, or event.
3F: Analyze illustrations in historical stories.
3G: Consider multiple perspectives.
3H: Explain causes in analyzing historical actions.
3I: Challenge arguments of historical inevitability.
3J: Hypothesize influences of the past.
3B: Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas, values, personalities, behaviors, and institutions.
3C: Analyze historical fiction.
3D: Distinguish between fact and fiction.
3E: Compare different stories about a historical figure, era, or event.
3F: Analyze illustrations in historical stories.
3G: Consider multiple perspectives.
3H: Explain causes in analyzing historical actions.
3I: Challenge arguments of historical inevitability.
3J: Hypothesize influences of the past.
Standards in History (Grades K-4)
United States History Standards (Grades 5-12)
World History Standards (Grades 5-12)
Historical Thinking Standards (Grades 5-12)
Historical Thinking Standard 2: Historical Comprehension
2A: Identify the author or source of the historical document or narrative and assess its credibility.
2B: Reconstruct the literal meaning of a historical passage.
2C: Identify the central question(s) the historical narrative addresses.
2D: Differentiate between historical facts and historical interpretations.
2E: Read historical narratives imaginatively.
2F: Appreciate historical perspectives.
2G: Draw upon data in historical maps.
2H: Utilize visual, mathematical, and quatitative data.
2I: Draw upon the visual, literary, and musical sources.
2B: Reconstruct the literal meaning of a historical passage.
2C: Identify the central question(s) the historical narrative addresses.
2D: Differentiate between historical facts and historical interpretations.
2E: Read historical narratives imaginatively.
2F: Appreciate historical perspectives.
2G: Draw upon data in historical maps.
2H: Utilize visual, mathematical, and quatitative data.
2I: Draw upon the visual, literary, and musical sources.
Historical Thinking Standard 3: Historical Analysis and Interpretation
3A: Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas.
3B: Consider multiple perspectives.
3C: Analyze cause-and-effect relationships.
3D: Draw comparisons across eras and regions in order to define enduring issues.
3E: Distinguish between unsupported expressions of opinion and informed hypotheses grounded in historical evidence.
3F: Compare competing historical narratives.
3G: Challenge arguments of historical inevitability.
3H: Hold interpretations of history as tentative.
3I: Evaluate major debates among historians.
3J: Hypothesize the influence of the past.
3B: Consider multiple perspectives.
3C: Analyze cause-and-effect relationships.
3D: Draw comparisons across eras and regions in order to define enduring issues.
3E: Distinguish between unsupported expressions of opinion and informed hypotheses grounded in historical evidence.
3F: Compare competing historical narratives.
3G: Challenge arguments of historical inevitability.
3H: Hold interpretations of history as tentative.
3I: Evaluate major debates among historians.
3J: Hypothesize the influence of the past.
