Cold War
FOCUS QUESTIONS What series of events and ideological conflicts prompted the Cold War? How did the Cold War reshape ideas of American freedom? What major domestic policy initiatives did Truman undertake? What effects did the anticommunism of the Cold War have on American politics and culture?
On September 16, 1947, the 160th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, the Freedom Train opened to the public in Philadelphia. A traveling exhibition of 133 historical documents, the train, bedecked in red, white, and blue, soon embarked on a sixteen-month tour that took it to more than 300 American cities. Never before or since have so many cherished pieces of Americana—among them the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Gettysburg Address—been assembled in one place. After leaving the train, visitors were encouraged to rededicate themselves to American values by taking the Freedom Pledge and adding their names to a Freedom Scroll.
