The Conflict Grows

Section 2

Words to Know

• Napalm: A sticky gasoline jelly used in bombs

• Agent Orange: A powerful chemical that kills all plant life where it is sprayed

• Conscientious objector: A persons whose beliefs do not let him or her take an active part in the war

• Deferment: Putting off, or delaying, having to serve in the armed forces

A Difficult Fight

• 1966: U.S. military leaders knew that the Vietnam War would not end soon

– Never faced an enemy like this

• U.S. dropped napalm and agent orange on the V.C. hideouts

– Dropped on areas nt easily reached by troops

– Civilian casualties

• End of 1966: 385,000+ troops

Tet Offensive

• Important Vietnamese holiday– Vietnamese New Year– Celebrate for several days

• 1968: V.C., S.V., and the U.S.– Agree to stop fighting on Tet– Most S.V. went home

• V.C.: surprise attack in Saigon– Also struck nearby towns and

villages– U.S. embassy and Military

base in Saigon badly damaged• 84,000 V.C. and N.V. took part in

the Tet Offensive

Anger

• Angered Americans

• Enemy stepping up their attacks

– Cities

– Towns

– Villages

• Fewer Americans supported the war

Voices Against War

• Many young people wanted peace– College students– High School students– Conscientious Objectors

• Believed it was wrong to fight in Vietnam

• Started antiwar protests– Some protests were peaceful– Some ended up in fights

between antiwar activists and people who supported the war

May 1970

• Kent State University (Ohio)

– Protest

• National Guard protecting university buildings

– Rocks thrown at them

– Shoots fired well over their heads

• 4 students killed

• Nine wounded

Draft

• Antiwar activists protested the draft

– College students could get a deferment

• Thought it was unfair

– Poor people couldn’t afford college

• Some protestors moved to Canada

The Election of 1968

• LBJ lost a lot of American support

– March 31, 1968

• Announced he would not seek re-election

• Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy sought the Democratic nomination

– Both against the war

June 5, 1968

• 2 months after King Jr’s assassination– Robert Kennedy was shot

• August: Democrats met in Chicago to pick a candidate– Antiwar protestors followed

• Protestors fought police• All televised• Chicago torn apart by

antiwar riots– VP Hubert Humphrey

chosen

Nixon

• Republicans met in Miami

– Very few protestors

• Nixon chosen to run

– Promised to end the war

• Nixon beat Humphrey in a close race