UNIT 12: VIETNAM6.3.15

PART 1

EARLY VIETNAM WAR PROTESTS

EARLY OPPOSITION Video Clip #1

• What did Americans see

• Why might some have supported the war at this point?

• Why might some have opposed the war at this point?

1964 •Gulf of Tonkin Resolution•Hundreds protest in SF

1965 •Thousands march at universities•SNCC and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) organize 25,000 marchers in D.C.

•Poll: 48% support the war, 28% didn’t

QUICK TIMELINE

GROWING OPPOSITION (1965-1969)

PART 2

• Growing Anti-War Movement

• Contributing Factors

• Events of 1968

VIDEO CLIP #2

1966• Veterans protesting the war• Thousands march in D.C. & college campuses• Poll: 41% approve of war, 37% don’t• Muhammad Ali declares himself a conscientious objector and refused to go to war

1967• MLK leads 5,000 in march against war in Chicago

• Thousands march in D.C., New York & college campuses

• Poll: 52% disapprove of LBJ’s handling of war

TIMELINE

1968•In January Robert Kennedy runs for President as anti-war candidate

•DNC Convention – 10,000 protestors, 23,000 police/national guard – “police riot”

1969•Nixon becomes President•Protests continue to escalate

TIMELINE

DRAFT• Starts in 1969• Men born between

Jan 1, 1944 - Dec 31, 1950 eligible

• Got lottery numbers• If their number

was called, they would have to serve*

Rep. Alexander Pirnie of House Armed Services Committee draws the first capsule

draft lottery for the Vietnam War

THE DRAFTExemptions & Deferments:• Men could be exempt (safe) from being

drafted or could defer (put off) being drafted if college or graduate student• Poor & working class young men resented

this• Automatic student deferments ended.Draft VERY unpopular• Tens of thousands of young men migrate to

Canada which did not support the war1973: Draft ended

MARCH ON WASHINGTON

• Vietnam Moratorium – 1969

• 500,000 marchers in D.C.

• Largest anti-war march in American history

PART 3

WAR UNRAVELS (1970-1974)

VIDEO CLIP #3

UNIT 12: VIETNAM6.4.15

NIXON’S “SILENT MAJORITY”“So tonight, to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans, I ask for your support.

I pledged in my campaign for the Presidency to end the war in a way that we could win the peace.”

BOMBING OF CAMBODIAApril 30, 1970, President Nixon stuns Americans by announcing a huge offensive of US and South Vietnamese troops into Cambodia

He said it was "...not for the purpose of expanding the war into Cambodia but for the purpose of ending the war in Vietnam and winning the just peace we desire."

KENT STATE UNIVERSITYSTUDENT PROTEST, MAY 1970

Students set fire to the ROTC building.

Ohio National Guard called out to restore order.

Objects thrown at the Guardsmen.

The Guardsmen opened fire, killing 4 students.

THOUSANDS PROTEST• In response to the killings, over 400

colleges and universities across America shut down.

• In DC, nearly 100,000 protesters surround variousgovernment buildingsincluding the WhiteHouse and historicalmonuments.

DATEPERCENT

WHO SAID NO

August 1965 61

March 1966 59

May 1966 49

September 1966 48

November 1966 51

February 1967 52

May 1967 50

July 1967 48

October 1967 44

December 1967 46

February 1968 42

March 1968 41

April 1968 40

August 1968 35

October 1968 37

February 1969 39

October 1969 32

January 1970 33

April 1970 34

May 1970 36

January 1971 31

May 1971 28

POLLING"In view of developments since we entered the fighting in Vietnam, do you think the U.S. made a mistake sending troops to fight in Vietnam?“

• When did American support for the War fall apart?

• Why do you think this is?