Secretary of State John Kerry once said “I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.” The Vietnam War was a conflict that lasted from 1956-1975 which the United States participated in along with the South Vietnamese who fought against the Communist North Vietnamese. Many Americans strongly disapproved of the war which caused many protests and riots. The war lasted 25 years killing many people and eventually the North Vietnamese won. The Vietnam War was important to Americans back home because it tested the citizen’s right to free speech, effected future foreign policy, and created many issues for returning veterans.
Every colony had ambitious dreams to become free and independent, Vietnam was no different. Vietnam was a French colony since the 1800’s all the way up to the 1950’s (Pendergast 9). For change there had to be a person to start an uprising. The first man to protest the French government was named Phan Boi Chan who did so in 1908 (Pendergast 10). Chan continued his protests with the hope that the Vietnamese people would soon be liberated. After years of his protests the French government officials within Vietnam decided to put Chan on house arrest in 1925 (Pendergast 11). Chan then remained on house arrest until his death in 1940 (Pendergast 11).
Ho Chi Minh was looking up to his idol Phan Boi Chan throughout his years of protesting and eventually decided that he, Minh, would be the next revolutionist in the wave of Vietnamese nationalism (Pendergast 11). When Minh left his homeland in 1911, he was on a quest to find out what would be the best path to achieve Vietnamese freedom. Minh came home with the notion that the...
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Kallen, Stuart A. The Home Front: Americans Protest the War. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2001. Print.
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Anderson, D. (2002). The Columbia guide to the Vietnam War. New York: Columbia University Press.
Source G: "The Vietnam War and Its Aftermath." American Voices. Glenview: Scott Foresman, 1995. 821-47. Print.
"Overview of the Vietnam War." Digital History. Digital History, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
The Vietnam War to this day is thought of as a grim, long-lasting battle that took place between 1955 and 1975. The American people were never fond of this war, as they polled and constantly spoke out against the idea of being involved in Vietnam throughout the entire duration it took place. This war was fought between North Vietnam (with their Soviet, Chinese and other communist allies) and South Vietnam whose main supporter and ally was the United States. This paper will validate what this war was like for the American troops and all the diversity they were able to overcome. Ranging from the lack of American support, to the physical combat and hardships the soldiers had to face while on the battleground.
Hall, Mitchell. "The Vietnam Era Antiwar Movement." Magazine of History 1 Oct. 2004: n. pag. eLibrary. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.
Brigham, Robert K., and E. Kenneth Hoffman. "Battlefield:Vietnam | History." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 19 Sept. 2011.
The Vietnam War created one of the most dividing periods of American history. Many saw the war as an unnecessary conflict that cost dearly in both money and lives. The United States’ involvement in the war was also considered to be unjustified. Despite the many difficulties faced during the controversial time, many activists raised issues in opposition to the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War because of its unjust nature with acts such as the high casualty rates, scorched earth policies, and the lack of an immediate threat.
The Vietnam War was a war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1st 1955 to the fall of Saigon on April 30th 1975. This war was fought between the North Vietnamese Viet Cong and the government of South Vietnam. The criticism of the war in Vietnam started out as a reaction to President Johnson’s policy of fighting for a limited purpose and a negotiated peace in Vietnam. Criticism is valuable because it helps to correct communal procedures. That is a great advantage of exposed societies. But criticism works only if those in control have a sufficient intellect in order to recognize when a policy has gone wrong. The Vietnam War and its leaders is a "monument to the failure of that necessary wisdom" (Lewis). The supporters were known as “hawks.” As the President escalated the war effort, and became a hawk himself, his chief critics who disagreed with the war became known as “doves,” which included college students, faculty, and several other people who felt that the war was corrupt, was promoting no advantage for the US, and was increasing the number of casualties. But the Doves’ access to this goal is restricted: the war drags on. Many disaffected doves adapt to this situation by rebellion. They reject societal goals and means
Immediately following the struggle of World War Two another great conflict was heating up in Vietnam. Revolution was in the air and was being led by the communist leader Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh’s declaration of independence of Vietnam from French rule on September 2nd, 1945 was the first step in securing a Vietnam free from colonization and a Vietnam of complete independence. Ho Chi Minh’s education in communist teachings pulled him to align with the French Communists which helped thrust him into his future role as leader of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Without Ho Chi Minh’s experiences outside of Vietnam and his establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the North Vietnamese may never have won the war in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was crucial to North Vietnam’s success in the Vietnam War due to his establishment of the communist party in Vietnam, his role in building a strong North Vietnam, and his status as a symbol of revolutionary action.
James A. Baldwin once said, “The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose” (BrainyQuote.com). In the 1960s, “the man” was youth across the country. The Vietnam war was in full force, and students across the country were in an outrage. Society needed an excuse to rebel against the boring and safe way of life they were used to; Vietnam gave them the excuse they needed. Teenagers from different universities came together and formed various organizations that protested the Vietnam war for many reasons. These reasons included protesting weapons and different tactics used in the war, and the reason the U.S. entered the war in the first place. These get-togethers had such a monumental impact on their way of life that it was famously named the Anti-War Movement. When the Vietnam War ended, The United States did not have a real concrete reason why; there were a bunch of theories about why the war ended. Through negative media attention and rebellious youth culture, the Anti-War Movement made a monumental impact in the ending of the Vietnam War.
Fussell, Paul. "Vietnam." The Bloody Game: An Anthology of Modern War. Ed. Paul Fussell. London: Scribners, 1991. 651-6.
The Vietnam War was a very mismanaged war but our involvement was very crucial. Some people believe that the side we were on was wrong, and the author of this completely agrees. Ho Chi Minh was really a quite conservative communist leader. He was fair and he was also was balanced. He treated his people very fairly. The beliefs of the author are that if Truman would have not set the precedent of opposing all communist leaders than the Vietnam War would have been a lot different.
The Vietnamese people’s movement was very well coordinated during the Pacification period. The rebellion was not only led by court mandarins, but also by private scholars. The moral and military power of some of the rebel ...
Willbanks, James. "Vietnam War: United States (Opponent Overview)." United States at War: Understanding Conflict and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2010. .