Shaken to the Roots

1
Shaken to the Roots

• 1965-1980

2
The Liberal Crusade in Vietnam

• 1961-1968

3
Kennedy Vietnam

• JFK refuses to lose South Vietnam to Communism
• Sends weapons, advisors
• U.S. drops chemicals to destroy vegetation of
  South Vietnam
• Moved peasants to strategic hamlets
• Diems government is brutal to opposition
• Protests ? JFK to ok a coup Diem is killed

4
Escalation of the War

• LBJ has to decide to either withdraw or get more
  involved in Vietnam
• Attack in the Gulf of Tonkin on two U.S.
  destroyers
• LBJ orders air strikes on North Vietnam and..
• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Congress gives
  President the authority to take all necessary
  measures in Vietnam

5
The Endless War

• Operation Rolling Thunder 1965
• Sustained bombing of North Vietnam
• To force them to negotiate, stop them sending
  supplies to Viet Cong in the South
• Cant achieve either goal
• LBJ commits combat troops in 1967
• But were fighting them on their turf

6
U.S. Troop Build Up

• U.S. General William Westmoreland
• Did not believe the South Vietnamese, Army of the
  Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), could defeat the
  North and the Vietcong
• believed and advised LBJ to increase troop
  levels
• by 1967 U.S. had 500,000 troops in Vietnam

7
War in the Jungle

• Original belief U.S. military supremacy would
  easily defeat the Vietcong
• Problems
• Vietcong did the following
• Vietcong used hit and run ambush style attacks,
  booby traps, and land mines (often U.S. bombs)
• used their knowledge of the jungle and the
  terrain to their advantage
• fought a non traditional war
• lived within the general population, made it
  difficult to recognize the enemy
• - elaborate tunnel system used to connect
  villages throughout the country side, escape U.S.
  soldiers, and protect from air attacks

8
Vietcong Tunnel System
9
Vietcong Tunnel System
10
U.S. Strategy in Vietnam part 1Attrition
Strategy

• General Westmoreland strategy for defeating the
  VC
• destroy their morale
• wear the VC down
• continuous harassment
• track and report number of VC deaths
• These things combined would lead to the VC
  surrender.

11
Problem with theAttrition Strategy

• VC had no intention of surrendering.
• were supplied by the Chinese and Russians
• not phased by the high body count
• In 1966 LBJ administration began realizing
  Vietnam war may be a mistake.
• U.S. underestimated the enemy
• U.S. viewed the war as a military struggle,
  Vietcong viewed it as a battle for their
  existence

12
U.S. Strategy in Vietnampart 2Hearts and Minds

• Keep the Vietcong from winning the support of the
  South Vietnamese rural population.
• This task was assigned to U.S. Army Special
  Forces, the Green Berets
• VC hide amongst the people, if you win over the
  people, the VC has no place to hide
• Green Berets would seek out VC while attempting
  to help South Vietnamese villagers

13
Problems with Hearts and Mind Strategy

• More difficult than anticipated.
• When VC were discovered in the villages, the U.S.
  used napalm, Agent Orange, and search and
  destroy tactics.
• napalm a gas based bomb that set fire to the
  jungle
• Agent Orange leaf killing toxic chemical
• the use of these chemicals destroyed villages
  and killed/wounded civilians
• search and destroy tactics led to burning of
  villages, killing of livestock, and sometimes
  killing of the innocent.

14
AFFECTS OF NAPALM and AGENT ORANGE
15
TROOP MORALE

• Issues for the troops
• guerrilla warfare led to frustrations and
  confusion
• conditions of the jungle
• could not gain substantial defeats
• soldiers were forced to fight by law (draft)
  even those that opposed the war
• wide spread abuse of alcohol, marijuana, and
  other drugs
• some soldiers killed their superiors
• corruption and instability of the South
  Vietnamese government
• non elected government led to
• protest, demonstrations, civil war

16
Doves vs. Hawks

• Large-scale anti war protests on college campuses
• Huge protests by 1967
• Moral arguments, we cant win, giving up the
  Great Society
• The poor have to fight the war
• Hawks want total victory
• Doves want to negotiate
• By 1968, LBJ is hugely unpopular

17
Vietnams affect on LBJ Programs

• As the war dragged on, more Americans began to
  disprove of the war.
• Escalation of troops
• cost of the war
• - affected the economy
• LBJ asked for a tax increase to pay for the war
  but had to cut funding to domestic programs and
  goals
• LBJs The Great Society and domestic reform
  suffered

18
Voices of Protest

• Asserting new identities

19
Changes in Civil Rights Movement

• C.R.M. ends legal segregation in the South
• Doesnt end de facto segregation everywhere, or
  economic equality
• Watts riot 1965
• Builds from a fight between white police and
  blacks in Watts
• Dozens of riots through 1968

20
Black Power

• Black Power militant activists want
  self-defense, rapid social change
• Malcolm X
• Nation of Islam
• Wants black nationalism (footage)
• Criticizes Martin Luther King, nonviolent
  resistance (Dog footage)
• Black Panthers
• Trying to improve black communities
• Militant fights with police
• People find them threatening
• (handout)

21
Native American Activism

• Native Americans criticize the government
• Demand Red Power
• American Indian Movement
• Promote traditional ways of life, prevent police
  brutality, teach history and values, protest
  oppression
• Alcatraz Island

22
Hispanic-Americans Organize

• Cesar Chavez
• Organizes migrant workers into the United Farm
  Workers union
• Organizes grape boycott
• Gets better wages for migrant workers
• Chicano movement
• Trying to form an identify of Mexican-Americans
• Reject assimilation, protest conditions
• (footage)

23
A Second Wave of Feminism

• The Feminist Mystique
• Betty Friedan writes how women are trapped in
  1950s gender roles
• (handouts)
• National Organization for Women (NOW)
• Call for equal pay and conditions, an end to
  gender discrimination, legal abortions
• Womens Liberation
• More radical, confrontational
• consciousness-raising, publicity-raising
  techniques

24
The Youth Movement
25
The Student Movement the New Left

• New Left liberal, idealist youth
• Students for a Democratic Society 1962
• Port Huron Statement transform the U.S. into a
  participatory democracy
• Tom Hayden
• Free Speech Movement
• Student groups in Berkeley calling for the right
  to on-campus political activity
• Mario Savio
• Anti-War movement marches, demonstrations at
  draft offices, Washington D.C.

26
Kent State Jackson State

• 1970 Nixon announces he is bombing Cambodia
• Protests at Kent State
• Nixon sends in the National Guard they open
  fire 4 killed
• Similar situation at Jackson State College
• End of the student movement

27
Legacy of the Student Movement

• Movement becomes more radical, loses support
• The Weathermen
• War is ending nothing to protest
• Republican backlash
• Does liberalize college campuses

28
The Counterculture
29
Hippies and Drugs

• Counterculture so dissatisfied with mainstream
  society, they want to completely change it
• Hippies reject consumerism, employment share
  what they have
• Increase in drug use marijuana, LSD
• Reject popular clothing and hairstyles

30
Topic A Fashion
Counterculture Youth You dress like everyone
else. Be an individual! Mainstream Americans
You will never get anywhere in life looking like
that! Why cant you dress more
appropriately! Counterculture Youth The way I
dress
31
Topic B Sexual Attitudes
Mainstream Americans Your sexual conduct is
immoral and degrades the institution of marriage!
Counterculture Youth You are way off! Love
shouldnt be confined within an institution. Why
cant you respect my choices? Mainstream
Americans I dont understand
32
Topic D Ways of Living
Mainstream Americans How can you live with so
many people? There is absolutely no
privacy! Counterculture Youth Why do you feel
the need to fence yourself off in the suburbs?
Dont you feel isolated? Mainstream Americans I
feel
33
Topic E American Values
Counterculture Youth Life is all about freedom,
baby, FREEDOM! You need to leave people alone to
do their own thing! Mainstream Americans You
hippies are taking the idea of freedom way too
far. Shouldnt there be some limits to personal
freedom? Counterculture Youth Why