10th American History

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• 10th American History
• Unit IX Post War America
• Chapter 29 Section 3 The End of the War

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Why are we in Vietnam?

• Domino Theory- Eisenhower
• Stop Aggression
• Protect our reputation- our credibility

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The End of the War

• The Big Idea
• Growing antiwar feelings in the United States
  helped convince the government to end U.S.
  involvement in the Vietnam War.
• Main Ideas
• Opinions about the Vietnam War divided American
  society in the 1960s.
• The war under Nixon expanded from Vietnam to Laos
  and Cambodia.
• The Vietnam War ended in 1973, but it had lasting
  effects on Vietnam and the United States.

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Main Idea 1 Opinions about the Vietnam War
divided American society in the 1960s.

• Growing numbers of Americans began to criticize
  the war.
• College students often took the lead in
  organizing antiwar protests.
• One active group was Students for a Democratic
  Society.
• By end of 1968, 75 percent of college campuses
  had been sites for antiwar demonstrations.
• Some Americans held demonstrations in support of
  the war.
• Some young Americans developed a counterculture
  a culture with its own values and ways of
  behaving.
• Members of this counterculture were called
  hippies.
• Emphasized individual freedom, nonviolence, and
  communal sharing
• Expressed rejection of traditional society by
  growing long hair and wearing unusual clothes

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War Protests

• In 1970 Nixon announced that he had ordered
  troops into Cambodia.
• Antiwar protests intensifiedespecially on
  college campuses.
• Antiwar protests erupted into violence.
• Nixon believed that antiwar protesters
  represented only a minority of Americans.
• Radical antiwar groups turned to violent measures
  to oppose the war.
• More and more Americans began to oppose the war
  when they learned about the My Lai massacre and
  the Pentagon Papers.

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Increasing Protests

• Campus Violence
• Kent State University in Ohio
• 4 students were killed and 9 injured
• Jackson State College in Mississippi
• 2 students were killed and 9 wounded

• Antiwar Movement
• Polls showed that fifty percent of Americans
  opposed the war.
• Coalition of clergy, trade unionists, and
  veterans established a nationwide day of protest
  called Moratorium Day.
• 250,000 protesters made up the largest antiwar
  demonstration in U.S. history.

• Radical Protests
• Some antiwar groups turned to violent measures.
• The Weathermen set off more than 5,000 bombs and
  carried out the Days of Rage.
• Most antiwar protesters did not support extremist
  groups or terrorist measures.

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Anti-War Protests 1969

• In the United States the Cambodian incursion
  sparked renewed Anti-War reactions.
  Demonstrations got louder and stronger.
• Nixon appeals to the Silent Majority for
  support of the war.
• June 1969- Sense of the Senate barred military
  operations in any country without Congressional
  approval.
• June 24, 1970- Senate repealed the Tonkin Gulf
  Resolution.

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Kent State May 4, 1970
Protests against the Cambodian Incursion at Kent
State University in Ohio caused the Governor to
call out the National Guard. A frightened guard
unit opened fire at the unarmed protestors
killing 4. More that 80 colleges and
universities suspended classes.
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Mary Ann Vecchio (0107)
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One Week's Dead (0139)
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Election of 1968

• President Johnson decided not to run for another
  term of office.
• Several others campaigned for Democratic
  nomination.
• Vice President Hubert Humphrey
• Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York
• Violence broke out at Democratic convention after
  police tried to stop antiwar demonstrations.
• Damaged chances of Hubert Humphrey, the
  Democratic nominee, of winning the election
• Republican nominee was Richard M. Nixon.
• Promised to restore order to society and bring
  peace with honor to Vietnam
• Richard Nixon won the 1968 presidential election.

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Vietnamization the Anti-war Movement (0333)
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Main Idea 2The war under Nixon expanded from
Vietnam to Laos and Cambodia.
Nixons Plan

• With his national security advisor, Henry
  Kissinger, Nixon created a plan to pull U.S.
  troops form Vietnam and have the South Vietnamese
  Army take over all the fighting.
• Strategy called Vietnamization
• Withdrawal of American troops began

Cambodia and Laos

• Nixon, without knowledge of Congress or American
  public, approved bombing raids on Cambodia and
  Laos to disrupt Vietcong supply lines.
• On April 30, 1970, Nixon announced that U.S.
  troops were sent into Cambodia to attack
  Communist bases.
• Nixon seemed to be expanding the war.

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Nixon and Vietnamization

• The plan was to encourage the South Vietnamese to
  take more responsibility for fighting the war.
• It was hoped that this policy would eventually
  enable the United States to withdraw gradually
  all their soldiers from Vietnam.
• July 1969, the 540,000 US troops were to be
  reduced by 25,000.
• To increase the size of the ARVN (Army of the
  Republic of Vietnam), a mobilization law was
  passed in South Vietnam that called up into the
  army all men between seventeen and forty-three
  years of age.

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Ho Chi Minh Trail

• The US could never stem the flow of supplies to
  the Ho Chi Minh Trail and this was crucial to
  keep the guerrilla war going.
• Communist forces had been using what was then
  known as the Truong Son Route since at least 1959
  to infiltrate men and materiel through Laos into
  South Vietnam. Not only was it a lifeline, it
  served as a basing area and a sanctuary in Laos
  for staging operations into South Vietnam.

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Nixons Secret War 244 min
.
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Cambodian Incursion 1969-1970

• Nixon secretly widened the war to force the North
  Vietnamese to negotiate.
• Secret bombing of North Vietnamese and Cambodian
  bases in Cambodia
• While enlarging the war Nixon also began to
  withdraw troops.
• In 1970, the communists in Cambodia overthrew the
  leader Prince Sihanouk and took over (Khmer
  Rouge). U.S. and South Vietnamese leadership
  were concerned with Vietcong and North Vietnamese
  bases located in Cambodia across the South
  Vietnam border (Mekong River).
• President Nixon gave the approval for an April,
  30, 1970 attack across the border into Cambodia
  by the Allies and U.S. Tanks- an incursion. This
  seemed to be in direct conflict with
  administrations attempt to scale down the war
  (Vietnamization)

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1972 Election

• Student protests erupted all over the nation.
• In June 1971 the Pentagon Papers were published.
• Revealed that for years, U.S. officials had been
  lying to the American public about wars progress
• Intensified antiwar feelings
• Twenty-sixth Amendment ratified in 1971
• Lowered voting age from 21 to 18
• Democratic candidate George McGovern tried to
  appeal to young voters.
• Majority of voters over 21 supported Nixon.
• Richard Nixon won presidential election by a
  landslide.

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Paris Peace Accords Leaving Vietnam (0503)
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Main Idea 3The Vietnam War ended in 1973, but
it had lasting effects on Vietnam and the United
States.

• On January 27, 1973, the United States signed a
  cease-fire called the Paris Peace Accords.
• Agreement between United States, North Vietnam,
  South Vietnam, and the Vietcong
• United States agreed to withdrawal of all troops.
• North Vietnam agreed to return all American
  prisoners of war.
• Despite the peace agreement, fighting broke out
  between North and South Vietnam in 1974.
• United States refused to send troops back to
  South Vietnam.

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Impact of Vietnam War

• Southeast Asia
• 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the
  war.
• 1 million North Vietnamese and Vietcong solders
  were killed.
• An estimated 2 million civilians killed
• North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon in April
  1975, and Communist leaders created the Socialist
  Republic of Vietnam.
• Communist dictators took over Laos and Cambodia.

• United States
• Some 58,000 Americans were killed in the war.
• More than 300,000 Americans were wounded.
• Returning American soldiers were not always
  welcomed home and many suffered from
  post-traumatic stress disorder.
• War Powers Act passed in 1973, requiring
  president to get Congressional approval before
  committing U.S. troops to armed struggle
• Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated in 1982

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War Powers Act - 1973

• To ensure that Congress and the President share
  in making decisions that may get the U.S.
  involved in hostilities.
• Requires the President to consult with Congress
  prior to the start of any hostilities.
• Under the act, the President can only send combat
  troops into battle or into areas where
  ''imminent'' hostilities are likely, for 60 days
  without either a declaration of war by Congress
  or a specific Congressional mandate.
• The President can extend the time the troops are
  in the combat area for 30 extra days, without
  Congressional approval, for a total of 90 days.

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The Legacy of the War

• Southeast Asia
• 635,000 South Vietnamese died Vietcong and NVA
  war dead equaled 1 million
• Severe environmental damage from bombs and
  defoliants
• More than 1.5 million South Vietnamese fled the
  country after the fall of Saigon.

• Veterans
• 58,000 Americans were killed 600 were held as
  POWs 2,500 soldiers reported MIA 300,000
  wounded
• Experienced a negative reception upon return
• Trouble readjusting to civilian life
  (post-traumatic stress disorder)

• Political Impact
• United States failed to prevent Communists from
  taking over South Vietnam.
• Spent more than 150 billion on the war
• Changed how many Americans viewed government
• Congress passed the War Powers Act in 1973.

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Vietnam Veterans Memorial 124
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The Vietnam Wars Legacy

• Two years after U.S. troops were withdrawn, North
  Vietnamese troops invaded South Vietnam.
• After a short amount of fighting, South Vietnam
  surrendered.
• The U.S. military rushed to evacuate Americans
  still working in Saigon.
• Some 130,000 South Vietnamese were also evacuated
  and flown to the United States.
• After two decades of temporary division,
  Vietnam was reunited under a Communist
  government.
• In 1975, Communist forces called the Khmer Rouge
  gained control of Cambodia.
• Vietnam forces invaded Cambodia in 1979,
  overthrew the Khmer Rouge, and occupied the
  country till 1989.

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Fall of Vietnam and Indochina- 1975

• Vietnam
• Fall of Saigon Apr. 29, 1975- Ambassador Graham
  Martin and 7100 U.S. and SV personnel evacuated
  Apr. 30, 1975
• Cambodia
• Khmer Rouge
• Laos
• Pathet Lao and Pol Pot

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Victory of North Vietnam - 1975

• Collapse of ARVN and South Vietnamese Government-
  The South Vietnamese Army withdrew from the
  Central Highland, leaving Saigon open to invasion
  from the North Vietnamese. The United States
  refused to provide additional aid
• April 21, the South Vietnamese president resigned
  and fled
• Fall of Siagon- On April 30, 1975, Saigon fell to
  North Vietnamese tanks.
• The End-On April 30, just as the last U.S.
  helicopter was lifting off, the North Vietnamese
  Army swept into Saigon

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Cambodia and Khmer Rouge

• The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, killed close to
  1.7 million people in the mid- to late 1970s.
• Money, private property, education and religion
  were abolished and Cambodia's towns and cities
  were emptied as the population was forced into
  massive, unworkable agricultural collectives.
• In addition to death from work starvation and
  exhaustion, the regime killed anyone suspected
  with connections with either the defeated Khmer
  Republic government or the previous Sihanouk
  government, as well as intellectuals (Pol Pot
  defined anyone who wore glasses as automatically
  an intellectual), professionals, and also ethnic
  Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams, Laotians, and Thai.

Pol Pot
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Killing Fields

• Killing Fields- 1975
• cities emptied or people sent to the countryside.
  Phnom Penh
• new rules- religion, money and private ownership
  were all banned communications with the outside
  world elimated family relationships dismantled.
  All previous rights and responsibilities were
  thrown out the window.
• New People with education, doctor, teacher,
  lawyers, etc. were killed. They chose to live in
  cities and were easy to identify.
• The CIA estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000
  people were executed by the Khmer Rouge, but
  executions represented only a minority of the
  death toll, which mostly came from starvation.
• Boat People- refuges.
• Dec. 28, 1978- Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia-
  Liberators or Invaders? The end of the Khmer
  Rouge

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Killing Fields
241 min.
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End of Laos 1975

• Years of bitter revolutionary struggle, ending
  with Americas secret war between 1964 and 1973,
  left Laos the most bombed country in the history
  of warfare.
• Fall of Laos- In 1975 the communist Pathet Lao
  took control of the government.
• Pathet Lao was a communist, nationalist political
  movement and organization in Laos.

Hmong rebels
CIA secret army- left behind
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The Legacy of the Pol Pot Regime and Khmer Rouge
(0146)
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