Opposition to the war Flashcards
Who was Norman Morrison?
2 Nov 1965 he burned himself outside the pentagon deliberately copying a buddhist monk to show opposition to the war
How did wayne morose show opposition to the war?
spoke against the war even before 1965 he gave the only speech in the senate against the gulf of tonkin resolution
What were opinion polls?
most regular was Gallup Polls
they ran regularly and coved a variety of questions about vietnam
How did Politicians show opposition?
reacted when an issue was significant enough to affect voters
as a result their views might be a useful measure of public opinion
How did demonstration show opposition to the war?
their size and the specific issues they targeted showed the opinion of the public towards the war
What short term factors affected opposition?
events in vietnam such as the TET OFFENSIVE
or presidential policy changes such as INVADING CAMBODIA
What long term factors affected opposition?
rising death toll
loss of serious injury of family members
length of the war
What other factors affected Opposition?
cost of the war
student movement
the draft
media
What did the students want?
rejected the values of their parents and wanted social change and became part of the “counter-culture”
What methods did the student council use?
they held sittings
boycotts
went on strike refusing to go to classes
protest demonstrations and marches
Did the movement get any attention?
they got media attention
and got involved in a growing spiral of violence
Who were the SDS?
Student democratic society which were set up in 1960
by 1965 it had 3000 members 1965 they gave their first statements against the war
What was the draft?
compulsory service in the military forces
those elected were sent draft cards telling them where and when to report
men were drafted from the age of 18
Why was there opposition to the draft?
felt as if it was unfair
argued that the draftees were too young
not well enough trained
poor families were least able to avoid the draft
What was the draft system changed to in 1969?
to a lottery system
men born from 1944-1950 were given a random number according to their date of birth
each time more soldiers were needed a number was drawn for the draft the next year
How could you avoid the draft?
college student could delay it until they graduated
clergymen and student training to work in churches
some workers in government,farmers
only son of a family
physically and mentally unfit
How did the media impact the Americans?
The vietnam war was the only war that allowed reporters to travel with the troops into war zones so it was on the TV one reporter said the tet offensive looked unwinnable whereas the gov said it was successful this made Americans go against the gov
What was the Mai Lai Massacre in 1968?
16 March 1968
charlie Company were sent to the village of My Lai and briefed that they would come under VC fire and destroy them only but
this did not happened there was only women,children and old men in the village and they killed them
Who lead the troops and what were they ordered to do?
Despite knowing this Lieutenant Calley killed all the people and animal and the photographer with them took photos
they said they had been ordered to kill everyone in the village
What happened immediately after the massacre?
military announced a successful mission
my Lai VC Bases destroyed and 128 Vc were killed
soldiers and helicopters pilot who were there reported the massacre to army officers
Chiefs from nearby villagers also reported the army massacre of hundreds of civilians
What did the army do?
organized a quick cover up
after a quick investigation it announced 20 accidental civilians death during the mission
Who tried to expose the cover up?
a solider collected eye witness and sent it to key US Politian’s to expose the cover up in 1969
When was the cover up questioned and what happened?
15 July 1970 it reported the army was covering the massacre up and what really happened and then on 5 sept 1970 Calley was charged with murder
What happened on the 13 Nov 1970?
diff newspaper reported the massacre
reporters collected eye winess testimony that over 500 civilian had been killed
