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
When was Calley trialed?
29 march 1971 he was convicted for killing 22 civilians and sentenced to life imprisonment
What did Nixon say about Calley case?
3 April Nixon said he would review cally case himself
he said calley should be confined at his US military base not in prison
he was released after 3 and a half years under house arrest in his military base
When/what were the Kent state shooting?
4 May 1970 Ohio national guardsmen shot four unarmed soldiers during a protest against the Vietnam war .2 of the dead were not protestors
What happened on friday 1 May
a group of students decided to bury a copy of the US constituent as a protest and one them who fought in the war wanted to bury his discharged papers to
What happened on 2nd/3rd May?
fight between pro-war and anti war group
2nd may several demonstrations
2nd of may evening the Officer Training corps building campus was burned
mayor declared an emergency and 500 officers came with rifle and tear gas
3 May more demonstration which were broken by the tear gas
What could the guards not break off?
4 may officials banned demonstration planned for 12am but it was ignored
guards could not break up the demonstrations with tear gas and students threw empty gas cannisters
Who were the dovesand the hakes?
DOVES-Those who pushed for war to end
HAWKS-Pro-war
How did international relations cause political opposition?
The war was a wider political problem because of the possibility of starting a war with the USSR or China
growing criticism from other nations
How did the war in vietnam cause political oppostion?
NV know we’ll go and they’ll still be here
limited war may prevent the war from developing into a conflict with the USSR and Chin but wont defeat NV
We cant tell our enemies from our allies
we’re struggling to fight against the guerilla war
When did the Gulf of tonkin repeal?
24 June 1970 so the presidents didn’t have to consult congress when making decisions about the war
when was the limit seton funding?
30 June was the cut-off point for any involvement in Cambodia
1971 was when all troops were to withdraw
congress refused to give as much funding after the Paris peace accords which made the south Vietnamese gov collapse faster
Why did USA get world wide opposition?
Because they were helping a corrupted regime and were fighting a war with shockingly high civilian death toll even though they were a democratic nation
