Download Escalation of the Vietnam War

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Escalation of the Vietnam War
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Objectives
• Describe how President Johnson widened the
war in Vietnam.
• Explain how the war in Vietnam was different
from any previous war in American history.
• Describe how the Vietnam War divided
Americans at home.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Terms and People
• escalate – step up
• napalm – a jellylike substance that bursts into
flames and sticks to people’s bodies
• hawks – people who supported the war in
Vietnam
• doves – people who believed the Vietnam War
could not be won and was morally wrong
• conscientious objector – person who refuses
to participate in war because of a strong belief
that war is wrong
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
How did the demands of greater
involvement in the Vietnam War
divide the nation?
In order to prevent Vietnam from falling to
communism, President Johnson was willing to
commit more U.S. soldiers to the war.
However, as the fighting and dying in Vietnam
intensified, a growing number of Americans
protested against the war.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
After Diem was
assassinated, the
South Vietnamese
government became
increasingly
unstable.
Johnson ordered an
increase in economic aid
and military advisers to
South Vietnam.
He also authorized secret
actions against North
Vietnam.
Meanwhile, the Soviet Union and China sent arms
and supplies to the Vietcong.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Johnson increased U.S. involvement in August 1964, after
sketchy reports of an attack in the Gulf of Tonkin.
The reports said that
North Vietnamese torpedo
boats had attacked
American destroyers.
President Johnson
decided to retaliate
by bombing North
Vietnam.
Johnson asked Congress for the authority to do whatever
was needed to settle the conflict.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which
gave Johnson the authority to use military force.
Johnson began to escalate U.S. involvement in the war,
citing the resolution as his authority.
Many Americans later questioned the legality of the war.
• The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was not a
declaration of war.
• Under the Constitution, only Congress can
declare war.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Through the fall of 1964, Johnson campaigned for
reelection, and he promised to not send American
soldiers to the war.
But, after the
election,
America’s
commitment
quickly
increased.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
In March 1965, Johnson ordered 3,500 marines—the
first American combat troops in Vietnam—to protect the
American air base in Da Nang.
Johnson then authorized
the use of U.S. ground
troops for offensive
action.
By 1968, half a million
U.S. soldiers were in
Vietnam.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
American entry into the ground war helped the
South Vietnamese government.
In June 1965, a
military leader
named Nguyen
Cao Ky seized
power in South
Vietnam.
He stabilized the
government using
nondemocratic
methods.
South Vietnam’s government was now able to
concentrate on the war against the Vietcong.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
The Americans used chemical weapons against the
Vietcong, including bombs filled with napalm and
phosphorus.
The Americans also sprayed the herbicide Agent
Orange in order to destroy vegetation where the
Vietcong might hide.
Later, Agent
Orange was
blamed for
serious health
problems.
In 1975, the United
States said it would never
again use herbicides in
war, unless an enemy did
so first.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Another U.S. tactic was the “search and destroy”
mission, the goal of which was not to gain
territory but simply to kill as many Vietcong as
possible.
Despite such brutal tactics, Americans
faced many challenges.
difficulty distinguishing
between friend and foe
hit-and-run attacks
lack of defined battle
lines
dense jungle foliage
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
The Vietcong did not have high-tech weapons, but
they knew the land.
They had large networks of tunnels where they could
hide.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
On January 31, 1968, the
Vietcong and the North
Vietnamese used Tet—their
New Year holiday—as cover
to launch attacks on every
major city in South
Vietnam.
Although caught by
surprise, American and
South Vietnamese troops
responded quickly.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
On the surface, Tet was a military victory for
the Americans, but it actually dealt a major
blow to the U.S. mission in Vietnam.
Americans were
shocked that the
enemy was so
strong, and many
argued that the
United States should
get out of Vietnam.
By now, President
Johnson and many of
his advisers believed
the United States
could not win the
war.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
A Nation Divided
Hawks
• Hawks supported the war.
• They wanted the government to mount an all-out
military effort that would decisively win the war.
• They demonstrated in support of the war.
Doves
• Doves urged withdrawal of U.S. troops.
• They organized many protests, including petitions,
massive marches, and sit-ins.
• The protests were peaceful at first, but later,
violent confrontations with police became
common.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
During the Vietnam War,
about 1.8 million men were
drafted to serve in the
military.
• Many men burned their draft
cards.
• Others sought recognition as
conscientious objectors.
• About 100,000 Americans fled
to Canada to avoid the war.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Meanwhile, television
newscasts brought
the war into American
living rooms.
The graphic images
shocked viewers.
Some believe the
bloody newscasts
helped turn
Americans against
the Vietnam War.