Download Propaganda – Boston Massacre and Kent State

What Is Propaganda?
Tite
Kent State University – May 1970
•
Listen to the song and look at the images
–
Song is “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and
Young
•
What is the song about? What happens?
•
Who seems to be blamed for the event?
•
Who seems more innocent?
Kent State University – May 1970
•
What else is going on in 1970?
–
1968 - Robert Kennedy and MLK Jr. are both
assassinated
–
1969 – First soldiers drafted for Vietnam
–
1970 - Protests to the Vietnam War are at their
peak
•
•
Nixon expanded the war and invaded Cambodia
Richard Nixon is President of the US
Kent State University – May 1970
•
May 1, 1970
–
Big war protest
–
Riots start downtown
around Midnight
–
Police arrive, are
harassed, and
disperse the gathering
Kent State University – May 1970
•
May 2, 1970
–
Mayor of Kent
declares a state of
emergency
–
Ohio National Guard
arrive
–
ROTC building on
campus is set on fire
–
Students/Protesters
clash with police and
firemen
Kent State University – May 1970
•
May 3, 1970
–
1,000 Guardsmen on
campus
–
8:00 PM – Protest
rally
–
Guardsmen break up
rally with tear gas
•
•
10 guardsmen
injured
A protestor is
stabbed with a
bayonet
Kent State University – May 1970
•
Governor of Ohio
says...
•
“They're the worst type
of people that we
harbor in America. I
think that we're up
against the strongest,
well-trained, militant,
revolutionary group that
has ever assembled in
America.”
Kent State University – May 1970
•
May 4, 1970
–
2,000 students attend
a war protest
–
Guardsmen try to
break up protest with
tear gas
–
Guardsmen march
towards students
–
Some soldiers open
fire on students
Kent State University – May 1970
•
May 4, 1970 (cont.)
–
4 students killed
–
2 were uninvolved in
the war protests
–
9 students injured
•
–
1 paralyzed
Debate continues
over whether
soldiers were
ordered to shoot
Kent State University – May 1970
•
Now reconsider your opinion of the Kent State
students and the National Guardsmen...
–
Were the students entirely innocent?
–
Were the soldiers entirely to blame?
–
Did the song twist the truth at all?
Boston Massacre - 1770
•
Look at “History
Through Art” on p98.
•
Answer the Skillbuilder
questions
–
What advantages to
the soldiers have?
–
How could this help
the resistance against
England?
Boston Massacre - 1770
•
How is Revere's engraving a piece of
propaganda?
–
How would you define a massacre?
–
Do you think the picture is totally accurate?
–
Where do you think Paul Revere stretched the
truth or omitted certain details?
Comparing Boston and Kent

The Kent State shootings occurred almost
exactly two hundred years after the Boston
Massacre...

Are there any similarities between the two?

Are there any differences?


Do you think that riot control tactics should have
changed over those 200 years?
Do you think Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
could more easily spread their propaganda than
Paul Revere?