Vietnam+War-+Andre+and+Tom

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[|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Sji9OhAuI]

Outline Vietnam War 1954-1975 -Communist (North Vietnamese Army, Vietcong), Democracy and Freedom (USA, South Vietnam) -From 1950 to 1954, the Americans were giving the French, who ruled Vietnam at the time, financial aid to help the war being fought. Truman did not want to see more countries fall to communism. -We were afraid because of the domino theory, that if Vietnam fell to communism other countries that were close to it would too. (Japan, the Phillipines, Australia, etc.) -Eventually on May 7, 1954, the French surrendered because they were getting attacked by Vietnamese troops.(Dien Bien Phu) -Vietnam was granted freedom in May 1954. -JFK elected in 1960. He wanted to stop communism with an aggressive approach. -American troops were first sent in 1961. -JFK was assassinated and Lyndon Johnson became president. -The USS Maddox was attacked, and Johnson sent an airstrike over North Vietnam. -Vietnamese army used guerilla tactics to fight. -The **Gulf of Tonkin Resolution** was passed, which allowed military action in Southeast Asia. Then, Johnson decided to bomb North Vietnam. -The war became larger as Johnson sent more troops into Vietnam. -Johnson then began a plan called "Operation Rolling Thunder". They continuously bombed North Vietnam, but North Vietnam did not want make peace. -After this, Johnson took an even more aggressive approach, whch consisted of more bombings and the use of Agent Orange and Napalm. -Agent Orange is an hebicide (kills plants) -Napalm is a jelly version of gasoline. It was hard to extinguish and it would stick to whatever it touched. -The Vietnamese troops kept on the move and fought using guerilla tactics like booby traps, mines, and so on. They ambushed our troops at night time. -Our goal was to prevent communism from spreading into South Vietnam. -The war was difficult to fight because it was had to tell which side people were on. -Inflation was caused by the goverment spending money on the war. - In order to aid the economy, Johnson formulated a plan called the Great Society Plan. His goals were to reduce the amount of poverty in the us, better the education and medical care systems, and to help combat racism. -The nation was spilt up into Hawks and Doves. Hawks (for Vietnam war) Doves (against) -More than 1.5 millioin people were drafted in the Vietnam War. WW2 and Vietnam war were the only two wars that people were drafted in -When a person became 18, they had to register in the draft. -The communists launched an attack by the name of the Tet Offensive. US troops along with South Vetnamese troops defeated the North Vietnamese in this offensive, but the fighting and strategy of the North Vietnamese showed that they still were able to fight on. This also made americans think that an end was not in sight. -After the Tet Offensive, the Secretary of Defense, Clark Clifford, decided that we should try to make peace instead of sending more troops over, which would hurt our achng economy. -After Johnson, in the election of 1968, Richard Nixon became president. -His theory on the war was "peace with honor". This stated that he wanted to bring the war to an end, but under honorable terms. -The North Vietnamese offered terms of peace, but Nixon did not agree with them because of his "peace with honor" theory. -Nixon attempted Vietnamiztion, which consisted of withdrawing US troops from Vietnam. -Nixon authorized ground attacks on Vietcong and NVA army bases in Cambodia. -After the invasion in Cambodia, the Vietnamese were still insistent on their terms of peace. Their way or the highway. -In October 1972, the US and North Vienam came to an agrement concerning terms of peace. After a month or so, the North Vietnamese backed out of the peace proposal. In return, we bombed them until they complied. In January of 1973, the Paris Peace Accords was signed. Terms of Paris Peace Accords: US withdrawl of troops NVA will still remain in South Vietnam The noncommunist government will remain in effect in South Vietnam -EVen thought the treaty was signed, NOrth Vietnam still had conflicts with South Vietnam. The communist North Vietnamese army easily took over South Vietnam.

bWorks Cited Lapsansky-Werner, Emma J. //United States History: Modern America//. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2009. Print. "Battlefield:Vietnam | Guerrilla Tactics." //PBS//. Web. 25 May 2010. []. "Vietnam War." //The History Place//. Web. 25 May 2010. .

Agenda Tonight: Tom: Finish presentation. Andre: Post pictures to use in presentation on wiki.