Vietnam War

Vietnam War American History 10th Grade

What do you already know?
What do you already know about the Vietnam War?
We never actually declared war
Only war we have ever lost

Learning Targets
I can explain how the Vietnam war is an example of the U.S. Policy of Containment.
I can explain how the Vietnam war affected American foreign policy.
I can analyze why the war created conflict at home.
I am able to understand different perspectives of the war.

Key Events of the War
French forces controlled Vietnam during imperialism.
The French were defeated in 1954
Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel into a noncommunist south and a communist north.
Vietnam was split into two nations in 1956.
President Ngo Dinh Diem pledged to prevent a communist takeover of the South.
Ho Chi Minh led the Communist Party in the North.
Diem eventually fell out of favor and was assassinated.

U.S. Involvement
American warships were attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964.
Congress gave President Lyndon Johnson almost unlimited military power to wage war
Johnson began bombing North Vietnam and increased the number of U.S. troops
As U.S. casualties increased, so did opposition to the war at home.
Massive antiwar demonstrations took place on U.S. college campuses and at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Involvement Cont’d
In 1968, the North Vietnamese launched a massive offensive against South Vietnam during the first day of Tet.
America needed to use full military power.
War was televised for the first time in U.S. history.
Nixon began Vietnamization: supported turning the war effort over to the South Vietnamese and withdrawing U.S. troops.
1970, Nixon expanded the war into Laos and Cambodia- led to increased opposition to the war at home.
Four college students were killed at Kent State in Ohio

The end of the War
The United States signed a treaty with North Vietnam in 1973 and brought home its troops and POWs,
South Vietnam continued to fight. On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to communist forces, unifying Vietnam.

War Strategies
How might have Vietnam’s geography affected fighting?
What is guerilla warfare? How did this effect the U.S.?

Vietnam War

by Emily Holmes

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