Research Paper On Kent State Massacre

A College Nightmare

On the day of May 4, 1970, college students and people across America watched in astonishment as the world they were living in was crumbling to the core. The reasoning behind American’s crumbling was because of the turning against each other as citizens and the government. America was turning against each other and their country because of the involvement in the Vietnam War. On this specific day in history, college students had lost their lives because they were fighting for something they strongly believed in. As the country watched in disbelief of the death of protesting students, the country wondered what was yet to come. Americans remember the infamous day, May 4, 1970, as the day of the Kent State Massacre.

As the

Around noon “university officials attempted to ban the students but proved unsuccessful in their efforts”, according to the article titled Kent State Shootings. As the protest worsened, National Guardsmen began to fire tear gas into the crowd. Due to the windy weather that day, the tear gas turned out to be unsuccessful. Soon after the tear gas was thrown, students began to throw rocks and the tear gas containers back at the soldiers. The National Guardsman, loaded with guns, soon advanced on the protesters. Soon after the soldiers had advanced on the protesters, twenty-nine National Guardsman, fearing for their lives, had opened fire on the crowd according to multiple sources including the article titled Kent State Shootings. The shots had lasted only thirteen seconds and the soldiers had fired a total of 67 shots. As the protest came to an abrupt end, nine students lay wounded and four students had been killed (Kent State

Around the time of the Vietnam War, tensions in America were high. Americans were not happy with the United States for sending troops into Vietnam, and entering the war. As men were sent into the deep jungles of Vietnam and died, Americans grieved because their people were dying in a place that they did not want to get involved in. The Kent State Massacre left an impact on America because they were just college kids protesting like the rest of America about something they did not support. This protest and war “helped convince the U.S. public that the anit-war protesters were not just hippies, drug addicts, or promoters of free love. They also included middle class and upper-class people, as well as educated people” (Kent State Shootings). The impact that the Kent State Massacre left on America showed that the event was “a lasting symbol of a nation divided by the war”