The Vietnam War
The war in Vietnam was an enduring struggle for independence that lasted twenty years. After being colonized and controlled by Japan, France, and China, Vietnam was ready to revolutionize and gain their independence. Once Ho Chi Minh, the new leader of Vietnam, adopted communism the United States became more worried about Soviet aggression. A communist Vietnam meant that neighboring countries could fall to communism through a theory called the domino theory. As the war began the United States soon found themselves in a state of social, economic, and political turmoil.
In August of 1964 two Northern Vietnamese torpedo boats shot at the USS Maddox, a United States destroyer. Without hesitation President Lyndon B. Johnson was
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1) This incident, known as the Gulf of Tonkin resolution is considered to be America’s official entrance in the war. The Gulf of Tonkin resolution made it apparent that very few individuals would disagree with the decision to support South Vietnam with the United States military.
Protests against the Vietnam War did not start until the draft was increased in October of 1965. Between the months of February and October the draft rate had significantly increased by thirty thousand soldiers a month. Nationally, people became infuriated by the amount of young men being sent off to war. Joe McDonald and his band Country Joe and the Fish wrote a song called “I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die” that conveys the thoughts of a young man being drafted and uses humor in their song to avoid getting in trouble for slandering or criticizing the United States military. (Doc. 2) Students had also begun to protest against
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During a speech King gave in 1967 he spoke about racial and economic oppression and its negative effects on the American society, “It was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to fight and die in extraordinarily high proportions relative to the rest of the population.” (Doc. 4). This statement is particularly interesting considering that fourteen percent of America’s military forces consisted of African-Americans, but African-Americans only made up ten percent of the overall American