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COMING APART AT HOME America in the Vietnam Era

COMING APART AT HOME America in the Vietnam Era. History 17B Lecture 15. Why was America so divided by 1968? Vietnam War shattered this idealism. Americans called to sacrifice for their country. Optimism among young people. Introduction: A Call to Idealism. The Counter Culture.

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COMING APART AT HOME America in the Vietnam Era

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  1. COMING APART AT HOMEAmerica in the Vietnam Era History 17B Lecture 15

  2. Why was America so divided by 1968? Vietnam War shattered this idealism. Americans called to sacrifice for their country. Optimism among young people. Introduction: A Call to Idealism

  3. The Counter Culture • Defining the Youth Rebellion • Composed of two Movements The Counter Culture The Anti-War Movement

  4. The Hippie Movement Roots in the 1950s An expression of frustration at stifling conformity fed by consumerism and the Cold War. Beatniks the forefathers of 1960s Hippies. A “Counter” Culture Hippie culture was contrary to mainstream American values: Free love, communalism, sharing, harmony. The Counter-Culture

  5. The Counter-Culture An expression of anger and joy - a confirmation of their lifestyle.

  6. Wednesday morning at five o’clock as the day begins Silently closing her bedroom door Leaving the note that she hoped would say more She goes downstairs to the kitchen clutching her handkerchief Quietly turning the backdoor key Stepping outside she is free. She… (We gave her most of our lives) …is leaving… (Sacrificed most of our lives) …home (We gave her everything money could buy) She’s leaving home after living alone For so many years. Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown Picks up the letter that’s lying there Standing alone at the top of the stairs She breaks down and cries to her husband Daddy our baby’s gone. Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly? How could she do this to me? She…(We never thought of ourselves) …is leaving… (Never a thought for ourselves) ….home (We struggled hard all our lives to get by) She’s leaving home after living alone For so many years. Friday morning at nine-o'clock she is far away Waiting to keep the appointment she made Meeting a man from the motor trade. She…(What did we do that was wrong) …is having…(We didn’t know it was wrong) …fun (Fun was the one thing that money can’t buy) Something inside that was always denied for so many years. She’s leaving home (bye, bye) She’s Leaving Home

  7. Cultural Pioneers? Looking to remake the world into a “better place.” Spontaneity, human intimacy, and love. Not a political movement A quest for meaning and rebellion against traditional mores. “Turn on, tune in, drop out.” – Timothy Leary The Counter-Culture

  8. The War In Vietnam Idealistic Commitment vs. Reality of War

  9. The War In Vietnam • Explaining the War • Soviet/Chinese aggression? • Civil War between North and South Vietnams? • My Position: • Vietnam War was a peasant revolution to overthrow U.S. military and economic domination. • A war that could have been avoided.

  10. Geneva Accords of 1954 Ended the French-Indochina War A temporary partition at the 17th parallel. National elections to be held within 2 years. Early U.S. Involvement Ho Chi Minh asked for U.S. support for independence after both WWI and WWII. But U.S. wanted a strong Cold War alliance with France. The War In Vietnam

  11. Troubles for Ngo Diem and Kennedy Land reform benefitted elites, not peasants. National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) founded in 1960 to “liberate” SV from U.S. imperialism. Cold War Context: Eisenhower’s Domino Theory Ngo Diem installed by U.S. in “South Vietnam.” $200 million a year in aid. No national elections. The War In Vietnam

  12. John F. Kennedy Sent 16,000 military advisors by 1963. Sought to buy time by building a “national will” among South Vietnamese. Diem assassinated in 1963 by military coup. The War In Vietnam

  13. Preferred “yes” men over dissenting views. Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara resigned in 1966. Johnson’s War Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964) and the “blank check” for war. Combat Troops introduced in 1965: 1966: 380,000 US soldiers 1968: 536,000 US soldiers The War in Vietnam

  14. The War in Vietnam • A War Against the Peasants • A revolution that promises land reform, education, and a better way of life or continued exploitation under the status quo (Which would you choose?) • NLF’s strongest support in South Vietnam countryside.

  15. Peasant Suffering Bombing raids over north and search and destroy missions in South. 6 million tons of explosives dropped on Indochina by 1971. Relocation to “strategic hamlets.” 18 million gallons of poisonous chemicals sprayed. Village Massacres such as My Lai (March 1968) 400-500 civilians murdered. The War in Vietnam

  16. Student Activism • Personal Politics/Direct Action • Participate through personal sacrifice • Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) founded (1962) • Port Huron Statement and the “New Left”

  17. Student Activism • The Anti-War Movement • Ineffectiveness of peaceful protest • Alienation and radicalism by 1966. • Draft Resistance and efforts to ban university R&D and ROTC. • More violent protests by 1968.

  18. 1968: Violence in the Streets

  19. Police disperse the crowd forcefully in a “police riot.” Chicago 1968 Youth International Party (Yippies) organized 10,000 protestors to disrupt Democratic convention. Nominated “Pegasus the Pig” for President. Student Activism

  20. Student Activism • Collapse of the Democratic Party • New Deal coalition splintered over Vietnam, civil rights and cultural issues. • Democrats seen as party of chaos at a time when Americans wanted “law and order.” • Richard Nixon won the Presidency.

  21. Endgame in Vietnam • Nixon’s Secret Plan • EXPAND THE WAR! • Bombed and invaded Cambodia, destabilizing its government. • “Vietnamization” • Gradual withdrawal of American troops and training and arming of SVN troops.

  22. Diplomacy of Terror Massive civilian casualties caused from intensive bombing raids over North in 1972. Goal was to force North into negotiations. The Fall of Saigon January 1975: SVN army thrown into chaos with NVN offensive. April 1975: SVN government collapsed. Endgame in Vietnam

  23. Could the U.S. have won the war? • Supporters say Yes: • More bombing and more troops early in war. • My position: No • U.S. only had support of a brutal and exploitive elite that had no popular support. • South Vietnam an “illegal fiction.” • More bombs would only have killed more peasants.

  24. Assessing the Anti-War Movement Nixon marginalized it: Demonized and harassed its leaders. Replaced draft with all volunteer army But Nixon did fell pressure to end the war. Impact of the Youth Rebellion: Mixed Results Opened up habits of speech, entertainment, and music. A catalyst for other social movements in the 1970s. Irony: sparked a conservative revolution. Aftermath Kent State, 1972

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