The Vietnam War Divides America Devastates Vietnam I

The Vietnam War Divides America & Devastates Vietnam

I. Before Americans Arrive ( 1954) A. French and Japanese Imperialism in Vietnam (Late 19 th Century 1945)

Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh (1945): “All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with unalienable Rights; among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness…We are convinced that the Allies cannot fail to recognize the right of the Vietnamese people to independence.

B. The Vietnamese Victory at Dien Bien Phu (1954)

II. Early American Interventions (1954 -1964) A. Rationale: Contain Communism B. Action: • American Advisors & Arms • Postponed Elections & Puppet Governments

Ngo Dinh Diem

C. Vietnamese Resist American Imperialism

III. The Escalation of War and Protest (1965 -1968)

A. The Escalation of War: The Gulf of Tonkin Incident and American Troops (1965)

The U. S. S. Maddox

B. The Escalation of Protest • Students, African-Americans, and the Draft

• Napalm & the My Lai Massacre

• The Tet Offensive Shocks the American Public

IV. De-Escalation & the Legacy of the Vietnam War

A. The De-Escalation of War: Vietnamization, Troop Reductions, and the End of the Vietnam War (19691973)

B. The Legacy • Vietnam: Reunification, Communism and Terror (1975 -1986)

• Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Genocide

• The United States: 1. Growing Distrust of National Government and Leaders 2. The Vietnam Analogy and the Iraq War