Hist 105 106 Dr. Robert Morrow Fall 2015 Vietnam

Hist 105 106 Dr Robert Morrow Fall 2015v I E T N A M A S S I G N

Review your notes for Isserman and Kazin, “Why Did the United States Fight in Vietnam?” and for my lecture about the Cold War and the Vietnam War. Outline for yourself an answer to this question: Why did the U.S. aid South Vietnam?

Write the first paragraph of the assignment in response to the question. Your topic sentence needs to be a direct answer to the question and might be: The United States aided South Vietnam for several reasons. You do not have to use this example sentence. To write the rest of the paragraph, you need to supply evidence from the Isserman-Kazin article and from my lecture. To do this you must: • Identify the source of your information by beginning a sentence like this: Historians Maurice Isserman and Michael Kazin write that the United States aided South Vietnam because or Historian Robert Morrow explains that the United States aided South Vietnam because. • For the sentences that follow this one, you do not need to identify your source as long as you are still drawing on Isserman and Kazin or Morrow, but, if and when you switch to your other source, you need to identify the source in a similar manner to above. • You need to explain the evidence in a way that makes it obvious how the evidence relates to the topic sentence you have written. • Your paragraph should be at least five sentences in length, including the topic sentence.

Review your notes for the four documents we read in Takin’ It to the Streets: • George Skakel, “One Soldier's View: Vietnam Letters” • Paul Potter, “The Incredible War” • Martin Luther King, Jr., “Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam” • John Kerry, “Vietnam Veterans Against the War” Outline for yourself an answer to this question: • What reasons did opponents of the war give for their opposition to the United States involvement in South Vietnam’s civil war?

Write the second paragraph of the assignment in response to the question. Your topic sentence needs to be a direct answer to the question. The more of these four critics of the war that you can include in your paragraph the better. As you bring in reasons for their opposition, you must make it clear which of the men is making the argument that you are explaining. You also must make it clear how the reasons fit with your topic sentence. This second paragraph also should be at least five sentences in length, including the topic sentence.

Type up your two paragraphs and be sure that they conform to these rules: • They must be typed, double-spaced, with your name at the top of the first page. • They must be written entirely in your own words. USE NO QUOTATIONS. • They must not include any information taken from any source other than those assigned in the class. USE NO INTERNET SOURCES TO WRITE THIS ASSIGNMENT.

You must submit your paper on Blackboard: • The paper is due by 11:00 p.m. on October 27 (November 2 for the Monday evening class) • Submit your paper in a format compatible with Microsoft Word for Mac 2011. Note: Rich Text Format is a common format that is compatible with this standard. Please avoid using PDF or Apple Pages formats if you possibly can. • The link for submitting it is under the Writing Assignments section in a folder labeled “Vietnam Assignment.” In that folder is a link labeled “Submit the Vietnam Assignment.” • If something goes wrong submitting it on Blackboard, e-mail me a copy as an MS Word file before the deadline. Problems with Blackboard are not an excuse to submit the paper late. • This paper will be graded on a 50-point scale and that score will count toward the 180-point total for the Writing Assignments part of the course grade. • The grades of all late papers will be lowered two full letter grades (for example, an A paper becomes a C paper if it is late). • Papers that include passages plagiarized from the Internet, another student’s paper, or any other source will receive a zero (no credit). Papers that use information from the Internet will receive a 20 point penalty.

Paper For Above instruction

The Vietnam War was a complex and contentious conflict that drew numerous domestic and international debates. The United States aided South Vietnam primarily to prevent the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, influenced by the broader context of the Cold War. According to historians Maurice Isserman and Michael Kazin, the U.S. support was driven by the desire to contain communism, particularly after the success of the Soviet Union and China in expanding their influence. They argue that American policymakers believed that allowing Vietnam to fall under communist control could lead to a domino effect, threatening other nations in the region and jeopardizing U.S. strategic interests. My lecture reinforced this perspective by emphasizing that Cold War fears motivated U.S. intervention, as America aimed to uphold its global containment policy. The belief was that supporting South Vietnam was essential to preserving American security and demonstrating American resolve against communist expansion. Therefore, ideological motives intertwined with geopolitical concerns to justify the U.S. aid to South Vietnam, reflecting the wider Cold War mentality that prioritized preventing Soviet hegemony worldwide.

Opposition to the Vietnam War grew as many critics challenged the morality, effectiveness, and rationale of U.S. involvement. Several voices from that era voiced strong opposition, among them George Skakel, Paul Potter, Martin Luther King Jr., and John Kerry, each expressing distinct reasons for their dissent. George Skakel, through his Vietnam letters, conveyed the personal and moral pain caused by the war, emphasizing the human cost and the destruction inflicted on Vietnamese civilians. Paul Potter denounced the war as an unjust and unnecessary conflict, criticizing the enthusiasm with which it was pursued and highlighting the profound social and political divisions it caused at home. Martin Luther King Jr. explicitly condemned the war as morally wrong, linking it to issues of racial inequality and economic injustice, and argued that the war diverted resources from crucial domestic programs. John Kerry, as a war veteran and activist, questioned the legitimacy of the conflict, condemning it for its brutality and for the lies used to justify U.S. involvement. These critics collectively argued that the war was morally indefensible, militarily unwinnable, and detrimental to American ideals, prompting widespread protests and calls for an end to U.S. participation.

References

• Isserman, Maurice, and Michael Kazin. America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s. Oxford University Press, 2012.
• King, Martin Luther Jr. “Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam.” 1967.
• Kerry, John. “Vietnam Veterans Against the War.” 1971.
• Potter, Paul. The Incredibly War. 1970.
• Skakel, George. “One Soldier's View: Vietnam Letters.” 1968.
• Morrow, Robert. “Cold War and Vietnam War Lecture Notes.” Fall 2015.
• Kazin, Michael. The Populist Persuasion: An American History. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995.
• Herring, George C. America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975. McGraw-Hill, 2002.
• Duiker, William J. The Communist Road to Power in Vietnam. Westview Press, 2010.
• Appy, Christian G. Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam. University of North Carolina Press, 1993.