To what extent did the VietNam War impact social and political tensions in the United States from 1964 to 1975?
Document 1
Source: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 1964
| ….”Whereas the United States is assisting the peoples of Southeast Asia to protect their freedom and has no territorial, military or political ambitions in that area, but desires only that these peoples should be left in peace to work out their own destinies in their own way: Now, therefore, be it “Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression. |
| Document 2 Source: Country Joe and the Fish, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die,” 1965 | Document 3 Source: Lyndon B. Johnson Library, Vietnam War protestors at the March on the Pentagon. |
| Well, come on all of you, big strong men Uncle Sam needs your help again He’s got himself in a terrible jam Way down yonder in Vietnam So put down your books and pick up a gun We’re gonna have a whole lotta fun And it’s one, two, three What are we fighting for? Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn Next stop is Vietnam And it’s five, six, seven Open up the pearly gates Well there ain’t no time to wonder why Whoopee! we’re all gonna die Well, come on generals, let’s move fast Your big chance has come at last Now you can go out and get those reds ‘Cause the only good commie is the one that’s dead And you know that peace can only be won When we’ve blown ’em all to kingdom come |
Document 4
Source: Martin Luther King, April 4, 1967
| Over the past two years, as I have moved to break the betrayal of my own silences and to speak from the burnings of my own heart, as I have called for radical departures from the destruction of Vietnam, many persons have questioned me about the wisdom of my path. At the heart of their concerns this query has often loomed large and loud: “Why are you speaking about the war, Dr. King?” “Why are you joining the voices of dissent?” “Peace and civil rights don’t mix,” they say. “Aren’t you hurting the cause of your people,” they ask? And when I hear them, though I often understand the source of their concern, I am nevertheless greatly saddened, for such questions mean that the inquirers have not really known me, my commitment or my calling. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live. |
Document 5
Source: Muhammad Ali, March 1967
| “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No, I am not going ten thousand miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would put my prestige in jeopardy and could cause me to lose millions of dollars which should accrue to me as the champion. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is right here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality… If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn’t have to draft me, I’d join tomorrow. But I either have to obey the laws of the land or the laws of Allah. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I’ll go to jail. We’ve been in jail for four hundred years.” Note: Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali was drafted by the United States military in 1966 but refused to take the oath and be inducted into the military. This led to his arrest, conviction, and ban from boxing. |
| Document 6 Source: 1968 NY Daily News Newspaper | Document 7 Source: Song by Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969) |
| | Some folks are born made to wave the flag Ooh, they’re red, white and blue And when the band plays “Hail To The Chief” Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son, son It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no Some folks are born silver spoon in hand Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh But when the taxman comes to the door Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no millionaire’s son, no, no It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no |
Document 8
Source: James Fallows, writing about his 1969 draft board experience
| . . . Even as the last of the Cambridge contingent was throwing its urine and deliberately failing its color-blindness tests, buses from the next board began to arrive. These bore the boys from Chelsea, thick, dark-haired young men, the white proles [members of the working class] of Boston. Most of them were younger than us, since they had just left high school, and it had clearly never occurred to them that there might be a way around the draft. They walked through the examination lines like so many cattle off to slaughter. I tried to avoid noticing, but the results were inescapable. While perhaps four out of five of my friends from Harvard were being deferred, just the opposite was happening to the Chelsea boys. Note: Chelsea was a working class city near Boston |
Document 9
Source: The Plain Dealer Newspaper, November 20,1969
Document 10
Source: President Richard Nixon, Address to the Nation, 1969
| I know it may not be fashionable to speak of patriotism or national destiny these days. But I feel it is appropriate to do so on this occasion. . . . Let historians not record that when America was the most powerful nation in the world we passed on the other side of the road and allowed the last hopes for peace and freedom of millions of people to be suffocated by the forces of totalitarianism. And so tonight to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans, I ask for your support. . . . Let us be united for peace. Let us also be united against defeat. Because let us understand: North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that. |
Document 11
Source: Frank J Prial, New York Times, May 7, 1970.
This article appeared in the New York Timesthree days after the Kent State shootings.
| Illinois Deploys Guard More than 80 colleges across the country closed their doors yesterday for periods ranging from a day to the remainder of the academic year as thousands of students joined the growing nationwide campus protest against the war in Southeast Asia. In California, Gov. Ronald Reagan, citing “emotional turmoil,” closed down the entire state university and college system from midnight last night until next Monday. More than 280,000 students at 19 colleges and nine university campuses are involved. Pennsylvania State University, with 18 campuses, was closed for an indeterminate [indefinite] period. In the New York metropolitan area about 15 colleges closed, some for a day, some for the week, and some for the rest of the term. A spokesman for the National Student Association said that student had been staying away from classes at almost 300 campuses in the country… |
Document 12
Source: Excerpt from The New York Times summary of the Pentagon Papers, June 13, 1971
| “Though far from a complete history, even at 2.5 million words, the study [the Pentagon Papers] forms a great archive of government decision-making on Indochina over three decades. The study led its 30 to 40 authors and researchers to many broad conclusions and specific findings including the following: . . . That the Johnson Administration, though the President was reluctant and hesitant to take the final decisions, intensified the covert warfare against North Vietnam and began planning in the spring of 1964 to wage overt war, a full year before it publicly revealed the depth of its involvement and its fear of defeat.” |
