The Vietnam War

The Lesson Activities will help you meet these educational goals:

·  Inquiry Skills—You will analyze societal issues, trends and events; evaluate change and continuity over time; develop credible explanations of historical events and developments based on reasoned interpretation of evidence; gather, evaluate, and use evidence; develop explanations and make persuasive arguments in support of your conclusions; and communicate your conclusions.

·  21st Century Skills—You will use critical thinking and problem solving skills, assess and validate information, and independently raise questions and pursue leads.

Directions

Please save this document before you begin working on the assignment. Type your answers directly in the document. ______

Self-Checked Activities

Read the instructions for the following activities and type in your responses. At the end of the lesson, click the link to open the Student Answer Sheet. Use the answers or sample responses to evaluate your work.

1.  Antiwar Movement

Read about the antiwar movement in these two essays and use what you learn to answer the following questions:

a.  What were the roots of the antiwar movement, and what student organizations grew from them?

Sample answer:

The antiwar movement grew from earlier groups such as Quaker and Unitarian peace activists, SANE, the Old Left, and socialists. Students also learned from their experience in the civil rights movement. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Michigan and the Free Speech Movement at the University of California at Berkeley were the two main student groups at the start.

b.  In what ways did people protest against the war?

Sample answer:

The antiwar protests took different forms, including teach-ins, demonstrations, marches, draft resistance, and draft evasion; eventually protests turned violent. The Pentagon, draft bureaus, universities, and chemical companies doing business with the military were targets.

2.  Vietnam Timeline

Read through the timeline of the Vietnam War. Be sure to note what is happening in the United States and the world as well as in Vietnam. Use the timeline in the following exercise to review and analyze the events of the war:

Look through the timeline, reviewing key events in the Vietnam War from 1969 through the surrender of the South in 1975. You may want to refresh your memory of the history of the conflict by reviewing the whole timeline.

Use your judgment and your understanding of US history to select four events of greatest importance from the timeline. List the events below in the spaces provided, and for each, explain why they are important to understanding the Vietnam War. .

Sample Answers:

Answers will vary, but all four events should be after 1969. Your reasoning and explanation of the events’ importance are as important as the event chosen. Answers may include the bombing and invasion of Cambodia, Vietnamization, the My Lai massacre, the Pentagon Papers, the end of the military draft, the bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong, the surrender of the South, and US evacuation.

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