DBQ Essay: The Vietnam War

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The Vietnam War was a conflict that was very controversial. Most Americans did not want to support this war because they did not believe it was necessary. There were three major events that were responsible for undermining the American public’s support for the war. Due to the Kent State Incident, the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, and especially the My Lai Massacre public opinion favoring the war was shattered. As the antiwar movement trudged on more and more supporter joined their cause. A majority of those supporters were college students who had joined universities in order to avoid being drafted into the military. These supporters protested the war and related events such as President Nixon’s request for an additional 150,000 draftees (Doc B).…show more content…
The war began to seem helpless and the military became desperate and started using more and more tons of bombs in North Vietnam in an attempt to diminish the numbers of the enemy (Doc C). The massacre that occurred at My Lai was probably the most significant event that shattered American support for the conflict. The soldiers wiped out the majority of the village of My Lai under orders that claimed they were Viet Cong. The act of massacring all of those people traumatized many men including the ones who did not directly kill them but stood by and watched (Doc H). After releasing news of this event the American public was shocked by the atrocity that had occurred. People began to lose faith in the war along with their soldiers and they felt that they could not support them. After President Johnson declined to run for reelection people were able to understand how bad the situation in the war had become (Doc J). These major three events were significant factors in undermining the American public’s support for the Vietnam War. As the war continued supporters became scarce, especially when they saw how hopeless it had become. The lack of support for this War resulted in the countries lack of faith in the government and their decisions. They wanted an end to the war and wanted their troops returned home. What they truly wanted was a return to
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