8th Grade United States History

Essential Question: • What were the key foreign policy challenges

the United States faced during the Kennedy administration?

1961 – Cold War continued to deepen•President Kennedy continues anti-

communist campaign Throughout the world, communist

groups fought to take control of national government•Kennedy introduced a plan called “flexible response” in response to guerilla warfare•Green Berets

Communist promises of economic equality was attractive• Latin America, Asia, Africa

Kennedy provided aid to those countries to weaken the appeal of communism

Executive order created the Peace Corps to aid countries in need• Volunteers worked as teachers and health

workers• Advisers for government, farming and

industry

1959 – Fidel Castro seizes power and sets up a Communist dictatorship• Ally of the Soviet Union

CIA plans to overthrow Castro by recruiting Cuban refugees in USA to spark uprising in Cuba

Bay of Pigs• Many mistakes made in the beginning of

invasion• Kennedy refused air support• Kennedy took blame for the failure

Kennedy never completely trusted military and intelligence advice

Nations in Latin America lost trust in Kennedy

Soviet leader Khrushchev saw Kennedy as a weak leader

Khrushchev built the Berlin Wall in 1961•Keep western troops out of East Berlin

following WWII•Prevent refugees seeking freedom from

East Berlin from entering West Berlin•Cut communications between the two

parts of the city•Wall came to symbolize Communist

repression

1962 – American spy plane took photographs revealing Soviets building launching sites for nuclear weapons in Cuba• Could reach U.S. in minutes• Kennedy ordered blockade of Cuba until

missiles were removed• Kennedy warned that a nuclear attack from

the Soviets would result in a nuclear attack by the U.S.

• After 5 days, Soviets removed missiles• Two nations started to work together to avoid

nuclear war

1961 – Kennedy commits U.S. to landing on the moon by the end of the decade

NASA expands• July 20, 1969 – The Eagle lands on the

surface of the moon•Neil Armstrong “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

What motivated the Soviet Union to build the Berlin Wall?

  How did the United States attempt to

contain communism during the Kennedy administration?

Answer the Essential Question: What were the key foreign policy challenges the United States faced during the Kennedy administration?

Essential Question: • How and why did American involve itself in

the war in Vietnam?

After WWII, Vietnamese Communist leader, Ho Chi Minh, declared independence from the French

French were unwilling to give up their Indochina colony•Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam•Rice, rubber and tin

Ho Chi Minh defeated French forces in 1954

1954 – U.S., France, Great Britain, Soviet Union, China and Vietnam meet in Geneva, Switzerland

Decided Vietnam would be temporarily divided•Ho Chi Minh = Communist North Vietnam•United States would support non-

Communist South Vietnam•United States emphasized that it would act

if the Communist North moved against the South

South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem refused to hold elections and cracked down on Communism in the South•Communists set up the Vietcong

(National Liberation Front) in response•Began a war against Diem regime

Eisenhower and Kennedy supported South Vietnam in the form of economic aid and training of troops

Diem was urged to made reforms that would weaken the appeal of Communism but few reforms were made•Took rights away from Buddhist population•South Vietnamese overthrew Diem with

support of the United States

16,000 American troops were in Vietnam at the time of Kennedy’s assassination

Vietcong attacks caused Americans to get more involved

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution•North Vietnamese patrol boats allegedly attacked

American destroyers near Gulf of Tonkin•Congress gave President Johnson the ability to “take

all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States”

1965 – 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam 1965-1968 - U.S. Bombing campaign

Fighting a ground war was difficult•Dense jungles•Muddy trails•Swampy rice paddies•Guerilla warfare

Search and destroy missions Planes bombed areas of South Vietnam

to drive guerillas out of the jungle•Napalm•Agent Orange

No matter how many Vietcong and North Vietnamese troops were destroyed, they were always replaced•Soldiers became frustrated

Opposition to U.S. involvement in Vietnam began to grow at home

What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and why was it important?

  Why was it difficult for U.S. soldiers to

fight in Vietnam?

Answer the Essential Question: How and why did American involve itself in the war in Vietnam?

Essential Question:• How did the Vietnam War affect the

political and social climate in the United States?

The war divided the nation•Generation gap •Doves and hawks

Some considered it a Civil War between the Vietnamese

Believed the cost of war was hurting domestic programs

Viewed South Vietnam as a corrupt dictatorship that was not worth assisting

Loss of countryside Loss of Lives

Challenge to traditional middle class values

Challenge to customary social roles of work and family

Reject competition for material goods and personal success

Student protests targeted the selective service system•Sought to halt the supply of soldiers

needed to fight the war•Argued that deferments discriminated

against poor and working class families Conscientious Objectors

January 31, 1968 – North Vietnamese and Vietcong launched attacks •Military bases•South Vietnam’s cities•United States embassy in Saigon

U.S. pushed back all communist forces Many Americans began to turn against the war

and President Johnson•Concerned that an enemy they were assured was

so close to defeat could launch such a large attack•People began to distrust the Johnson administration

American commander in Vietnam requested more troops

Johnson ordered a reevaluation of the war

1968 – Johnson stated that no more bombs would be dropped on N. Vietnamese cities•Asked for peace talks

Informed the nation that he would not seek a second term

April 4, 1968 – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated•Riots erupt all over the country

June 1968 – Robert Kennedy is assassinated

Protestors flocked to Chicago to protest the presidential nomination of Democratic Senator Hubert Humphrey•Humphrey favored Johnson’s Vietnam policy•Protestors threw bottles and sticks at police•Police threw tear gas, beat protesters with

night sticks and arrested many Republican Richard Nixon wins the

election of 1968

What were draft deferments and who benefited from them?

What was the Tet Offensive and why was it significant to the course of the war?

Answer the Essential Question: How did the Vietnam War affect the political and social climate of the United States?