As America was fighting a war for freedom in another country, unruly teens were fighting their own at home. Cultural change, the explosion of free love, youthful rebellion, and a new liberal mindset all seemed to have one underlying device in common; drug use. The late 1960’s into the early and mid-70’s found the perfect environment for recreational drug use. Music and arts celebrated this lifestyle, as well as free thinkers and their idiotic philosophies about spiritual elation through mind altering narcotics. Lack of family structure with so many homes transformed by the Vietnam War also left young teens without guidance, and an economy with little to offer to the up and coming generation. As the next few years passed and the free love generation began to grasp the concept of working for a living, showering on a regular basis, love with commitment (or antibiotics), and cultural change through policy, they brought to the workforce a new dynamic not previously prevalent. Recreational drug use had become part of society. Vietnam War veterans also brought their own demons home with their return, opiate addictions were a common occurrence (Carson 2012).
This new dynamic was seen initially in 1971 by the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) spearheaded by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The survey indicated that many illegal drug users were employed full or part time. The initial survey was used to try and understand the scope of the problem,
The time: the 1960s. The place: United States of America. Who? The youth. Doing what? Using drugs. Why? Many reasons. The 1960s proved to be a very turbulent time in the history of American youth growing up. There were many different activist movements all over the country. The primary drug user was the male college student involved in politics. He used mostly marijuana, some cocaine or LSD and of course alcohol. The sixites culminated with perhaps the biggest public scene of drug use ever: Woodstock. American youth in the sixties turned to drugs for a variety of reasons including the Vietnam War, the feeling of rebellion, activist movements, and the general pleasure-oriented society.
In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, drug use became a major concern for most Americans. As the War on Drugs and “Just Say No” campaign were being thrust into the spotlight by the government and media, the public became more aware of the scope of drug use and abuse in this country. The federal and states’ governments quickly responded by creating and implementing more harsh and punitive punishments for drug offenses. Most of these laws have either remained unchanged or become stricter in the years since then.
The Vietnam 1 Running head: SOCIAL EFFECTS OF THE VIETNAM WAR The Vietnam War's Effects on American Society Halley E. Moore Metro High School- St. Louis The Vietnam 2 Abstract The Vietnam War had a profound effect on American society. It changed the way we viewed our government, the media, and our Constitutional rights. Because of this shift in perspective, the country was torn apart and yet still came together in new and different ways.
The impact of the Vietnam War upon the soldiers who fought there was huge. The experience forever changed how they would think and act for the rest of their lives. One of the main reasons for this was there was little to no understanding by the soldiers as to why they were fighting this war. They felt they were killing innocent people, farmers, poor hard working people, women, and children were among their victims. Many of the returning soldiers could not fall back in to their old life styles. First they felt guilt for surviving many of their brothers in arms. Second they were haunted by the atrocities of war. Some soldiers could not go back to the mental state of peacetime. Then there were soldiers Tim O’Brien meant while in
The Vietnam War, unofficially beginning on November 1st, 1955 and ending April 30th, 1975, was a key part of US history due to the countless United States soldiers that served in the war over the 8 years and 37 days that the US was involved. For the United States, the Vietnam War had over 58,000 casualties and over 300,000 wounded soldiers. Starting on March 8, 1965, the United States was tied into the losing fight overseas. These numbers are only estimates. Far more people were affected by the war, even after it ended. Hundreds of thousands of veterans committed suicide after the war due to PTSD and other impacts that the war had on them.
Baseball is a game that is popular on the international scale. Furthermore, in many countries this game is regarded as a "national pastime." Moreover, this game is considered to be rather democratic: unlike football and basketball, it is accessible to different people undependably on their height or weight. There are several versions of the game’s origin. In England, it is believed that the game has been known since the mid-18th century. It was the time when Little entertaining pocket book was published (1744). It contained an article called "baseball" with an illustration. The Americans are sure that baseball is their invention, in particular the invention of their Civil War hero Abner Dabldeya
Regarded as one of the most controversial and polarizing military conflicts in U.S. history, the Vietnam War has left a deep and lasting impact on American culture, politics, and foreign policy. From 1964 to the present day, the Vietnam War redefined the scope of U.S. influence both at home and abroad, and caused a fundamental shift in American society that dramatically changed the way in which Americans viewed their government and the role of the United States as a world power. For an entire generation of Americans, who watched as the horrors of the war in Vietnam unfold before the spotlight of the national media, the Vietnam War directly challenged the superiority of the American way and the infallibility of U.S military dominance. In truth, the U.S government, U.S. military, and the American people as a whole struggled to accept the lessons of America’s greatest military failure and the sobering reality of the war’s consequences. To this day, the legacy of this so-called “American War” continues to resonate throughout the fabric of American society as a cautionary tale of U.S foreign intervention and blind acceptance of open-ended conflict.
The Vietnam War had discredited the United States’ stereotype of being the strongest world power for being “undefeatable” in war by trapping the most powerful foreign nations into a merely undefeatable war, and by destroying any hope that the United States had for institutional change in Vietnam. The United States’ involvement in domestic affairs had again proved that the nation felt confident enough to present itself as the “problem solver” in issues regarding foreign policy. The main intention of Americans was to bring forth an established democracy to Vietnam that would overpower
The Vietnam War greatly changed America forever. It was the longest war fought in America’s History, lasting from 1955 to 1973. The Vietnam War tarnished America 's self image by becoming the first time in history the United States failed to accomplish its stated war aims, to preserve a separate, independent, noncommunist government. The war also had great effects on the American people. It was the first war ever broadcast on television. The public was able to see what happened on the battlefield. One of the chief effects of the war was the division it caused among the people. Not since the Civil War had America been so divided. This war would have lasting affects on the United States.
This article discusses President Lyndon B. Johnson’s involvement with Vietnam and civil rights. Vietnam and Civil Rights Movement protests coincided. African Americans were discriminated against at home and in the United States armed forces. In previous history blacks fought segregated in war. During Vietnam blacks were intergraded with a small number of segregated troops. Blacks fought for democracy believing they would return home with equal rights. Blacks felt they had earned the right to be equal. After returning home from Vietnam, blacks remained discriminated against. The war heightened awareness of discrimination. Martin Luther King Jr., with blacks and whites, marched to Washington to protest for equal rights. Kings speech was one of the most powerful protests in history. His speech for freedom was televised across America. King was assassinated and white soldiers applauded his death. The military began posting confederate flags on equipment. Racism was tolerated in military bases. Legislation passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964.
Drug abuse and substance use have been categorized as a major reason for increased crime and rebellion amongst citizenly. Women, children and unemployed middle aged individuals experience increased crime rate as they are considered less contributors to general economic decisions. These include the inaccessibility of social amenities, lack of security and likely a surge in desperation to engage in misconducts that attract forceful interventions from existing
The decision that was made to enter war changed America, the nation had a split, consisting those who believed that communism should be stopped and the ones that believe violence is not the answer. President Johnson believed that establishing a brute force to repel communism in Vietnam would be beneficial to the future of the United States. The decision, however came with tragedies, such as the amount of U.S. soldiers that lost their lives. The danger of communism opened the eyes of all Americans. Ever since WW2, Soviet Union exemplifies communism and encouraged all the other nations in the east to participate. With all of the corporation dealing to the communist Soviet Union, America became on high alert as it was during the Cold War. The meaning behind prevention is to stop.
When the Vietnam War finally came to an end in 1975, it left a lasting impression in minds of many Americans. Not only did about forty-seven thousand American soldiers lose their lives, but the United State government also spent a hundred and seventy-three billion dollars for a failed war effort. With intervention in Vietnam becoming increasingly ineffective, America decided it was time for a change in its military strategies. The most important changes that following the Vietnam War were: a more restricted foreign affairs policy, a decrease in defense spending, and a transition to an all-volunteer force.
The Vietnam War began in the year 1954, after the ascension to power of Ho Chi Minh, who was a communist leader in North Vietnam. The leader was spreading communism, and because the United States wanted to stop the spread, it sent military troops to aid South Vietnamese to stop this vice. The war saw about 3million people die with the inclusion of 58,000 American soldiers. About 150,000 people were wounded during the war. In 1975, South Vietnamese government surrendered the war after the communist forces forced them to surrender. Vietnam unified communism and became a Socialist Republic. Although decades have passed since the occurrence of the Vietnam war, the American culture, which was partly born as a result of this war, is celebrated
Since the early 1960’s there have been an alarming increase in drug use in the United States in 1962, four million Americans had tried an illegal drug. By 1999, that number had risen to a staggering 88.7 million, according to the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.