Kent State Massacre

The British soldiers were anything but loved by the American colonists in the 1770s. They maliciously planned an attack on the soldiers because of their hate. Many townspeople gathered together in effort to strike against the British presence. The men were just doing their job trying to keep order in Boston, but the people still taunted them. The soldiers were being tried for murder because they fired at the people, but those charges should not have existed. The crowd initially attacked the soldiers, not the other way around. It was also dark out so the soldiers did not know of the number of colonist attackers. The soldiers heard the word fire coming from the crowd, confusing the voices with Captain Preston’s. The incident referred to as the

There are many differences and similarities between the Boston Massacre and the Kent State shooting.

College students were aware that over 38,000 American troops had been killed in Vietnam and if something wasn’t done on the streets of America, many more would die. With tensions running high all over America’s college campues, the unrest of the anti-war movent was just about to get worse. Nixon’s decision to engage more troops into a sensless War, sparked a new wave of protests that errupted into many violent standoffs. Unknown to the country, this unrest would take a fatal and trajic turn.

His arising failure began to reveal itself to many people whose then “attitudes[were] strongly influenced by the news media, particularly television”(Doc I). Angry citizens started rallies and protests as shown in (Doc E), Peace demonstrators display a large sign referring to LBJ as a war criminal during huge anti-Vietnam war protest at the Pentagon. In the point of view of these protesters, they are sick of the length, and death the war has caused, then blaming the President for it. Reasons for these types of protests included opposition to the draft; moral, and legal arguments against U.S. intervention; and reaction to the media portrayal of the devastation occurring. Also, many people lacked a clear idea of why we were even fighting in the war, this confusion turned into anger. However, not everyone was in opposition to Johnson's decisions, “a Gallup poll held in 1968 showed that 46% of Americans approved of Johnson’s handling of the war while 50% believed that it was essential to combat the expansion of communism in Southeast Asia”(Trueman). Lastly, with a detached country, we are displaying to our enemy weakness without even realizing. When North Vietnam sees this division, they'll be “led to believe that we are sorely divided”(Doc H). Unification is what a country need to seek in order to succeed. If a President is not supported by

The War not only affected those in Vietnam, but those still at home in America. Americans had split into two groups, known as the hawks and the doves. The hawks were people who supported the war and wanted the country to be victorious in its fight with Communism. The doves were the people that disagreed with the war. These were traditionally students, and people of the younger generation. Many veterans when they would return home, would join in these mass protests. One popular protest, which took place at Kent State University, resulted in 9 wounded people with 4 dead. The police at Kent State took action against a mass protest by opening fire. This is the evil that is created through war. Without the Vietnam war, there is no protest at Kent State. Without the Vietnam war, the college kid’s lives are spared. Without the Vietnam War, thousands of lives could have been saved. Neil Young said it best in his song Ohio. Ohio discussed the brutality of war but mainly the police brutality against the kids at Kent State. Vietnam was a tragic stain in American history.

It is often said to remember important mistakes, crimes, declines, anything negative so that, "History does not repeat itself." Some of the notable mistakes include strategic errors in wars; such as the French, in World War I, stacking the Maginot Line while the Germans marched around it, and in World War II doing the exact same thing. Other mistakes include incidents on domestic soil in which protests turn violent such as the Boston Massacre in 1770 and the Kent State Shootings in 1970. Other than each happening on Mondays and occurring almost two hundred years apart, the two draw deeper comparisons to one another which caused widespread protest leaving marks in American history. Upon reviewing these two cases it triggers the

This act to dismantle the communist north violated the Cambodian neutrality and prompted protests nationally. There was such outrage and chaos one demonstration ended in a shooting at Kent State University killing four students. The bloodshed has left numerous Americans wondering if the war was necessary (Learn about Vietnam War).

On May 1 1970 a massive demonstration was held at Kent State, on the Commons (a grassy area in the center of campus that is used as a gathering place for rallies) and another one was planned for May 4. The students were angry and there were many who were calling to "bring the war home."

President Johnson used the Gulf of Tonkin as an excuse to declare war on Vietnam, which was believed to be fabricated, and was easily able to obtain the War Powers Act from congress. This lead to major protests from around the whole country, many thought the war was immoral, and many thought that the United States had no valid reason to intervene with the foreign affairs in Vietnam. This and many other protests from around the country made the 19060’s to be one of the most hostile decades in American history. In 1968 a killing of over 400 Vietnamese civilians later named the My Lai Massacre only added fuel to the protests flames, and it was clear that most Americans now disapproved of the war in Vietnam. 1969 these protests seemed to force politicians to end the

The "Vietnamization" occurring between north and south Vietnam created more hostility between the areas. As North Vietnam was being bombed secretly or hidden with lies, once the truth came forward by press, the protest began to form in the United States. The most famous being the tragic event at Kent State University located in Ohio, in May of 1970. Protest and rallies became aggressive by students, in which National guardsman fought back and killed four students. As unfortunate as the Massacres and bombing in north Vietnam were, by 1972 they were ready to come to an agreement. On January 23, 1973, North Vietnam signed the Paris Peace Accord ending the Vietnam War.

The Kent State shooting played a major role in Nixon’s resignation from presidency and the public’s opinion of the Vietnam War. The students that were protesting started when Nixon announced intervention into Cambodia. Outraged students met on campus the very next day to show that they didn’t agree with the presidents decision. During the shooting students threw containers of tear gas back at the guardsmen. Some students threw rocks as the soldiers left. Protestors would shout “Pigs Off Campus!” (Axelrod et al. 256) Many of the soldiers sent to settle the frustrated protestors were weekend warriors who chose the guard to avoid ending up in Vietnam. Mandy soldiers lacked training for combat and crowds. Most soldiers were confused by the actions of the students and weren’t sure how to react. The student protestors refused the guards orders to disperse which resulted in the guardsmen throwing tear gas toward the rioting protestors. The protestors consisted of upper class and middle class residents.

In a nation divided by war in 1969, Richard Nixon delivered a speech with the hope that it would bring Americans together. At this time the American people stood divided on their views on the war. Many people wanted to withdraw from the war and many people supported the war in the quest for peace. The Vietnam War had already been going on for quite some time when Nixon came into office. Nixon was the second youngest president; he came to office in 1969 as the 37th president of the United States. (Sheppard) The goal of his speech was to unite the nation as he pursued the war and to try to win peace. Americans were divided among going to war and ending the war for peace. The tone

Nixon gathers support for his policies & calls for national solidarity on the Vietnam War effort through television and radio. President Richard Nixon also introduced a new strategy called “Vietnamization” which was aimed to end the American involvement in the Vietnam War. With this strategy Nixon believed that it would prepare and build up the South Vietnam’s military strength for them to be able to fight the North Vietnamese alone and start withdrawing U.S troops. He had already withdrawn 60,000 troops from the war and was ready to keep making more reduction as it continued. However, he ended up illegally bombing Viet Cong sites in Cambodia & Laos. President Nixon passed the 26th amendment that lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 years. This played a major role in the Vietnam War because the people of the U.S. were not happy that the government was drafting the 18 year olds to go to war but couldn’t vote. Young men that were being drafted were resisting the draft because they wanted their vote. This was the disconformity that the citizens had with the

The events at Kent State were a catalyst that helped strengthened the American Citizens’ hatred of the Vietnam War and distrust in the Government that promised to end the war.

On April 30,1970, President Richard Nixon announced the invasion of Cambodia by the United States and the need to draft over 150,000 soldiers to help in the Vietnam effort. Many colleges across the nation reacted in protest. One college in particular was Kent State University in Ohio. On May 4, students engulfed in violent measures including setting the ROTC building on fire. This prompted the governor of Ohio to send nine hundred National Guardsmen to campus. Twenty-eight guardsman opened fire among the protesters, killing four students and injuring nine others. Many other colleges across the nation engaged in similar acts of protest following the invasion.