The Kent State Massacre Essay

Each time police and firemen got control of the situation, the building was set on fire again. The National Guard eventually pushed the marchers back with tear gas and bayonets as the marchers threw stones; many arrests were again made on this day. (8) On May 3rd, the Kent State campus was filled with Ohio National Guardsmen. James Rhodes, the Ohio governor arrived in Kent and called the protestors, "the worst type of people we harbor in America," and stating that every force of law would be used to deal with them. (9) Rhodes also indicated that he would seek a court order declaring a state of emergency. A crowd gathered later that night and the Ohio Riot Act was read to them. The students were protesting the Guardsmen being on campus by blocking the streets. When they were promised that they would be able to talk to Major Satrom and Kent State president Robert White about this situation the students moved off the streets. Once they moved, the Guardsmen immediately began use tear gas to break up the crowd, breaking the promise. (10)

On March 5, 1770, two regiments of British soldiers that were stationed in Boston opened fire on a mob of bystanders that wanted the British out of Boston. This protest was for the ending of the quartering of soldiers in people’s homes. On May 4, 1970, the National Guardsmen fired upon the unarmed students of Kent State University who were protesting against fighting in the Vietnam War. The result of this was a change in the policies of the National Guard and to use rubber bullets. These two shootings in American history are examples of Military Representatives actively firing on unarmed citizens. Also, examples of the civilians provoking the Military Representatives for them to shoot. We can use these examples for today’s society to further the developments in non-lethal actions against protesters. But before the lessons learned with these two shootings are highlighted, the history and significance of these events need to be understood.

The shooting of Kent State University on May 4, 1970 marked a point in the war that divided the nation and brought attention to the war on a scale never seen before. Fighting on the battleground was brought to America’s soil through the power of television and as the battle continued, emotions on the homefront intensified. The executive decision of President Richard Nixon initiated the protests and swung the opinion of the use of military force in Vietnam by his “April 30 announcement that he had sent American forces into Cambodia” (Reichard). President Nixon’s decision of sending forces into Cambodia sparked the protests on many campuses, one of them being Kent State, leading to the shooting and killing of four students, however only two of the students shot and killed were involved in the protests. “The killing… was another important turning point for many GI and veteran activists” (Moser 108).

Lalita Tademy is an interesting case of a writer, as she has a large amount of potential source material at her disposal due to her family history, the Colfax Massacre is one of those source materials. Lalita has a rich family history that puts her distant relatives in the middle of one of the most overlooked and important moments in United States history. These relatives setup and attempted to protect the courthouse in Colfax 1873, but abruptly ended with the deaths of all the men in the building in a truly one sided battle. Lalita stated in an interview with NPR, “My aunt Ellen had told me at one point that our people were mixed up in the courthouse incident, and some got out and some didn’t.” This moment with her aunt could have been

At Kent State University in Ohio, there was several memorable events. Like the destruction of protestors launching a demonstration that included setting fire to the ROTC building causing the governor of Ohio to dispatch 900 National Guardsmen to the campus. On May 4th, 1970 was a tragic event for Kent State University. During that day an altercation occurred with twenty eight guardsmen opening fire on a crowd causing the killings of 4 students and wounding nine others. Almost 500 colleges were shut down due to this fatal shooting around the United States of America. “The Justice Department initially declined to conduct a Grand jury investigation. The actions of the guardsmen had been “unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable.” A Grand jury indicted eight of the guardsmen, but the charges were dismissed due to the lack of evidence. The Kent State shootings became the focal point of a nation deeply divided by the Vietnam War. Since the tragic event, the Kent State shootings were the subject of the 1970 song "Ohio" by the group Crosby, Stills, Nash, and young.

     With every generation, there is some sort of tragedy that can alter ones life. Through the events that occurred on April 20, 1999, people have become suspicious of anyone that displays signs of oddness, such as; withdrawal from friends, change in physical appearance, or anyone who is an outcast. On this infamous day in history, two Columbine high school students fatally shot 12 of their peers, one teacher, and wounded 24 others before they took there own lives. It is not clear why they chose this day, but it may be because this was the 110th anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s birthday. What happened on this day was a tragedy that affected not only Columbine, but the whole country as well.

Multiple different guns to end poor lives. May 4th was the day of the actual shooting which happened to be the rally day. It was on campus grounds a the university. “The following night, antiwar elements rallied again, later turning their wrath—and fire bombs—on the rickety 24-year-old ROTC building on the Kent campus.” The bombing of the ROTC building also just happened the previous day prior to the kent state shooting. This is what led up the the shooting because the students were protesting and they banned protesting they should follow through with it despite what had already

On March 5, 1770 a mob of colonists armed with clubs surrounded the customs house in Boston where the kings money was kept. The mob surrounded the guard posted there and threatened his life so the red coats were called in, to disperse the mob and the defend the customs house. The colonists started to attack the redcoats tasked with defending the customs house, Which lead to shots being fired by the soldiers. In document A by Paul Revere it was titled “The Bloody Massacre”. In my opinion that was far from the truth, the Boston Massacre of 1770 was not a massacre because the colonists had weapons and attacked the British troops first. Also there was a every low loss of life which goes against the definition of a massacre, a massacre (insert massacre

Mountain Meadows Massacre was staged on the Baker- Fancher wagon. The Massacre happened on September 11 ,1857. The Massacre was a huge deal for us in Arkansas. It was wrong on many levels and the people didn’t deserve it. Many things lead up to this tragic event, and many things happened during the this time.

School violence, is an issue that is hard to deal with. There are things that may be done to decrease it but it does not seem like it will ever go away. Parents send their children to school to learn, to have fun, to pass notes, and to meet new people, not to be shot at and never have the chance to come home ever again. They should not have to think or be afraid of sending their child to school and never seeing them. Last year one of the worst school shootings took place at Columbine High School. Not only did it effect the famlies of the victims and of the killers, pretty much the whole nation was involved and many people were brought in to figure out what had happened, and why it happened. This incident brought our nation together, and

Another significant reason why the guard is to blame is because of the guard’s actions at Kent State during that dramatic weekend. The guard handled the situation very unprofessionally and unfairly at Kent State. For starters, the guard should have never been so forceful with students over a peaceful assembly. The guard used tear gas and force to disperse a crowd of young college students (“The Kent State Shootings: May 4, 1970”). Despite all of the accusations made by the officers, there are still not any justified reasons for the shootings: All of the officers claims have been disproved. For example, the guards thought the protests were illegal, but the ban on assemblies was signed into effect until May 5, making the assembly, in the students’ eyes, legal (“Four Students Killed”).

We live in a country that is often faced with violent and devastating events that forever stay cemented into our minds. Most stories on the news inform us about the most recent robberies, assaults, frauds, etc. However, one of the most shocking and disastrous types of stories the news updates us are those about shootings. One of the most infamous shootings happened almost 50 years ago in a small town in Ohio where U.S troops attacked protesters on the grounds of Kent State University, killing four students and leaving nine others wounded .

In the chilling novel, Columbine, all evidence and actions were described and written by the author; Dave Cullen. Cullen, as shown in his writing, has exponential fascination on the ideas and the important details before, during, and after the attack. From beginning to end, Cullen spoke in a compassionate and professional tone to emphasize the facts and thoughts he had on this horrific attack. But, throughout the book, Cullen speaks in two different tones and attitudes regarding two types of people. The victims or the killers. When discussing the victims, he speaks with sympathy and empathy to show that he truly feels for the victims and their family. Yet when discussing the monstrous murderers, Eric Harris and Dylan Kelbold, he speaks

You may ask, why did this all happen? Well according to locals, a few ill-tempered protesters called the Patriots, had gone up to Private Hugh White and started to verbally assault the man, Hugh who had grown angry, struck one of the protesters. Other protesters began to flood in, throwing ice and snowballs. Hugh Montgomery alerted a troop that was passing by but by the time the troop arrived the crowd had grown in size.

Although many people think that Americans are gun nuts, in reality they’re just all nuts. This realization was shown in the documentary Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore. Throughout the film Michael Moore shows us many examples of why America has problems with guns. However after watching one realizes that the problem isn’t with guns but within the American people instead.