Vietnam-+The+path+to+war

=VIETNAM - THE PATH TO WAR =

You all know that the United States was involved in a major military conflict in Vietnam during the Cold War ... but why? What was America's "path to war"? Using the resources below and __Creating America__, your task this evening is to write a description in YOUR OWN WORDS of the causes of American involvement in Southeast Asia. Pretend you are writing it as a summary for on online encyclopedia or textbook. Your description should ...
 * be between ** two and four complete, well written paragraphs **
 * ** contain the following terms ** - France, Ho Chi Minh, communism, Ngo Dinh Diem, military advisors, Gulf of Tonkin, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Rolling Thunder
 * be** IN YOUR OWN WORDS ** (remember, it's easy to check this online)
 * ** contain two images ** THAT RELATE TO YOUR WRITING
 * Should **end with the first Marines landing in Vietnam** in 1965

The "Vietnam: The Path to War" voicethread can be found on: http://turningpoints11.wikispaces.com/Vietnampath

//Creating America// [|This cool animation] [|Into Vietnam (Overview)] from ABC-CLIO [|Timeline of the Vietnam War] [|Vietnam Online Timeline]

The "Causes of the War" video can be found on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd8wKKfN7sM&feature=player_embedded

__Final Paragraphs__ Vietnam is a country located between India and China in Southeast Asia, and was a French country throughout the 1800’s and early 1900’s. Bordered on the West by water and on the East by Cambodia and Laos, Vietnam was known for it’s new markets and great resources. In the 1930’s, Ho Chi Minh, a communist leader who had been pushing for a revolt against the French since 1919, led a communist uprising against the French. His revolt was ultimately a failure and Ho Chi Minh fled to China and later fled to the Soviet Union. While Vietnam was shortly taken over by the Japanese during World War II, Ho Chi Minh lead a guerilla war against Japan and this war was supported by the United States. After the war, the French regained control of Vietnam until the Vietminh Party, created by Ho Chi Minh, helped the country ultimately declare independence in 1945. Immediately, Vietnam established a communist government. In the 1950’s, a civil war occurred between Communist North Vietnam supported by the Soviets and South Vietnam supported by the Americans.

Several presidents involved the United States in Vietnam throughout history, including Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Linden Johnson. Harry Truman sent military aid to France trying to keep colonies from being taken over by communists. Also, Dwight Eisenhower became president in 1953 and he felt that if one country fell to communism, others would follow and this was called the Domino theory. Therefore, Eisenhower encouraged military support and sent advisors to help in South Vietnam so communism wouldn’t spread. At this time, Ngo Dinh Diem was corruptly ruling South Vietnam. John F. Kennedy became president in 1961 and he didn’t support Diem’s style of ruling, so the United States overthrew Ngo Dinh Diem and assassinated him. In addition, Kennedy continued to send military advisors to South Vietnam. When Linden Johnson became president in 1963, he sent fewer military advisors to South Vietnam. Johnson believed the U.S. should stop the expansion of communism in Vietnam to prevent a situation like the one in Germany with Adolf Hitler. In 1964, a few Americans ships were in the Gulf of Tonkin when three PT boats unleashed a torpedo attack. Following the attack, Congress allowed President Johnson to prevent further aggression in any way, which gave him a huge amount of power. Lastly, Operation Rolling Thunder occurred in 1965 when the U.S. continuously dropped bombs on North Vietnam and later that year, 3,500 United States marines joined more than 20,000 military advisors in Vietnam. America had officially involved itself in the Vietnam War.