Unit 9 Vocab
Mariessa Aleman p.6
Domino Theory
This was the belief that once one country fell to Communism others would fall after it. Eisenhower used this theory t justify why the U.S. was becoming involved in Vietnam.
Geneva Accords
This was the case in which the French had to withdraw from Indochina. This resulted in Vietnam being divided at the 17th parallel where the North would be controlled by the Vietminh and the South would be controlled by the pro-Western regime.
Napalm
This was a jellied gasoline that was put into bombs so that they would explode on contact. This substance would spread everywhere when attempted to be wiped off so when it got onto people they would be severely burned.
Agent Orange
This was a chemical used during the Vietnam war that would be sprayed above jungles so that the vegetation would be cleared out. This was significant to the war because it took away the Vietcong's place to hide but also has effects on the society today due to the chemical staying in the soil and causing many of the inhabitants of that area to have medical issues.
Vietcong
These were the forces of Vietnam who were controlled by Ho Chi Minh who fought so that their country could become better. This army group used guerrilla tactics so it made it hard for the U.S. forces to find them and harder for them to be eliminated.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
This was when President Johnson claimed that North Vietnam had attacked two U.S. destroyers even though they had not. This resolution gave the president the ability to take any means necessary to make sure that any attacks on U.S. forces were handled which ultimately gave him the power of the Congress.
Hawks
These were the people during the time of the Vietnam war who supported the war rather then going against it. This resulted in the nation being divided because the Hawks believed that we should stay in Vietnam and fight.
Tet offensive
This was the Vietcong's surprise attacks on many cities within the year of 1968 and also the attack on military bases. Ultimately this was a defeat for the Vietcong but effected our soldiers mentally and also stunned the American public.
Vietnamization
This was Nixon's plan to take the U.S. out of the Vietnam War. This was the gradually taking troops out of Vietnam and giving the South more of defending themselves.
Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon papers was the release to the press of government papers, that displayed the U.S. involvement in war, which were then published for public view. They were not taken down from the papers because of the First Amendment which overruled any withdraw of the papers form the press.
War Powers Act
This was when Congress took back the power they had given to the president. The president could no longer put troops in dangerous areas unless Congress was told 18 hours in advance.
Richard Nixon
He became the president during 1968 and beat Ronald Reagan for the Republican National Convention.
My Lai Massacre
This was when a troop marched into a village trying to find any Vietcong who were hiding there. This resulted in the whole village being killed including babies and the elderly.
Ho Chi Minh
He formed the Vietminh which wanted to force Japan out of Vietnam and also combined people who were communist and non-communist. He was also the person who formed the Vietcong army who fought against our forces in Vietnam by using guerrilla tactics.
Diem
He was the president of South Vietnam but was disliked by the people. He discriminated against Buddhist and refused to hold national elections so that he wouldn't be taken out of power.
Prisoners of War
These were the people who were captured during the war by the North. There was many prisoners of war who had to stay under custody for years.
Body Counts
This was a method established to find how many soldiers were dead and also to establish whether or not we were winning. In the Vietnam war 58,000 U.S. soldiers died and many others went MIA.
Kent State Massacre
This was when students at Kent State protested the bombing of Cambodia. Due to the massive crowd and violence erupting guards shot into the crowd which resulted in four students dying.
1968
This was the time of the counterculture movement and also when Nixon was nominated for president. This year brought about the hippie culture, Martin Luther King Jr's assassination and also protests against war due to the Vietnam war being displayed on television for all citizens to see.
Counterculture Movement
This was a movement that mostly consisted of young white, upper class youths that vouched for free living, drug use and rock music. This movement inspired many to become closer to nature by running away to hippie communes which became very popular during this time.
Credibility Gap
This was the deterioration of believing the Johnson administration during the time of the Vietnam War because many stopped believing in the war after a while. This gap caused many to lose their trust in what Johnson had said about the war and also caused for them to question the government.
Haight & Ashbury
This was the epicenter of the hippie movement in which hippies would flock to San Francisco to come here. This street had a lot of crime and drug use due to the hippie way of life which believed in the use of drugs in order to get closer to nature.
Hippies
They were the counterculture of the time who protested the war and believed that people should become closer with nature by moving out of houses and into forests. Drugs were a big part of the hippie movement because they believed that drugs made them closer to nature and they tried to follow the ways of Native Americans.
Doves
These were the people during the time of the Vietnam was who believed that America should not be in t he war. The nation was divided because they were the opposite of hawks in their beliefs about the war and U.S. involvement.
King Riots
These were the riots that came about after King was assassinated. These resulted in many big cities being destroyed ans also for the Fair Housing Act to be passed.
Draft Dodger
These were the young men who refused to be drafted in the Vietnam war and often fled to Canada or made something up such as a mental illness so that they wouldn't be drafted. They were common during the Vietnam War because nobody wanted to go to war and many didn't know why we were including ourselves in this war.
Tim Leary
He was part of the counterculture movement ,was an advocate for the use of LSD and was a psychology professor. He made up the phrase of "Turn on, Tune in, and Drop out" which practically promoted dropping out and using drugs such as LSD to young people.
Commune
These became popular during the 60s because the hippie movement sparked and many moved from their homes and into hippie communes. In these communes there was a lot of drug use and also sharing all of what you had with others, due to the heavy drug use these later became very unpopular.
1968 Democratic Convention
During this convention many protesters took to the streets to protest the Vietnam war because many felt as though we should not be a part of it. These protests caused for there to be violence between the police and the protesters that were there.
Bobby Kennedy
He was the brother of JFK who was shot on June 1, 1968. When MLK was assassinated he was able to calm down the people of the city he was in which in return prevented them from rioting.
Black Power Salute- Olympics 68
This was the holding up of the fist by Tommie Smith and John Carlos when they were on the podium while the national anthem was played. This protest to racism caused for them to lose the medals that they had earned.