Vietnam+Path+to+War

= Mara Peoples = May 25, 2011 History 8-4 =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

Need some help? How about ... This voicethread, made by your favorite 8th grade American history teacher that you have this year (I like to limit my competition

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

One of the causes of the Vietnam was France’s fight to hold on to power In Vietnam. From the late 1800’s to World War II, Vietnam had always been under French rule. Vietnam at this time was a French colony referred to as Indochina. Vietnam was important to the increase of French wealth because Indochina exported rice and rubber to **France**. The Vietnamese had begun to lose their land and were becoming poor, they had also never quite adapted to the French rule. Many nationalists had wanted Vietnam to become an independent nation and had begun to revolt against the French These groups of people were led by **Ho Chi Minh**. With France fighting against Vietnam they needed some military aid and since the United States was fighting against communist countries and wanted to prevent the spread of **communism** to Western Europe the United States agreed. The United States entered the predicament between Vietnam and France in 1950 when **President Truman** $10 million in military aid to France. Another cause of the war was the division of Vietnam. An international peace conference was held in Geneva, Switzerland. This conference drew a temporary dividing line across Vietnam at the 17th parallel. The French were to move south of the dividing line and the communist-led Vietnam were to move north. In 1956, the entire country would hold elections to choose a new government that would rule all. Ho Chi Minh was running against **Ngo Dinh Diem** for the position of ruler of a new united Vietnam. Ngo Dinh Diem had asked for U.S. **military advisors**. As the 1960s dawned, the war inside Vietnam heated up. In 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 900 U.S. military advisers to Vietnam. Under President **John F. Kennedy**, the number increased to 11,000 by the end of 1962 In August 1964, President **Lyndon B. Johnson** said that a U.S. military ship, the USS Maddox//,// had been involved in an attack by North Vietnamese forces in the **Gulf of Tonkin**. According to U.S. troops, North Vietnamese boats came back to attack again two days later. Also the United States had gone through Vietnam with an air raid known as **Rolling Thunder**. Many of these events and more were the causes to the big heated war known as the Vietnam War, when the first Marines landed in Vietnam in 1965.