• Panama declared itself independent of Spain in 1821 and voluntarily became a part of Colombia; however, discontent with Colombian rule led to a series of revolts
• 1846, the United States gain transportation rights across Panama in return for its recognition of Colombian sovereignty in Panama; US used those rights for Americans who wanted safe travel to California and Oregon
• 1880, American President Hayes declares that any canal built across Panamanian isthmus will be under US jurisdiction; this went against the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 which shared the land between America and England
• November 3, 1903, after the Colombian legislature failed to ratify a treaty with the United States concerning the Panama canal, Congress decides to sponsor the rebellious Panamanians; Panama revolts and wins independence from Colombia; it becomes a de facto (does not exist as a legal nation), is immediately recognized as a nation by America, and becomes an American Protectorate (under America protection)
• Significance: US turns Panama into a US-style democracy that is enforced through the US military (Panama is not granted autonomy unless they follow US democratic principles)
• The revolt began when the US cruiser Nashville arrived in Panama under orders from President Roosevelt to protect "free and uninterrupted transit across the isthmus"
• November 10, Panama signs a treaty that gives America the right to dig the Panama canal and own land on both sides of it; US gave Panama $10 million off-the-bat and $250 000 every year, and promised to militarily intervene in Panama should disorder return to the country
• 1904, US-Panama treaty establishes the Canal Zone, the 15+ km wide strip across Panama from sea to sea; the land, later used for the Panama canal, was to be US administered
• Significance: US is given land within Panama to control and defend; the land is later used to house troops sent to stop Panamanian riots; in essence, Panama is a colony of America
• 1917, Panama is forced in April to the join the allies in World War 1 after America declares war
• 1936, America withdraws its guarantee of Panama's continued independence and ends Panama's protectorate status; however, a 1939 treaty with Panama allowed America to send troops in Panama to protect the canal
• in the Mallarino-Bidlack Treaty signed soon after, US guaranteed that Columbia had the right to dominate the Canal Zone
• 1942, US uses military bases in Panama during World War 2 all along the Canal as navy resupply docks; America dominates the Canal Zone once again
• 1951, civil unrest and revolts occur in Panama; the Panamanian military replaces Panama's president, Arnulfo Arias, with the Vice-President, Alcibiades Arosmena; the next president, Antonio Remon, was assassinated in 1955
• 1959, US flags are torn down and riots break out in Panama in nationalistic hope that America would give the Panama canal to Panama
• 1964, America sends in troops to fight off the riots around the Panama canal and the US agencies
• Significance: Continued US presence in Panama has forced Panama to fight for independence; America had not given Panama the ability to evolve on its own
• 1970, America and Panama draft treaty that would give the Panama canal back to Panama in 1999; however, the treaty continued to give America the right to defend the canal
• 1982, Manuel Antonio Noriega becomes a powerful dictator in Panama by working in collaboration with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); Noriega was later charged and found guilty by the US for international drug trafficking and cartels
• 1989, United States of America completely ignore the Monroe Doctrine and attack Panama with 24 000 troops; the US conquered the country and disposed of the dictatorship government led by General Manuel Antonio Noreiga, and replaces him with the previously elected Guillermo Endara
• Significance: America did not agree with a dictatorship in Panama so they intervened with war; they did not allow Panama the years to dissolve the governments by themselves that they did not like
• 1999, American troops abandon the Panama canal… for now…

Who Wants to be a Panamillionaire Bibliography
Browstone, David. Timelines of the 20^th Century: A Chronology of 7500 Key Events, Discoveries, and People That Shaped Our Country. New York: Little, Brown Company, 1996.

-George Washington's "Farewell Address" 1796 urged free trade among nations but no alliances; 1840s, Oregon Treaty and Mexican War stretched America from Atlantic to Pacific; 1867, Secretary of State Seward bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million during a card game at 4 am, March 30; Congress would not pay for this wasteland of "Walrussia"/"Seward's Folly" because Alaska was too far away
-many believed America's "manifest destiny" was to conquer all land from Ellesmere Island to Panama, but decided not to take Canada to avoid war with England; Prsident Van Buren did not interfere in the Upper and Lower Canada rebellions in 1837; President Taylor ignored riots in Montreal in 1849; Lincoln and Andrew Johnson did not give in to the demands of the Irish Fenians in 1865 and 1866 to invade Canada because President Pierce had made reciprocity with Canada in 1854 (which the USA had cancelled in 1866)
-1869, US Senate rejects a treaty to settle damages done to American cruisers by British ships such as the Alabama during the Civil War; 1867, Dominion of Canada is formed and 1871, John A. MacDonald signs Washington Treaty; US was awarded $18.5 million because of the Alabama, US could use Canadian fisheries, US rejected a new reciprocity treaty, US recognized Canada as a country, and US expansion to the North had stopped
-1823, Monroe Doctrine showed US hatred for European interference in Central and South America; President Polk offered Spain $100 million for Cuba during 1850s; 1854, President Pierce was willing to give $150 million
-1850, Clayton-Bulwer treaty shared any canal built through Central America by both USA and Britain equally
-1855, William Walker declares himself president of Nicaragua and was overthrown 2 years later; interference by USA led to Latin American hatred of "Yankees"
-after Civil War, Seward tried buying Virgin islands from Denmark but Congress rejected the plan until 1917; President Grant tried to annex republic of Santo Domingo but was rejected by Congress in 1870
-during Civil War, French Emperor Napoleon III sent troops to install Archduke Maximilian of Austria as Emperor of Mexico; Seward threatened France and Napoleon III withdrew; 1867, Mexicans revolt and kill Maximilian
-1880s, Secretary of State James G. Blaine encouraged US intervention in Central America; 1889, Washington DC holds Pan-American Conference in which US tried to make reciprocity with all countries of western hemisphere and that disputes should be only settled through international arbitration; no agreements were reached
-after gold was found nearby, Venezuela and British Guiana fought over borders; 1870s, President Hayes volunteered to settle the dispute but was rejected; 1895, Venezuela asks US for help and President Cleveland demanded that Britain submit the quarrel to arbitration; England rejected the Monroe Doctrine because British Guinana was already their colony and they were not invading; Cleveland set up a boundary commission to investigate, and Britain backed off; 1899, arbitration gives most of the gold land to Britain and US claims that they upheld Monroe Doctrine
-1852, President Fillmore sent Commodore Matthew Perry and a fleet to Japan to win recognition; 1854, Japan and US sign commercial treaty which starts industrial development in Japan
-1859, Captain NC Brooks of US Navy takes Midway Islands; 1899, Samoan Islands were divided between Germany and America
-Americans living in Hawaii grew sugar cane and sugar in 1820s; 1875, reciprocity between Hawaii and USA was signed; 1887, USA renews reciprocity and gets Pearl Harbour
-McKinley Tariff of 1890 cut Hawaiian sugar porfits; 1891, Hawaiian king dies and his Queen Liliuokalani reduces the power of whites in Hawaii; 1893, Americans begin a coup to get rid of the Queen; 150 American marines marched into Honolulu which sparked a successful rebellion
-because Hawaii was the "natural and logical outpost of the US in the Pacific" and Britain would take it soon, President Benjamin Harrison drafted a treaty to take Hawaii that was not passed until March 4, 1893
-President Cleveland tried to get the Queen back on the throne, but Sanford B. Dole, the new president of Hawaii, refused; 1898, America takes Hawaii during Spanish-American war
-Reverend Josiah Strong believed USA would later dominate the world; he saw God with a divine plan for Anglo-Saxons to rule everything; 1885, he published his ideas in Our Country about how USA must lead the Anglo-Saxons to ultimate race victory
-Captain Alfred T. Mahan was president of US Naval War College and argued that navies were key to economy; he wanted naval bases to be set up on key islands and supported the Panama Canal as a refueling station; 1880, USA's navy was 12^th in the world, but by 1900, it was third
-Senator Henry Cabot Lodge attacked Cleveland for his "policy of retreat"; Lodge wanted to take over Canada, build Panama Canal, take Cuba, and build the largest navy in the world
-Cleveland did not run for a second term and was replaced by William McKinley and USA pressured him to help Cuba revolt against Spain; 1878, 10 years of war in Cuba led only to minor reforms by Spain; 1895, economic recession and US tariffs made Cubans revolt again
-Spain sent General Valeriano Weyler as Cuba's new governor; he put Cubans into concentration camps, burned homes and crops, and denied Cubans food; emotional news about this (yellow journalism) in US was led by William Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer
-January 1898, revolution for independence breaks out in Havana and McKinley sent the battleship Maine to protect Americans; the Maine and 240 crew were destroyed in Havana harbour by mysterious explosion; Teddy Roosevelt and US newspapers called for war
-April 11, President McKinley recognizes Cuba's independence and permits the use of force to carry it out; after American declared that it planned "to leave the government and control of the Island to its people", Spain declared war on April 24, 1898
-it was shortest war in US history (lasted 100 days); Commodore George Dewey had sunk Spanish Pacific fleet at Manila harbour, Philippines, with only 6 ships; US took Hawaii and used it as a naval base beginning in July 1898; Spain surrendered on August 14, 1898
-June 17, 17 000 American soldiers sailed for Cuba but had left their horses, weapons, and supplied behind due to poor planning; though Spain had 200 000 soldiers, they were spread out and incompetent; July 1^st, American troops including black soldiers of 10^th calvary and Ted Roosevelt's "Rough Riders" attacked San Juan Hill; Spanish ran back to their harbours but their fleet was sunk by August 3^rd
-July 17, America captures Santiago and soon after, the island of Puerto Rico; August 12, Spain gives Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines and Guam to USA
-McKinley feared the Germans taking the Philippines if America did not; he decided to take all of the islands and gave $20 million to Spain
-many people opposed the taking of the Philippines, including Mark Twain and Senator William Mason; Filipinos felt betrayed when Congress' vote did not free the Philippines; Filipinos revolted in 1899 with 3.5 years of guerrila warfare I which USA used 70 000 troops; US burned Filipino homes and used water torture; however, the first governor of the Philippines, William Howard Taft, worked hard to rebuild the falling island
-1901, USA's Platt Amendment gave limited independence to Cuba if they promised to 1 - not make any foreign agreements that threaten Cuban independence, 2 - not create huge debts, 3 - USA can intervene to preserve independence, 4 - US must set up a naval bas in Cuba; the USA invaded Cuba 3 times between 1902 and 1920; Platt Agreement was abolished in 1934
-1899, Anti-Imperialist Leagues formed around USA to fight the Philippines Annexation but were defeated when the imperialistic Teddy Roosevelt was voted in as vice-president; McKinley was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo, and Teddy became the 26^th president of the USA; Teddy helped solve Moroccan crisis between Germany and France; 1905, he helped end the Russo-Japanese war with the treaty of Portsmouth; 1906, he received a Nobel Peace Prize; he didn't shoot a baby bear, which is why he is immortalized as the teddy bear
-Klondike Gold Rush created conflict because Alaskan-Canadian boundaries were not clear; Canada wanted the boundary to be more west so it could make ports on Alaskan Panhandle at Skagway; Roosevelt got a jury of 3 Americans, 2 Canadians, and 1 British (Lord Alverstone) as "impartial jurist of repute"; Britain did not want war with USA so they voted to give the land to America; Roosevelt explained his philosophy later: "speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far"
-USA had to decide whether to build a canal through Nicaragua or Panama; Nicaragua was longer but easier to make because of its rivers; Panama was only 80 km wide, but had swamps; earlier, the French had tried to dig a canal in Panama but ran out of money and sold the land to America; Colombian gov't in Panama did not like the offer, so French urged Panamanians to revolt so that the selling could go through; Roosevelt sent the USS Nashville to Panama to trigger the revolt and prevent Colombian reinforcements from arriving; USA got the 16 km wide Canal Zone by giving Panama $10 000 000 and $250 000 every year; USA also made Panama a protectorate like Cuba
-after 1902 incident in Venezuela, Europe asked America to make Latin American colonies pay their debts; Roosevelt like seeing USA as the police of the western continents; 1902, Drago Doctrine of Luis M. Drago stated that countries have no right to collect debts by force; Roosevelt believed that force must be used because local laws in the colonies could not be enforced
-1904, Roosevelt made his Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, that the USA would intervene in "flagrant cases of… wrong doing or impotence…(and would) exercise… an international police power"
-1905, Dominican Republic, that earlier would not pay back debts to Europe, signed peace treaty with US; Dominican was forced to let the US take over their custom houses to collect customs duties, and was forced to pay their creditors 35 percent of revenues
-the next president, William Howard Taft, encouraged businesses to invest in Latin America and Panama Canal to counter European interference and create political stability; this was called "dollar diplomacy" and "substituting dollars for bullets"
-1909, Nicaraguan dictator General Jose Zelaya kills 2 Americans fighting in a revolt; Taft breaks diplomatic relations with Nicaragua and Zelaya is overthrown, and Adolfe Diaz becomes Us appointed president of Nicaragua; 1911, Taft arranges for US State Department to run Nicaraguan finances for 3 years; 1912, Taft sends in the marines to protect the Diaz government which stayed there until 1933
-Taft also made a new reciprocity treaty with Canada; Sir Wilfred Laurier had supported reciprocity since 1891; 1910, Taft and William S. Fielding, Canada's Minister of Finance, met in Albany and finished in January 1911; Taft signed the tariff bill on July 26, 1911
-many people saw this as USA invading Canada such as Robert Borden and Champ Clark
-Woodrow Wilson believed all countries must be enlightened by America; his philosophy was known as "missionary diplomacy"; Panama Canal was finished in 1914 and businesses began investing in it
-July 28, 1915, Haitians kill their president, Vilbrun G. Sam; Woodrow Wilson orders marines to land in Port-au-Prince and take over custom houses to collect taxes, build road, and put down revolts; the marines stayed until 1934 when the US Navy moved in
-1916, Dominican Republic wants to get out of American protectorate; Woodrow sent in marines and suspended the local legislature for 8 years
-1910, Mexicans revolt and assassinate their president, Francisco Madero, and replaced him with General Victorian Huerta in 1913; Woodrow refused to recognize Huerta as president; when Huerta received weapons from Germany, Congress sent marines into Vera Cruz and in 1914 in Niagara Falls, Canada, Huerto agreed to resign
-later, Francisco (Pancho) Villa kidnapped 18 Americans in Columbus, New Mexico; Woodrow sent in General John Pershing, but Villa was never captured

Chapter Twenty: The Vietnam War

-John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated by Harvey Lee Oswald, who was assassinated by Jack Ruby
-1961, USA was concerned with Cuba, Berlin, and Laos but… 945, Office of Strategic Services (OSS) had supplied weapons, training, and medicine to Vietnam guerillas to fight Japan; the Vietnamese leader, Ho Chi Minh, declared September 2, 1945 as Independence Day & used words from the Declaration of Independence to signify the end to Japanese and French control
-1890, Ho Chi Minh was born 7 years after French took over Vietnam from Red River to delta of Mekong River; Vietnam had been conquered by China in 111 BC and in 939 they drove the foreigners out; Vietnam was them ruled by monarchial Hue, and most lived as poor farmers; 1850, French attacked Vietnam after several Roman Catholic missionaries were killed and by 1883, Vietnam was a part of the French Empire
-kids were taught French and Roman Catholicism; 1911, Ho Chi Minh left as a cabin boy to see the world and joined revolutionary societies; 1919, he wrote a letter to Woodrow Wilson asking him to spread self-determination across the world through the Versailles Treaty; after 14 points fell through, Ho Chi Minh turned to Vladimir Lenin
-1920, Ho Chi Minh joined French communist party and studied in USSR in 1923; 1924, he organizes in China the Revolutionary Youth League and Indochina Communist Party; 1941, he organizes a nationalist group called Viet Minh which attacked the Japanese in Vietnam; he provided USA with Japanese movements
-August 14, 1945 when Japan surrenders, Ho Chi Minh calls for a revolt and he replaces the puppet Emperor
-with British aid, France retook southern and central Vietnam in 1945n and recognized Republic of Vietnam in the north; as soon as reinforcements arrived, France attacked north Vietnam; November 23, 1946, French navy fires on Haiphong and 6000 Vietnamese civilians were killed
-Ho Chi Minh called for war and peasants did their part by providing food and shelter for their guerillas; 1949, Vietnam gets aid from Mao Tse Tung and USSR against French artillery and the Viet Minh drove the French out of their borders
-1954, France asks USA for financial support but USA also wanted to help Asian independence; however, Harry Truman feared communism spreading such as it did in China; he decided to give large sums of money to France and sent 30 military advisors; 1954, USA was paying for 805 of French war costs in Vietnam
-however, Vietnam's General Vo Nguyan Giap's guerilla warfare had pushed the French tanks out of 3/4 of Vietnam and by 1954, USSR had lent enough heavy artillery for Vietnam to fight back; he lured French into Dien Bien Phu camp and cut off French supply routes; then they barraged the 12000 French troops for 55 days and forced a truce
-Geneva Conference Cease-Fire and Peace Accords recognized the Republics of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam; Vietnam was temporarily divided along 17^th parallel with French in the South; International Control Commission made of India, Canada, and Poland was set up to watch for treaty violations and supervise the gov't election in two years
-Dwight Eisenhower used the two years to develop a native, non-communist Vietnamese party in the South to defeat Viet Minh; 1954, John Foster set up the South-East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) to defend Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam from common dangers, including communism
-French had appointed Bao Dai as Emperor of South Vietnam who was despised as a puppet; 1954, French appoint Ngo Dinh Diem as PM and Diemm rigged the 1955 election so that he became the new president of the South; Eisenhower promised him military aid if he made "needed reforms"; he was the best anti-communist leader in the country
-however, Diem was of the wealthy class and did not bother helping the poor South; because he only had the support of Roman Catholics, he hunted down Viet Minh supporters, persecuted Buddhist and other religions, and made many flee to the communist North
-Diem would not take part in the 1956 election because he claimed his Republic of Vietnam had not signed the Geneva accords; USA soon discovered that most of their financial aid was going to rich Vietnamese pockets and the Civil Services were employed with inexperienced workers; the CIA advised America to get out of Vietnam quickly
-Eisenhower continued to send aid and advisors to Diem; Vietnamese were continually trained and in 1957, the first casualties of North-South fighting occurred
-February 1961, communist in South Vietnam organized National Liberty Front (NLF) to overthrow Diem ab\nd the conquering Americans; NLF and its military wing, Viet Cong, promised reforms, collected taxes, drafted leaders, and moved their headquarters around to escape detection; they were supplied by USSR and China through Ho Chi Minh Trail that went through neutral Laos and Cambodia
-JFK was given mixed results on what to day; he was advised that that South Vietnam can take out the Viet Cong while some told him that the peasants were too alienated from the Republic's capital Saigon
-1961, JFK sends planes, helicopters, APCs, rifles, napalms, and herbicides for use in raids against the North; USA tried to make Diem reform, but he wouldn't; 1962, America's gunship "choppers" allowed Diem to take the offensive against Viet Cong; Americans taught Vietnamese to fly the planes and by 1962, there were over 9000 USA military "advisors" in Vietnam
-USA convinces Diem to being "strategic hamlet" policy in which peasants would be relocated to fortified villages; this would protect loyal peasants, deprive Viet Cong of local support and force them into the open; Viet Cong got scared and attacked villages that were being relocated and Diem lost even more support
-1963, Viet Cong (VC) was estimated to have 300 000 soldiers and 1 million peasant sympathizers and buddhists burned themselves in protest; Henry Cabot Lodge, American ambassador in South Vietnam, and CIA began organizing coup d'etat of Diem; November 2, Diem and his brother were assassinated
-JFK was shocked at Diem's death; he wanted him replaced, not murdered; he said "The first thing I do when I'm re-elected, I'm going to get the Americans out of Vietnam. Exactly how I'm going to do it, right now, I don't know, but that is my number one priority - get out of Southeast Asia. We are not going to have men ground up in this fashion, this far away from home. I'm going to get those guys out because we're going to find ourselves in a war it's impossible to win"; he was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963
-Lydon Johnson, his successor, was less knowledgeable about foreign affairs and required military advice; he was determined to be reelected so he strengthened his anti-communist position; he believed that China and North Vietnam were working together
-November 26, 1963 to February 1, 1964, Johnson set up covert operations to cut supplies in North Vietnam; USA was ready to warn North Vietnam that they will preserve non-communist South Vietnam
-1963, Northerners of Hanoi ask for peace in Vietnam civil War but Southern Generals refused because American aid was making them rich; December 1963, the North send more troops to aid the Viet Cong
-1964, Johnson was determined to not be the first president to lose a war and increased economic aid by $50 million and secretly supported raids on the North; the USS Maddox was attacked during a raid and sunk at least one North Vietnamese ship in defense in the Gulf of Tonkin; August 3, she was joined by another destroyer; August 4, the two ships reported enemy vessels attacking them on radar during a fierce storm; USA did not care that that Maddox thought it was malfunctions; Johnson immediately authorized bombers to destroy torpedo boat bases and oil storage tanks in North Vietnam; Congress passed Johnson's "all necessary measures" "to prevent further aggression" by a vote of 416 to 0 and leapt 30 points (30%) in American polls; November, Johnson the "peacekeeper" won the election against Barry Goldwater with 61.1% of popular vote
-South Vietnam was being badly beaten by Viet Cong; Johnson was advised to bomb North Vietnam again to give the South breathing room and morale, but George Ball urged the president that bombs will only escalate the war and make China aid North Vietnam
-February 1965, Johnson orders bombing raids of North Vietnam in a plan called "Rolling Thunder" and enlarged air bases in the South; March 8, 1965, to protect the bases from VC attacks, the first US marines land at Danang, South Vietnam
-April 1965, the South was on the verge of defeat and the Texan Johnson would not bomb North Vietnam into submission or risk war with China; without telling the American public, Johnson sent 40000 marines to attack North Vietnam but not conquer it
-May 1965, VC attack South in hope to defeat them before Americans arrive; morale in the South (SV) was low and there was almost 50% desertion rate in their conscripted armies; June and July, General William Westmoreland and Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara recommend Johnson to send in over 150000 more troops
-July 26, `965, Johnson tells Americans that he had sent 50000 troops to Vietnam and more are on their way; Johnson ordered Westmoreland to take the offensive and use saturation bombing in VC controlled areas of South Vietnam; Johnson he would look good when his "Great Society" bills pass through Congress while America would wins the war in less than 2 years
-New York Times questioned Johnson's choice to fight a war 12000 km away; some professors organized teach-ins, students signed petitions, and 15000 students marched on Washington on April 17; April 2, 1965, Lester B. Pearson calls for an end to bombing while giving a speech at Temple University, Philadelphia; the Whitehouse did not like foreigners giving advice on American soil
-at Camp David, Maryland, Johnson met with PM Pearson and said he had to keep the "hawks" in gov't check; he had to appease his advisors who wanted to bomb and would not submit to the "doves" who asked for peace; Johnson offered $1 billion to South-east Asia, including North Vietnam, and in May had a five-day cease fire but bribery failed to end the war
-1966, there were 280000 American troops in Vietnam, 35000 in Thailand and 60000 Navy in South China Sea; 1967, there were 500000 in South Vietnam and 100000 in Thailand; South Vietnam had 200000 soldiers, 500000 local police, and were given help from Philippines, Thailand, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand
-American wanted to defend cities from attack and gradual take back towns from VC and "pacify" the countryside; USA hoped to earn the peasants' support; however, Westmoreland wanted to "search and destroy" all VC and North Vietnam units and supply centres; he was confident that American's technology could pummel the enemy into submission; he wanted to force the enemy to fight in large armies so they would be easy targets for bombers
-to cut down on VC support from the North, USA set up forces along border (demilitarized zone) and built a base at Sanh near Laos and North Vietnam; since Westmoreland was not allowed to attack North Vietnam, he instead guarded the Ho Chi Minh Trail
-VC has support of local peasants and could blend in with the local population; they knew the land and the jungle and were skilled in guerilla warfare; they set booby traps with bamboo shoots, grenades and land mines that caused 10000 Americans to lose their limbs; the VC would ambush patrols and hide when reinforcements arrived; they wore shells and mortar as camouflage and shelled bases, barracks, runways, and supply depots from the jungle; VC avoided major pitched battles and hoped to wear down the Americans' will to fight
-to gain peasants' support, a new Constitution was drafted for South Vietnam and in 1967, General Nguyan Van Thieu was elected president
-Americans were hated for the bombs and chemicals dropped on Vietnamese land; because land could not be held for long, Westmoreland put emphasis on "body count" of enemy killed each week as success; 1967, Westmoreland claimed he had killed 259031 VC since 1961, while North Vietnam also exaggerated by saying they killed 100000 Americans in 1966
-Westmoreland was including dead civilians in his body count to impress the people who watched the news; CIA made public think that USA was winning vast amounts of countryside even though in reality, VC was still recruiting many volunteers from the South
-bombing of Ho Chi Minh trail failed as more supplies got to the VC because goods were being carried on backs and bicycles and VC stole most of their supplies from the South anyway; USA did not tell the public how the enemy was being protected by deep network tunnels; for every $10 worth of bombing, America was inflicted $1of damage on the subterranean VC; 1967, war costed USA $21 billion, debt and inflation increased, and bills were made to increase taxes
-April 17, 1965, 15000 Students for a Democratic Society's (SDS) marched on Washington that inspired protests around the country; colleges turned into hippie centres, petitions and letters were sent to the gov't and press, rallies were held, and speeches with banners and slogans became common
-1948, the peace time draft had been introduced in which all American men of 18 years or older had to register with draft boards; however, white, middle class or higher men were exempted and blacks had few exemptions as well
-protestors blocked men entering or leaving army bases; men burned their draft cards; 1965, 3 people set themselves on fire and died to protest the war; many men refused to go when their draft notices came, and they became draft dodgers; many army desertions left for Canada or else face over 10 years I an USA jail
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. saw that the Vietnam war was taking away funds needed to improve black American life; April 4, 1967 in New York, he preached his "Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam" and suggested a five-pt plan for American withdrawal from Vietnam; he urged young Americans to become conscientious objectors who refused to join the morally wrong war; April 15, he led 400000 in a march to New York's Central Park to United Nations HQ; blacks rioted in the hot summers of 1966, 1967, and 1968 because the war failed to help their lives in the ghettos
-1967, Muhammed Ali/Cassius Clay of the Nation of Islam/Black Muslims refused his draft induction because of his religion; he was convicted for violating the Selection Service Act & stripped of his heavyweight title; 3 years later, he appealed and won back the right to box
-Westmoreland believed that America was winning the war after the VC took a lull in fighting; however, on January 30 and 31, Vietnamese New Year (TET) in what is known as the TET offensive of 1968, the VC launched their attacks; they struck at Saigon, Hué, 34 provincial and 64 district capitals, and 100+ urban targets; VC had enough troops to actually invade because they had nearly 300000 troops and had infiltrated cities without being detected; weapons and artillery were smuggled into cities; peasants gave no resistance and in some cities, the SV armies switched sides
-Saigon, VC forces dressed in SV uniforms attacked US Embassy, the Presidential Palace, the SB armed forces HQ, and gov't radio station, but were defeated within 24 hrs; USA sent in tanks and planes and wiped out cities such Hue, My Tho, and Ben Tre to drive out the VC; Westmoreland exaggerated his success once again by claiming 45000 VC were killed while only 3000 allies had been
-however, the effect of TET was devastating; America had been driven out of the countryside and the allies decided to bomb and burn any village thought to be VC infiltrated; sometimes, marines took their frustration out on villages were no VCs were found; March 16, 1968 at My Lai, Captain Ernest Medina and Lt. William Calley and their platoons murdered 450 unarmed villagers; this was covered up until Nov 1969 when only Calley was court-martialed; 20000 of the 500000 US troops in Vietnam had been killed, and morale was very low
-another election was fast approaching and Johnson had fired his Secretary of Defence McNamara who said victory in Vietnam was impossible; Westmoreland and General Wheeler claimed that forces in Vietnam needed to be increased by 210000 to 731756, taxes must raise and USA put on war footing; Westmoreland's report was leaked to New York Times on March 10, 1968 two days before Hampshire primary in which Johnson won by only 7 points; Robert Kennedy was encouraged and on March 6, he joined as representative of the Democrats; March 19, Johnson denies Westmoreland more troops and replaces him with General Creighton Abrams on March 22
-March 3, Johnson announced to the public that he will limit American interference in Vietnam and offer to negotiate with Ho Chi Minh; he surprised everyone by admitting he will not run for a third term; May 13, North Vietnam and US reps met in Paris but made little progress
-April 4, 1968, Martin Luther is assassinated by a sniper and riots break out in 125 cities as blacks express their outrage; student strikes begin at Columbia University in new York and spread; students attacked officer training programs and took over university buildings; police were called in when buildings were burned or suffered arson
-June 4, 1968, on the night he wins the Californian primary, Robert Kennedy is assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan; when Vice-president Humphrey becomes a presidential candidate, anti-war demonstrators marched in Chicago in August and were beaten by police on live television
-in Miami, Republicans nominate Richard M. Nixon as candidate who promised an "honourable end to the war in Vietnam"; he campaigned with "peace with honour"; October 31, Johnson halts all bombing to help Humphrey's election chances but it was too late; Richard Nixon, who had failed to become president against JFK, had beaten Robert Kennedy to become the next president
-Nixon planned to gradually withdraw American troops while lending more financial support to the South; this policy was known as Westmoreland "Vietnamization"; he did not realize that the NLF had used their wide support to create a Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) for South Vietnam in 1968; the VC felt ready to conquer the South and would not negotiate, and Nixon's refusal to compromise led to 25000 more American deaths; January 1969, PRG and SV met at Paris; PRG demanded end to US interference and SV demanded withdraw of all VC troops in the South; no compromises were made
-Nixon became desperate and told USSR he would increase trade and decrease arms race with them when peace is made in Vietnam; he sent his Security Council Advisor, Henry Kissinger, to Paris to help in the talks; he warned Hanoi that drastic measures will be taken if no progress is made; he secretly authorized bombing of bases in Cambodia and increased US troops by 50000
-however, in June he announced the first withdrawal of 25000 troops but Ho Chi Minh was uninspired
-October 15, 1969, anti-Moratorium was held when 1 million people participated in peaceful, symbolic acts in protest; November 3, 1969, Nixon tells the public his plan to steadily withdraw troops and increase US aid, which begins pro-Nixon rallies in November
-SV army was given the latest USA weapons and its army increased to 1 million; village defences were built along with roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals; VC decided to go on the defensive and Nixon announces his plan to withdraw another 150000 troops
-Ho Chi Minh died on September 3, 1969, and a coup d'etat occurred in Cambodia; the new leaders of Cambodia asked for America's help to fight off the VC so in April 1970, Abrams was ordered to bomb the enemy in Cambodia
-there was a large public outcry at this and on June 24, the Senate repealed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution; to Nixon's anger, American troops were withdrawn from Cambodia by June 30, 1970; 1970 and 1971, Nixon made many peace proposals but North Vietnam chose to wait until the US public forced a surrender; to appease the people, Nixon withdrew another 380000 soldiers by the end of 1971
-February 1971, Nixon approves the SV's attack on supply depots in Laos; however, the SV are mauled by General Giap's new Soviet tanks and it raises doubts as to whether Vietnamization can work; riots broke out all over America and thousands were jailed
-recent draftees had been affected by anti-war movement and were discouraged by American withdrawal; 65643 men deserted in 1970; in one instance, a platoon sat down on a battlefield in a protest; "fraggings" (murders of officers) rose to 2000 in 1970 alone; drug use was high - it was estimated in 1970 that 65000 Americans were high; on one occasion, 105 of an entire destroyer's crew were busted as part of a drug ring
-in America, blacks could not tolerate racism and rioting; in Vietnam, whites and blacks in the same platoons undermined discipline
-1971 peace proposals by Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho did not achieve anything because the North demanded the resignation of SV President Thieu, whom the USA now trusted; Nixon hoped to end the war by improving relations with China and USSR; February 1972, he visited China and in May, USSR
-March 1972, NV (North Vietnam) launches massive attack on south with Soviet tanks and 120000 men; USA had less than 100000 left in Vietnam (10000 were combat troops) and the SV had to desert the countryside to protect their cities; the VC sprung back into action and took back the countryside
-Nixon orders massive bombing of supply lines along demilitarization zone and destruction of fuel tanks in Hanoi and Haiphong; May 8, 1972, American ships mined Haiphong harbour and bombers attacked populated cities; the loss of so much fuel finally halted the NV invasion
-Kissinger and Tho negotiate a draft settlement in October 1972 but Thieu rejected the deal and would not allow NV to stay in the South; he wanted the demilitarized zone to be a border; Nixon chose to wait until after the election
-the public ignores George McGovern's claims that the Republicans broke into the Democratic HQ at Watergate Hotel; the "dirty tricks" by the Committee to reelect the president (CREEP) were unnecessary because only the half of America that supported Nixon voted
-December 16, 1972, Nixon breaks off peace talks and to make more compromise, decides to resume bombing oif North Vietnam's Honai and Haiphong between Dec 18 and 30, resulting in 1600 dead civilians; 26 American planes were shot down in the 12 days of "Christmas bombing", including 15 B-52s, and the doves in Congress threatened to cut tax money to the war
-January 8, Paris negotiations resume and on January 27, 1973, Kissinger and Le Duc Tho sign a treaty that was very similar to the Geneva Accord; it provided cease fire, release of prisoners of war, US troops were to withdraw, NV troops were to stay in SV, democratic elections were to be supervised in SV; however, no coalition was set up between President Thieu's Republic of South Vietnam and the PRG; March 29, 1973, US withdrew its last soldiers, 587 US POWs were released, and 8500 American "civilians" stayed as advisors in SV
-at the end of the war, Thieu controlled 75% of SV, had over 1 million soldiers and had 4^th largest airforce in world; NV had 145000 troops and the VC; the treaty was merely a truce to allow the USA to leave
-Thieu moved quickly to take back as much land as he could, but I n1974, NV went on the offensive and pushed SV into defence around their cities; Congress voted to limit aid to limit aid to NV, cut bombing in Cambodia, and reduce aid to SV; November, Congress passes War Powers Resolution over Nixon's veto to limit the Commander-in-Chief's power; it forced the president to report intro of American forces into hostile situations within 48 hours and troops were required to withdraw within 60 days if instructed by Congress
-January 1973, Thieu begins the third Indochina war since WWII and Nixon was powerless due to the Watergate burglary and cover-up; July 30, House of Reps Judiciary Committee vote to impeach Nixon and he resigns on August 9, 1974
-Gerald Ford could do nothing to persuade Congress to help SV either; January 1975, NV opens their final offensive; Thieu orders an evacuation of Sv army but 2/3 of his men stay behind to find their families; USA evacuates from Saigon, Thieu resigns and leaves on a US plane, and on April 30^th, SV surrenders unconditionally; Cambodia and Laos become communist within months
-3 factors resulted in America's loss: nature of SV, military strategy, and self-image
-SV was a false creation made by French and helping it, USA was attacking Vietnamese nationalism and made the North seem like heroes; SV had a weak, corrupt gov't that was not voted in by the village people; Thieu was no charismatic leader and had little sympathy for the poor and failed to execute major land reforms; USA funding ruined countryside economy and corrupt rich officials in Saigon further; the drugs and prostitution in Saigon showed the CIA in 1954 that Vietnam would not be an easy place to defend democracy in
-USA's bombing did not work against tunneling guerilla warfare, and they killed too many innocent civilians to become popular; SV army was also not very good at protecting their villages from VC so there were forced to rely on US supplies
-USA did not realize that Ho Chi Minh was not a Chinese puppet; Vietnam and China had hated each other for 2000 years and America did not realize what a withdrawal from the war would do to their image; also, Truman and Nixon had gone against American principles when they tried to prevent a revolution against the French
-Eisenhower, JFK, and Johnson did not inform the public nor Congress much about what was occurring; victory was promised yet the war dragged on and citizens doubted the credibility of their leaders
-morale died within American ranks who were brutalized and corrupted by the war; soldiers questioned if it was worth it to lose limbs and die for people they don't know, and blacks and whites began once again questioning their equality both in the armed forces and at home
-trust no one, and America no longer did