H502 HISTORY OF INSURGENCY:
A COMPARISON OF THE AMERICAN AND VIETNAM REVOLUTIONARY WARS AND THE USE OF INSERGENCY
CW4 Joseph, Stephen E
WOSSE: 16-006B
26 September 2016
Table of Contents
A Nation for Change 1
A Revolutionary War 1
Liberating a Revolutionary War 4
BIBLIOGRAPHY 6
A Nation for Change
No one person wakes in the morning and decides to tackle years of institutional rule without thinking certain doom, discomfort, or in some cases, death. Citizens living during the times within the United States (1775 – 1784) and Vietnam (1955 – 1975) decided to fight as one voice, for a cause they believed and shared together. This unified voice, the will of the people, started as a single voice. Soon there were many voices with the same cry, to push out policies, ideals, and laws that were not their own. Peaceful talks, debates, or discussions did not work, soon there was no other means but the violence to break the will to continue.
The revolutionary wars were the violent means to which tactics used, was used as “a form of warfare [that is] uniquely adapted to undermine the efforts of new and poor countries to maintain the freedom that they have finally achieved”. President Kennedy spoke those words in 1962, the height of the Vietnam War, and reaffirms the will of the people to that of the American people during its Revolutionary War; the will for independence prevailed during trying times of offensive and defensive phases of war.
A Revolutionary
The Vietnam War's contraversiality spurred a great many sources of protest, against our government's use of power, how far we could stretch the rights of free expression, and primarily against the violence of the war itself. These changes in the behavior of society have
The Revolutionary War, America’s conflict with Great Britain, the most powerful country in the world at the time, resulted in the independence of the United States of America. Through a war that lasted just over eight years, a relatively small country, which was actually a largely oversized settlement connected by roads, villages, towns, and cities before they won the war, was able to defeat the British with the help of France along the way. The war was caused by the rebellious reactions of the colonists to the taxes and acts that King George III had put into place to pay for the cost of the French and Indian War. The colonists were angered because of the taxes they were forced to pay for a war that was not theirs. The Revolutionary War proved
Throughout America’s history, few things have left the nation in such controversial turmoil as the Vietnam War. With an American death toll of almost 60,000 troops, the Vietnam War has gone down in infamy as one of the most tremendous struggles Americans have faced both overseas and on the home front. Because of the tumultuous controversies caused by the war, Americans split into two social factions – those against the war and those who supported it. During the years of 1961-1975 - the era in which the war had its greatest effect on Americans - the population of citizens from 18-35 years old and the Presidency were both affected irreversibly.
The American revolution was one of the many historical battles of all time. This war not only symbolizes what the United States is but what we still strive to become. This war included thousands if not millions of people, within them were simple folk who wanted change, generals all the way up to congressmen who only wanted the best for their people. Although this was a beautiful and rebellious dream, there were many sorrowful moments that somewhat tinted this dream.
Dudley, William, Teresa O'neill, and Bruno Leone, eds. The American Revolution Oppsing Viewpoints. San Diego: GreenHaven P, 1992.
The American Revolutionary War, beginning in 1775, was a defining moment that changed the history of America indefinitely. The Founding Fathers knew it would be a costly and dangerous decision to declare war on the powerful Great Britain, so they made sure they had a plethora of goals for the war before waging it. Most widely acknowledged, they wanted independence from the British monarchy’s mistreatment; however, the American colonists also wanted visionary rights. These goals led to a government that was shaped by limited power and republican Enlightenment ideals. The main goals of the Revolutionary War were gaining independence from the monarchy and gaining new rights. These motivations led to a new democratic government system based on
In every major military operation, terrain, troops and weapons often dictate the way the war is fought. The American Revolutionary War was a prime example of this military strategy. It is often said that the Patriots’ use of guerrilla warfare was the reason why the Americans were successful in defeating the British. However, the Americans employed various tactics both on and off the battlefield that led to the ultimate defeat of the British. The American Patriots won the Revolutionary War not through the sole use of guerrilla warfare, but rather through an amalgamation of guerrilla warfare, linear battle tactics, and the employment of espionage.
The Vietnam War was in many aspects one of the lowest periods in American history, being not just a military failure, but also contribute to social unrest and extensive political change in the mainland. In many ways, ‘The Forever War’ is an analogue of The Vietnam War, that, in abundant detail, explores the vast amount of opinions the veterans of that war had towards a new society, vastly changed from the one they left.
In this essay I am going to discuss the impact of the antiwar movement on the course of the Vietnam War and ultimately the role the movement had in ending the war. My argument is that the antiwar movement did influence some Vietnam policies; however it did not directly end the war. First I will discuss the impact of the antiwar movement during Lyndon Johnson’s time as President, I will then examine the impact of the movement throughout Richard Nixon’s presidency, and then I will discuss the overall impact on both presidents’ policies; I will then consider the general opinion Americans had towards the movement and finally I will evaluate the role that the movement had in ending the war.
The Vietnam war exposed a generation of Americans to the fallacy of American exceptionalism by exposing the magnitude of grievances the Government was willing to commit at the expense of Human lives. “For nine years victory wavered [in the Trojan War]” (Hamilton 261), for nearly twenty years media claims of American victory in Vietnam remained unfounded .”[Trojan] Men sickened and died so [often] that funeral pyres were burning continuously (Hamilton 261) as did their modern American counterparts.Both wars ended in part to the deviation of its constituents, anti-war movements eventually influenced Government as did the secretive actions of the few (the Trojan Horse) constrain further conflict. As, the current President continues to augment the U.S., seemingly in preparation for conflict, it is imperative that we remember from experience that swift revolutionary civil disobedience rather than reactionary civil obedience after grievances have been committed will ensure that the lives of Millions do not become
American Revolution Prompt: Analyze the extent to which the American Revolutionary War was truly ‘revolutionary?’”
The war in Vietnam was a liberative exertion with respect to the Vietnamese, from provincial enslavement by western forces like France. Further division among the Vietnamese on political lines saw the heightening of the Cold War with the north accepting backing from comrade associates and the south from the US and other non-socialist nations. The US was vigorously included in the Vietnam War considering the expansive number of assets and troopers conveyed in the war-torn nation. Both sides of the Cold War were included to guarantee that neither benefitted from the political division of the nation to influence it to their side. The US was especially worried about the spread of socialism toward the south, in this way the war served to contain
A quarter of a century after the Fall of Saigon, Vietnam continues to exercise a powerful hold of the American psyche. No deployment of American troops abroad is considered without the infusion of the Vietnam question. No formulation of strategic policy can be completed without weighing the possibility of Vietnanization. Even the politics of a person cannot be discussed without taking into account his opinion on the Vietnam Ware. This national obsession with Vietnam is perfectly national when viewed from a far. It was the only war that the United States has ever lost. It defined an era of American history that must rank with the depression as one of this nation’s most traumatic. It concluded with Watergate and led many to believe that the
The history of recent years in the Indochina conflict has been an eventful one. It will exhibit to the eyes of the future student some of the most remarkable instances of a ruthlessness and indifference to common humanity. Moreover, it will, I believe, demonstrate that North Vietnam has, for a long time, steadily pursued a communist regime which was deliberately designed to produce a subjugation of other countries by the threat of communism.
The Vietnam War raged on from 1954-1975, taking over three million lives with it. Conflicts rooted in the cold war resulted in the United States sending troops to defend South Vietnamese democracy. However as the war became more lengthy and expensive, many civilians began to protest the United States participating in the war, creating the Antiwar Movement. Though the movement had lasting effects on society, it did not immediately cause the United States to retreat from Vietnam. The antiwar movement of the 1960’s, which is deeply connected with the transcendentalist belief of Civil Disobedience, protested the involvement of the United States in the infamous Vietnam War, and has had numerous effects on the American Military and Government to this day. However, the movement that strived for peace did not completely accomplish its goal of ending the United States’ involvement in international armed conflict.