Showing posts with label LBJ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LBJ. Show all posts

Monday, May 3, 2010

The U.S. struggles against the Communist in Vietnam

1. Now think about the overall picture - how the strengths and weaknesses work together.

a) Were the armies finely balanced or was the balance strongly weighted to one side or the other?
The balance of was shifter waaaaaay to the side of the Veit Minh because they had most of the advantages of terrian experience and the desire, while in pure numbers, american forces were by far the larger.

b) Which quality was most important in determining who won the war? Was one feature so important that being ahead in that area meant that other advantages or disadvantages did not matter?
Qualities such as being able tt learn from the enenmy and the will to win. Yes, those two were very import because being able to learn and wanting to fight will keep you on the winning side as well as demoralize your opponent.

Stage 3: Explaining your conclusions
The failure of the U.S. army to beat the Communist in Vietnam was the result of its own weaknesses and Viet Cong strengths.

a. The U.S. weaknesses were:
there inability to learn as well as unable to adapt to teh new place and fighting style of the enemy. And they had not enough determined soldiers, and no true support from Vietnam.

b. At the same time, the Communist strengths were:
good guerrilla tactics, the understanding of the jungle, determined soldiers, the support of Vietnam, equipment supplied by the Soviet Unions and China.

c. The U.S. forces did have some successes. For example:
they were able bomb North Vietnam, interupted war efforts and stopping supply from the communists, and they demonstrated how strong our army was and inevitably how U.S. opposed comies.

d. However, there were some major failures as well. Examples of these were:
not winning the Vietnam war as a whole, not stoping communism, support of a corrupt government and leader in Vietnam.

e. The Viet Cong had some major successes, such as:
successfully bombing U.S. and Southern Vietnam air bases and supply fields, ultimately winning the war, keeping communism present in Vietnam and supporting Ho Chi Minh which resulted in the communists winning the war.

f. However, they also suffered defeats, for example:
the TET offensive. During the offensive, the Viet Cong lost around 10,000 experienced soldiers and it showed that the people of South Vietnam did not stand up to support the Viet Cong.

g. If I had to identify one major American weakness, it would be sucking at fighting in the jungles with gurrilla tactics/ learning because:
The U.S. was very head strong, ie thick skulled not inteligent, and it kept attacking straight on with no concern for lose of life. And they were every innifective against the Viet Cong's tactics.

h. The key Viet Cong strength was guerrilla tactics because:
they were able to attack as quick as lightnin', get the job done, and retreat while kung-fu fighting, cause them Viet Kongs were a lil' bit frightning.
Actualy those were the real reasons, and that they were able to

Friday, April 30, 2010

The U.S. Enters the Vietnam War

1. Describe how people struggled to survive during the depression.
People lost jobs, were evicted from homes and ended on the streets. People slep in parks. Shantytowns were made, which was a bunch of little shacks made out of scrap material. People waited in bread lines and soup kitchens for hours to get food.

2. How was what happened to men during the Great Depression different from what happened to women? Children?
Men had trouble coping with unemployment because they were used to working every day and supporting their families, everyday men went out searching for jobs. Some men could not handle it and gave up and left their families. There was up to 300,000 hoboes wandering around in the 1930s. Women were different then men because they worked hard to help their families survive adversity in the great depression. A lot of women canned food and sewed clothing. Some women worked outside of the home and they usually received a lot less money than men did. People believed that women had no right to work when there was unemployed men. Women would starve because they were too ashamed to admit their hardships. What happened to children in the Great depression was different then what happened to men because with no money for health care and bad eating habits, a lot of children became sick. Thousands of children were forced to work in sweatshops with bad conditions.

3. Describe the causes and effects (on people) because of the Dust Bowl.Causes of the Dust Bowl: Farmers used tractors to break up the grasslands and plant millions of acres of new farmland. Plowing eliminated the thick protective layer of prairie grass. Farmers had worn the crops out by overproduction and left the fields unsuitable for farming. When the drought and wind picked up in the 1930's, there was nothing to keep the soil down. Wind scattered the topsoil and the dust traveled hundreds of miles.Effects of dust bowl on people: Plagued by dust storms,many farmers and sharecroppers were forced to leave their land. Most of them headed west on route 6
6. By the end of the 1930s hundreds of thousands of families that were on farms moved out to California. Objective: Summarize the initial steps Franklin D. Roosevelt took to reform banking and finance.

4. What was the New Deal and its three general goals? (The 3 Rs)The New Deal was a program designed to alleviate the problems of the Great Depression and it's general goals were..A. Relief for the needyB. Economic recoveryC. Financial Reform

5. What did Roosevelt do during the Hundred Days?
Congress passed more than fifteen major pieces of New Deal legislation. The laws significantly expanded the federal government's role in the nations economy. His first step as president was to carry out reforms in banking.

6. Why were Roosevelt's fireside chats significant?Roosevelt's fireside chats were significant because it made Americans feel as if the president was talking directly to them.

7. Describe four significant agencies and/or bills that tightened regulation of banking and finance.Glass-Steagall Act- Established the federal Deposit Insurance Agency which provided federal insurance for individual bank accounts up to $5000.Federal Securiteis Act- Required corporations to provide complete information on all stock offerings and made them liable for any misrepresentations. Agricultural Adjustment Act- sought to raise crop prices by lowering production, which the government achieved by paying farmers to leave a certain amount of crop unseeded.National Industrial Recovery Act- Provided money to states to create jobs chiefly in the construction of schools and other community buildings.