End of Vietnam Interactive Slides

End of Vietnam Notes

by Joseph Grant

​Compelling Question (​You will answer this at the end of the Lesson)

Do you think that the Vietnam War was a tragic, if well-meaning, series of mistakes by the United States? Why or why not?

​Reading 1

​In January 1973, the United States and North Vietnam concluded a final peace agreement, ending open hostilities between the two nations. War between North and South Vietnam continued, however, until April 30, 1975, when North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon, renaming it Ho Chi Minh City (Ho himself died in 1969).

Multiple Choice

When did the US and North Vietnam make a final peace agreement?

• January 1973

• February 1991

• March 1978

• June 1975

Multiple Choice

When did the North Vietnamese capture Saigon and win the war?

• April 32nd, 1975

• March 15, 1986

• April 30th, 1975

• January 1973

Multiple Choice

How long did it take North Vietnam to defeat South Vietnam after the United States made peace? (Calculate the amount of time that passed between January 1973 and April 1975)

• 1 year

• 6 months

• 2 years

• 6 years

Multiple Choice

True or False: South Vietnam was not able to stand on its own and resist North Vietnam without American ground troops and air support. It was quickly defeated and was reunited with the North under a Communist Government.

• True

• False

​Conclusion 1

​Write the following in the Conclusion 1 box on Your End of Vietnam Notes:

​

​South Vietnam couldn't resist North Vietnam without American ground troops and air support. Its military was quickly defeated by the North.

​Reading 2

​More than twenty years of violent conflict had inflicted a devastating toll on Vietnam’s population: After years of war, an estimated 2 million Vietnamese were killed, while 3 million were wounded and another 12 million became refugees. Warfare had demolished the country’s infrastructure and economy, and reconstruction proceeded slowly.

Multiple Choice

How many Vietnamese people were killed in the war?

• 1 million

• 2 million 

• 3 million

• 5 million

Multiple Choice

How many Vietnam were forced to flee their homes (become refugees)?

• 9 million

• 10 million

• 11 million

• 12 million

Multiple Select

Check all that apply (3): The American effort to contain communism in Vietnam...

• was completely successful.

• force millions of Vietnamese to become refugees

• killed millions of Vietnamese people

• destroyed much of the country

​Conclusion 2

​Write the following in the Conclusion 2 box on Your End of Vietnam Notes:

​

The American effort to contain communism in North Vietnam not only failed, but left millions of Vietnamese dead and the country largely destroyed.

Reading 3 ​

​In 1976, Vietnam was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, though occasional violence continued over the next 15 years, including conflicts with their communist neighbors China and Cambodia. Under free market (capitalist) policy put in place in 1986, the economy began to improve, boosted by oil export money and an influx of foreign investment money. Trade and diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the U.S. resumed in the 1990s.

Multiple Choice

Quick Review!

What theory said that if you let communism take hold in a country, it would spread to that country's neighbors?

• Marshall Plan

• Domino Theory

• Open Door Policy

• Dollar Diplomacy

Multiple Choice

North and South Vietnam were reunited in 1976 under a...

• communist government

• capitalist government

• mercantilist government

• monarchist government

Multiple Choice

True or False: American fears that a communist Vietnam would team up with its communist neighbors like China to spread communism to the rest of Asia, just like the Domino Theory predicted, became a reality.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Pick the answer that best completes the following statement:

Within 11 years after the end of the Vietnam War, the supposedly communist government of Vietnam....

• stuck with a purely communist econoomic policies

• ramped up their communist policies to become Super-Communists

• introduced free market(capitalist) economic policies.

Multiple Choice

Approximately how long did it take for the United States and Vietnam to begin to talk and trade again after the end of the Vietnam War?

• 10 years

• 11 years

• 12 years

• 15 years

​Conclusion 3

​​Write the following in the Conclusion 3 box on Your End of Vietnam Notes:

​

While Vietnam reunited as a nation under a communist government, rather than help to spread communism, they fought with their fellow communists in China and Cambodia. Also, they implemented capitalist economic policies 10 years after reunification. Finally, they restored a normal, friendly relationship with the US in less than 20 years.

​Reading 4

In the United States, the effects of the Vietnam War would linger long after the last troops returned home in 1973. The nation spent more than $120 billion on the conflict in Vietnam from 1965-73; this massive spending led to widespread inflation (an increase in the price of goods & services), made worse by a worldwide oil crisis in 1973 and skyrocketing fuel prices.

Multiple Select

Check all that apply: The United States suffered economically from the war. The major economic consequences were...

• $120 billion spent on the war

• massive inflation

• skyrocketing fuel prices

• a massive inlux of money from returning veterans

​Conclusion 4

​​Write the following in the Conclusion 4 box on Your End of Vietnam Notes:

​

The Vietnam War cost the United States dearly. It spent billions of dollars on a losing effort. In turn this caused massive inflation of prices, especially in gas prices. These devastated the American economy in the 1970s.

​Reading 5

​Psychologically, the effects were worse. The war had destroyed the myth of American invincibility and had bitterly divided the nation. Many returning veterans faced negative reactions from both opponents of the war (who viewed them as having killed innocent civilians) and its supporters (who saw them as having lost the war), along with physical damage including the effects of exposure to the toxic herbicide Agent Orange, millions of gallons of which had been dumped by U.S. planes on the dense forests of Vietnam.

Multiple Choice

The Vietnam War "destroyed the myth of American invincibility". If it lost the Vietnam War, then "invincibility" must mean what?

• invisible

• not able to be named "Vince"

• unbeatable

• beatable

Multiple Choice

True or False: Americans who opposed the war and those that supported it set aside their differences when the war ended and reunited as a people.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

True or False: Vietnam War veterans faced criticism from both supporters of the war AND anti-war activitists.

• True

• False

​Conclusion 5

​​​Write the following in the Conclusion 5 box on Your End of Vietnam Notes:

​

The Vietnam War deeply affected the United States mentally. It showed that the US was beatable in war. Left ongoing political and cultural divisions among the American people. Veterans of the war were mistreated by both sides of this divide AND faced continuing mental and physical affects of combat.

​Reading 6

In 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was unveiled in Washington, D.C. On it were inscribed the names of 57,939 American men and women killed or missing in the war; later additions brought that total to 58,200.

​Conclusion 6

​Write the following in the Conclusion 6 box on your End of Vietnam Notes:

​

​The United States lost a total of 58,200 people, killed and missing.

Poll

What is your opinion of the following statement: The Vietnam War was a tragic, if well-meaning, series of mistakes by the United States. 

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

​Compelling Question Redux

Answer the question in the Compelling Question box at the end of your End of Vietnam Notes

Do you think that the Vietnam War was a tragic, if well-meaning, series of mistakes by the United States? Why or why not?