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In the 1 9605 through early ‘ass, he Vietnam War changed America In ways that nothing had ever done before. Perhaps one of the biggest changes Vietnam made in America was citizens’ mistrust in the government. “Prior to the sass, it is safe to say that most contemporary Americans were confident and trusting in their government leadership” (Mar 26). The Vietnam War changed all of that. American escalation in the Vietnamese conflict began in 1964 after the Gulf of Tontine Resolution was passed. The resolution was passed following the suspicious Gulf of Tontine Incident, which occurred on August 2, 1 964 after the U.
S. Storey ISIS Maddox was fired upon by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats. Two days later the Maddox and the C. Turner Joy were supposedly involved in a second attack. President Lyndon B. Johnson used this incident as justification to ask Congress to give him the powers he needed to respond to aggression from the Vietnamese communists. There is now speculation and strong evidence to prove that the Maddox fired first on August 2, and that the second attack never happened. Nevertheless, American support for U. S. Involvement in the conflict soared from 42% approving of the president’s handling of Vietnam to 85% approving of Johnny’s response to the crisis (Hall 63). Lyndon B. Johnson “… Achieved a near declaration of war by an overwhelming majority, with only two senators voting against the Gulf of Tontine Resolution” (Hall 63). Senator Wayne Morse, one of the two senators to reject the resolution did not vote for it because he thought it to be a “historical mistake” and unconstitutional. But, by 1 968, what really happened in August 1964 had blown wide open; many Congressmen “… Ho had voted for the Gulf of Tontine Resolution came to believe that they had been tricked into doing so and felt betrayed” (Hall 63). It had surfaced that the U. S. Navy had been engaged in spying operations in the Tontine Gulf, and could have been violating International Waters at the time. Also, American naval gunners on August 4 had fired at non-existent ships, the attack never happened. To prevent the inquiry of a United States senator, J. William Fulbright, the White House had a naval officer from the Pentagon, a key witness Of the incident, institutionalized to prevent him from testifying.
The Gulf of Tontine Incident caused Americans to mistrust what their government did, said, or said that happened. Lyndon B. Johnny’s assurance o the American people “We still seek no wider war” after the Tontine Resolution seems to have been more of a step to keep American support than what was really his true intent. The Gulf of Tontine Incident is what caused the Vietnam War to be what it was and without it, the United States may have never gone into it, as many “… Critics concluded that the Johnson administration had duplicitous blown up the incident into a case of North Vietnamese aggression” (Hall 64).
The Vietnam War one was one of the first conflicts in which African Americans largely participated. Conditions in the military “… Hanged after President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 998 in July 1 948 ordering fair treatment and equal opportunity in the armed forces regardless of race” (Hall 149). Although African Americans have participated in all American wars, ‘Vietnam marked the first major combat deployment of an integrated military and the first time since the turn of the century that African American participation was actually encouraged” (Butler 1).
Although Truman ordered the desegregation of the military in 1 948, it was not until after the conflict in Korea that integration was achieved in the army, unlike the Navy and Air Force. While African Americans Were allowed in the armed forces they still faced racism, and some thought that the draft laws were favoring middle and upper class whites. Although the draft laws were not intended to be racist, they made it significantly harder for blacks to be exempt from service. For example, “… Legible men from the middle and upper class could normally find ways of avoiding service, or at least service in Vietnam, meaning the burden of the draft fell on working class whites and minorities. Consequently, African Americans were drafted in disproportionately higher numbers than were whites” (Hall 150). However, after their enlistments were up, more than two thirds of eligible African Americans chose to re-enlist while only around 12 percent of whites chose to remain in the armed forces. Yet, as much as blacks reenlisted in the military, many thought that they were the last to receive promotions.
Lionel Anderson wrote to the Black Panther, “Black people are the last to be promoted, as far as rank goes” (Hall 159). In reality, the number of blacks in the officer corps in Vietnam was small, only about 5 percent. Yet, the Vietnam War offered African Americans opportunities they had never had before and used them etc hanged the military in a way not done previously. The Vietnam Conflict also changed America culturally. Largely because of the war, the 26th Amendment was passed in 1 971. The 26th Amendment changed the voting age in the United States from age 21 to 18.
Many thought that the voting age ought to be lowered because the average age of a soldier in Vietnam was only 19, with many Americans as young as 18. They were old enough to fight and die for a cause some in their country believed in, butyl they were not old enough to vote? Many thought this to be unfair. The 14th Amendment remunerated the right to vote for those 21 and older, but the 26th gave citizens the right to those at the age of 18, even allowing states to lower the voting age to 1 7 or 1 6, if they chose to.
The argument was that those going into war should be allowed to vote for those sending them into it. In his testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments in 1970, Senator Ted Kennedy said in support of lowering the voting age, “At the very least, the opportunity to vote should be granted in recognition of the risks an 18 year-old is obliged to assume when he is sent off to fight and perhaps die or his count;’. About 30% of our forces in Vietnam are under 21. Over 19,000, or almost half, of those who have died in action there were under 21.