On September 2, Ho Chi Minh leader of the Vietnamese independence movement, quoted the Declaration of Independence when he declared Vietnamese independence from foreign rule, members of this independence movement.…
Embedded in a push and pull between two different parties, the citizens and peasants of South Vietnam found themselves left with a choice: stand and defend their own government, or join the revolutionary movement of the Vietcong. Although both sides claim that they were winning the war and fighting for the people, speculation has to be cast on which one really was. In Jeffery Race’s book, War Comes to Long An, Race makes an argument for the Vietcong that is hard to refuse.…
<br>Herring begins his account with a summary of the First Indochina War. He reports that the Vietnamese resisted French imperialism as persistently as they had Chinese. French colonial policies had transformed the Vietnamese economic and social systems, giving rise to an urban middle class, however; the exploitation of the country and its people stimulated more radical revolutionary activity. Herring states that the revolution of 1945 was almost entirely the personal creation of the charismatic leader Ho Chi Minh. Minh is described as a frail and gentle man who radiated warmth and serenity, however; beneath this mild exterior existed a determined revolutionary who was willing to employ the most cold- blooded methods in the cause to which he dedicated his life. With the guidance of Minh, the Vietminh launched as a response to the favorable circumstances of World War II. By the spring of 1945, Minh mobilized a base of great support. When Japan surrendered in 1945, the Vietminh filled the vacuum. France and the Vietminh attempted to negotiate an agreement, but their goals were irreconcilable.…
1) The Vietnamese complaints against the French both in the letters to President Truman and the 1945 Declaration of Independence, were based on the levying of unjust taxes, increasing the poverty of the rural populace, exploitation of mineral and forest resources, massive starvation, and imprisonment of those who would rebel or question their colonial power. In the long list of grievances against the French stated in the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence, “They have invented numerous unjustifiable taxes and reduced our people, especially our peasantry, to a state of extreme poverty”. Ho Chi Minh stated in his letter to Truman, that it was strictly for humanitarian reasons he need to revolt, and that “two million Vietnamese died of starvation during winter of 1944 and spring 1945”, and that it was “because of starvation policy of French who seized and stored until it controlled all available rice”. These seem like these conditions were a common occurrence at the time in Southeast Asia, where native people under the domination of French colonialism were not treated with dignity and not even given sufficient bare human necessities to live their lives. (Zinn Ch. 18 Pg. XXX)…
Even though Pho argued that “I have always been taught that superior men should consider the care of the people as fundamental; who has ever heard of men who were loyal to their king but forgot the people's aspirations?” Phan argued that he placed the responsibility for the suffering of the Vietnamese people on the French. Phan died years later of dysentery while still fighting the French. Even though these men were childhood friends from the same village, they had opposite views of the French Colonizers. Pho agreed with phan that he was correct and righteous in his loyalty to the dynasty and says in his letter to him that “ your courage and loyalty have grown.” Reading about imperialism and thinking about whether it has helped the world and all the countries it is…
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 1776, the continental congress adopts the declaration of independence, which states the independence of a new United States of America from Great Britain and its king. Four hundred and forty-two days after the shots of the American Revolution shots were fired at Lexington and concord, came the declaration. This marked an ideological expansion of the conflict that would eventually involve France’s intervention on behalf of the Americans.…
Studying the prior history of Vietnam is important because we learn that Vietnam was completely under French rule by 1893 (Week One Lecture, 2013). Why was Vietnam such a prized possession to have? Vietnam’s location was significant within itself; Vietnam had “a strategic location astride major shipping lanes linking India, China, Japan, and the islands of Southeast Asia” and served as a source of foodstuffs and raw materials (Moss, 2010, p.2). We must put ourselves in the shoes of the Vietnamese people during this time and view these events from their point-of-view also. There were territorial wars including France, Japan, and eventually the United States which all treated Vietnam and the Vietnamese people as nothing more than property that they wanted to gain and maintain control of. No respect or value of their culture was held by any of these countries, which served as another reason that Vietnam sought national identity and independence. Studying the context of the prior history of Vietnam and what the participants of this history valued helps understand the elements that led to the independence of Vietnam. All of the information needed to understand the decisions made and the actions taken by the Vietnamese people to fight for their independence is gained through studying the context of their prior history.…
Ho Chi Minh responded by saying “the violation of our fundamental national rights still continues in South Vietnam” saying “Our Vietnamese people are deeply devoted to peace, a real peace with independence and real freedom, determined to fight to the end.” Ho Chi Minh sounds familiar to that of revolutionary America because when writing this letter he in fact used text from the Declaration of independance. Minh called out Nixon writing “You have expressed the desire to act for a just peace the U.S must cease war of aggression and withdraw troops. Respect the people to dispose of themselves without foreign influence” Minh wants his nation to be independent and safe without foreign intruders like the colonies with Britain. These letters of correspondence showed south vietnam’s unwillingness to cooperate with the Nixon administration. Although the United states had hurt many with its unsuccessful war, it was not until the Nixon…
The resistance against French rule was launched by Ho Chi Minh, a communist who had benefitted from French assimilation. Ho Chi Minh founded the Communist Party of Vietnam, and began his work, but he was forced to flee when the Japanese began to occupy Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh, upon his return to Vietnam, formed a guerilla group called the Viet Minh to fight occupation. Eventually, the Viet Minh became a large and effective army that made the war a difficult fight. To gain aid in the war effort, France reworked the Indochina War as a war on communism, not a war to maintain the French Empire.…
Some people, particularly anti-war protesters, saw the Vietnam War as an American war of occupation. The war was a Vietnamese civil war, which the American’s became involved in to “stop communism”.…
“The Declaration of Independence” written in 1776 to declare the United States independence from England.…
"What I believe all Criminal Justice Professionals should know about the preparation and/or adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights." The first of these documents, the Declaration of Independence is not a legal document. However, within its writings are principles that have later become laws.…
The Vietnam War was the first war to be televised and watched from ordinary citizens homes. They would witness the horrors of the war from the confines of their home and often opt to not support it because of the brutal fighting they were seeing. Another reason why it was not supported is because of the Anti-War marches and protests. People had began to question the government’s reasoning on why they were fighting a democratic war to rid of communist aggression in North Vietnam. The reasoning to…
History is often said to repeat itself. When the American revolution took place in the later half of the eighteenth century, little did anyone know that almost two-hundred years later Vietnam would be in a very similar situation. The revolution in the U.S and Vietnam had three similar qualities, in both rebels used strong language to exaggerate their points, the “parent” countries enforced uncalled for taxes, and both claim to have been abandoned as allies.…
Unlike with other wars preceding it whom often brought together the citizens of the United States, the Vietnam War took on a role of destabilizing American society. Internal problems like racism and rising poverty that were once put on the backburner would appear as main topics of discussion that helped to further increase the already growing division in the nation. U.S. involvement and occasional interference in Indochina began with the French’s instance and desire to keep control of the region. The failing European superpower wanting to reconsolidate its power in South East Asia and the world after the end of the Second World War fought to take back what they believed was rightfully theirs after the Japanese had made their exit. As with a majority of colonies, the mistreatment and sometimes inhuman conditions that citizens of Indochina endured especially those in Vietnam led to protests and uprising against the few French men who controlled everything in their country and French…