apush dbq vietnam war

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Essential Question

In what ways and to what extent did the Vietnam War change American culture, society, and values?

In this activity, students examine ten primary source documents to consider the ways the United States’ involvement in Vietnam affected the culture and values of the country. This activity is based upon a Document-Based Question (“DBQ”), which is an assessment method commonly used in upper division and advanced placement courses. In a DBQ, students are presented with 6-10 documents from varied sources, and are asked to synthesize the documents with their own knowledge to write a coherent thesis-driven essay. The goal of the activity is to challenge students to think critically and to consider viewpoints that are frequently inconsistent and contradictory.

The documents for this activity are drawn from those that might be typically found on an advanced placement history test, supplemented by materials featured in Teachrock lessons. As such, this activity may be used as a means to prepare students for an advanced placement test, or as an assessment tool at the end of a Vietnam War unit. A variety of approaches are provided that allow teachers to use the documents to engage their students in the classroom.   

Upon completion of this activity, students will:

• Sgt. Barry Sadler’s “Ballad of the Green Beret”
• President Lyndon Johnson
• The Gulf of Tonkin incident
• Joe McDonald’s “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag”
• Activist Paul Potter
• Weatherman Underground
• Photographer Bernie Boston
• The Inauguration of Richard Nixon
• Pentagon Papers
• Journalist James Reston
• Merle Haggard’s “Okie from Muskogie”
• Students will evaluate the extent to which the Civil Rights Movement acted as a turning point in United States history by analyzing a variety of historical documents.
• Pass out to students Handout 1 – “Americans Respond to Vietnam: A Document-Based Question.” Teachers may then choose from a variety of activities that draw upon the handout:

Activity 1:  AP Test Preparation

• Students follow the directions on the handout and individually craft an essay in the allotted time.

Activity 2:  The DBQ Timeline

• The Gulf of Tonkin Incident
• The Geneva Accords
• Battle of Dien Bien Phu
• The 1968 Democratic National Convention
• The Tet Offensive
• Kent State Shootings
• Fall of Saigon
• The Pentagon Papers
• Operation Rolling Thunder
• US Withdrawal from Vietnam
• My Lai Massacre
• Any other important event your class studied during the Vietnam War period
• How did the Vietnam War progress through the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s? Were there any major defeats or victories, for either side? Support your response with at least three pieces of evidence from your timelines.  
• How did America’s role in Vietnam change over the course of the war? Did musicians’ views on the war change? Find examples from the documents that support your response.

Activity 3: HIPPO Analysis

• Split the class into 3-5 groups, and assign each group 1-2 documents from Handout 1. In addition, pass out Handout 2 – “The HIPPO Technique for Analyzing Documents.”
• Ask student groups to analyze the document(s) assigned to them using the HIPPO process.
• Have each group explain their document(s) to the class, based upon their HIPPO analysis.

Activity 4: The Cocktail Party

• Cut out the documents and give each student a single one.
• Who created it? (Students should research the authors’ backgrounds if possible.)
• When was it created? Was it created in response to any particular historical events?
• Does the author discuss any other issues present at the time, outside the Vietnam War?
• Where was it created? Is there any significance to that place?
• What is the content of the primary source? What is the author’s main point? Is there anything surprising?
• Tell students they may write notes on their primary sources to help them remember the key points, but encourage them to become ‘experts’ on their documents.
• After the eight minutes have expired, it is time for the cocktail party. Students will circulate amongst themselves in order to learn about the documents from one another.
• Meet in pairs only
• The person with the earliest birthday discusses his/her document first
• No talking to yourself . . . or someone who read the same document as you did
• At the end of one minute, it is time to move on. (Teacher should monitor time and give a 30-second warning.)
• How did intellectuals, writers, and musicians feel about the U.S.’s engagement with Vietnam? Were there differences in their opinions?
• Was there a significant change over time, as evidenced in the documents, in the reactions to the Vietnam War? Why do you think those changes occurred or failed to occur?

Handout 1 – Americans Respond to Vietnam: A Document-Based Question Handout 2 – The HIPPO Technique for Analyzing Documents

Common Core State Standards

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading (K-12)

Reading 1 : Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

Reading 6 : Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

Reading 8 : Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

Reading 9 : Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing (K-12)

Writing 1 : Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Writing 7 : Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

Writing 9 : Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening (K-12)

Speaking and Listening 1 : Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Speaking and Listening 2 : Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Speaking and Listening 3:  Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.

National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies — National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)

• Theme 1 : Culture
• Theme 2 : Time, Continuity, and Change
• Theme 4 : Individual Development and Identity
• Theme 5 : Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

National Standards for Music Education — National Association for Music Education (NAfME)

Core Music Standard: Responding

• Analyze : Analyze how the structure and context of varied musical works inform the response.
• Interpret : Support interpretations of musical works that reflect creators’ and/or performers’ expressive intent.
• Evaluate : Support evaluations of musical works and performances based on analysis, interpretation, and established criteria.

Core Music Standard: Connecting

• Connecting 11 : Relate musical ideas and works to varied contexts and daily life to deepen understanding.

Career Technical Education Standards (California Model) – Arts, Media and Entertainment Pathway Standards

Design, Visual and Media Arts (A)

• A1.0 Demonstrate ability to reorganize and integrate visual art elements across digital media and design applications. A1.1 View and respond to a variety of industry-related artistic products integrating industry appropriate vocabulary. A1.4 Select industry-specific works and analyze the intent of the work and the appropriate use of media. A1.5 Research and analyze the work of an artist or designer and how the artist’s distinctive style contributes to their industry production. A1.9 Analyze the material used by a given artist and describe how its use influences the meaning of the work. ia, and Entertainment | A3.0 Analyze and assess the impact of history and culture on the development of professional arts and media products. A3.2 Describe how the issues of time, place, and cultural influence and are reflected in a variety of artistic products. A3.3 Identify contemporary styles and discuss the diverse social, economic, and political developments reflected in art work in an industry setting. A4.0 Analyze, assess, and identify effectiveness of artistic products based on elements of art, the principles of design, and professional industry standards. A4.2 Deconstruct how beliefs, cultural traditions, and current social, economic, and political contexts influence commercial media (traditional and electronic). A4.5 Analyze and articulate how society influences the interpretation and effectiveness of an artistic product. A5.0 Identify essential industry competencies, explore commercial applications and develop a career specific personal plan. A5.2 Explore the role of art and design across various industry sectors and content areas. A5.3 Deconstruct works of art, identifying psychological content found in the symbols and images and their relationship to industry and society.

Performing Arts (B)

• B2.0 Read, listen to, deconstruct, and analyze peer and professional music using the elements and terminology of music. B2.2 Describe how the elements of music are used. B2.5 Analyze and describe significant musical events perceived and remembered in a given industry generated example. B2.6 Analyze and describe the use of musical elements in a given professional work that makes it unique, interesting, and expressive. B2.7 Demonstrate the different uses of form, both past and present, in a varied repertoire of music in commercial settings from diverse genres, styles, and professional applications. B7.0 Analyze the historical and cultural perspective of multiple industry performance products from a discipline-specific perspective. B7.3 Analyze the historical and cultural perspective of the musician in the professional setting. B8.0 Deconstruct the aesthetic values that drive professional performance and the artistic elements necessary for industry production. B8.4 Use complex evaluation criteria and terminology to compare and contrast a variety of genres of professional performance products.

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AP®︎/College US History

Course: ap®︎/college us history   >   unit 8, vietnam war.

• The Vietnam War

“It is important to United States security interests that all practicable measures be taken to prevent further communist expansion in Southeast Asia. Indo-China is a key area of Southeast Asia and is under immediate threat. The neighboring countries of Thailand and Burma could be expected to fall under Communist domination if a Communist-dominated government controlled Indo-China. The balance of Southeast Asia would then be in grave hazard.”

-Source: Draft Report by the National Security Council, 1950

• (Choice A)   creating free trade agreements with China and the Soviet Union A creating free trade agreements with China and the Soviet Union
• (Choice B)   sending military resources to South Korea in the Korean War B sending military resources to South Korea in the Korean War
• (Choice C)   setting up arms limitation treaties with the Soviet Union C setting up arms limitation treaties with the Soviet Union
• (Choice D)   supporting non-Communist regimes in Latin America D supporting non-Communist regimes in Latin America

Vietnam War DBQ

Use this Lesson with

In this lesson, developed by and included with the permission of  TeachRock , students will examine 10 primary source documents to answer the essential question: In what ways and to what extent did the Vietnam War change American culture, society, and values?

Visit  TeachRock’s website  to access this lesson and accompanying materials.

Related Resources

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

In our resource history is presented through a series of narratives, primary sources, and point-counterpoint debates that invites students to participate in the ongoing conversation about the American experiment.

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US, Japan, Australia and the Philippines to stage military drills in disputed South China Sea

FILE - A Filipino port worker looks as the Japanese Ship Akebono (DD-108), a Murasame-class destroyer of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, prepares to dock for a goodwill visit at Manila’s south harbor, Philippines on Sept. 27, 2018. The United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines will hold their first joint naval exercises, including anti-submarine warfare training, in a show of force Sunday, April 7, 2024 in the South China Sea where Beijing’s aggressive actions to assert its territorial claims have caused alarm. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines will hold their first joint naval exercises, including anti-submarine warfare training, in a show of force Sunday in the South China Sea where Beijing’s aggressive actions to assert its territorial claims have caused alarm.

The four treaty allies and security partners are holding the exercises to safeguard “the rule of law that is the foundation for a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific region” and uphold freedom of navigation and overflight, they said in a joint statement issued by their defense chiefs Saturday.

China was not mentioned by name in the statement, but the four countries reaffirmed their stance that a 2016 international arbitration ruling , which invalidated China’s expansive claims on historical grounds, was final and legally binding.

China has refused to participate in the arbitration, rejected the ruling and continues to defy it. The Philippines brought its disputes with China to international arbitration in 2013 after a tense sea standoff.

There was no immediate comment by China.

Last year, the Chinese Foreign Ministry warned against military exercises involving the United States and its allies in the disputed waters harming its security and territorial interests.

“We stand with all nations in safeguarding the international order based on the rule of law that is the foundation for a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific region,” the four nations said but did not provide specific details of the military drills, called the Maritime Cooperative Activity .

Japan said in a statement, issued by its embassy in Manila, that it would deploy its destroyer, the JS Akebono, for the South China Sea exercises, which would include anti-submarine warfare training and other military maneuvers.

“Japan believes that the issue concerning the South China Sea is directly related to the peace and stability of the region and is a legitimate concern of the international community including Japan, Australia, the Philippines, and the United States,” Japan’s Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said in the statement.

“Japan opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo by force, such attempts as well as any actions that increase tensions in the South China Sea,” he said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a separate statement the exercises “underscore our shared commitment to ensuring that all countries are free to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows.”

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said “respect for national sovereignty and agreed rules and norms based on international law underpin the stability of our region.” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the military drills on Sunday would be the first in a series of activities to build the Philippines’ “capacity for individual and collective self-defense.”

Aside from China and the Philippines, the long-simmering disputes in the South China Sea, a key global trade route, also involve Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. But skirmishes between Beijing and Manila have particularly flared since last year.

Washington lays no claims to the strategic seaway but has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend its longtime treaty ally the Philippines if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

China has warned the U.S. not to intervene in the disputes, which have sparked fears of an escalation into a major conflict that could involve the two world powers.

Japan has separate territorial disputes with China over East China Sea islands. Increasing tensions in the disputed waters would be high on the agenda when President Joe Biden hosts his Japanese and Philippine counterparts in a summit at the White House next week.

In the latest hostilities last month, the Chinese coast guard used water cannons that injured a Filipino admiral and four of his navy personnel and heavily damaged their wooden supply boat near the Second Thomas Shoal . The cannon blast was so strong it threw a crewman off the floor but he hit a wall instead of plunging into the sea, Philippine military officials said.

The Philippine government summoned a Chinese embassy diplomat in Manila to convey its “strongest protest” against China. Beijing accused the Philippine vessels of intruding into Chinese territorial waters, warning Manila not to “play with fire” and saying China would continue to take actions to defend its sovereignty.