The twentieth-century Americans waged war not only against Communist Vietnam, but also their government in the fight to end the war. The beginning of the war in Vietnam had Americans proud that their country was fighting for what was right against the Communists, but society 's opinion changed over the course of the war. The American people’s opinions shifted because soldiers were killing civilians, the draft was prejudiced, nothing was being done about equality at home, and the people lost faith in the government.
The American people’s opinions shifted by learned about the cruel actions soldiers took against civilians. Barringer tells how “stories of drug trafficking, political assassinations, and indiscriminate bombings led many to believe …show more content…
The Tet Offensive occurred right after the federal government told the American people the war was almost over as the North Vietnamese army was getting smaller and weaker, and destroyed the public’s trust in the government. The website Office of the Historian asserts that “Tet Offensive weakened domestic support for the Johnson Administration as the vivid reporting on the Tet Offensive...made clear to the American public that an overall victory in Vietnam was not imminent.” The American people could see they had been lied to and did not react lightly to this. Support for the war effort continuously dwindled as a result. Mooney claims the “‘credibility gap,’ the distance between what the government said and what the public was willing to believe deepened after Tet.” The public had lost faith in the federal government, and only wanted the war to be over. The map below shows where North Vietnam striked South Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. This is important because it shows how big and strong the Communist Army was, which is the opposite of what the federal government was telling the American people. The people were led to think that the war was going to be over very soon as the Communist Army was weak and diminishing, but with the Tet Offensive, the American public could clearly see that the government had lied to them and it made them more adamant about getting out of the war. The war effort’s support was marred by the people’s loss of faith in the
The American people’s opinions shifted by learned about the cruel actions soldiers took against civilians. Barringer tells how “stories of drug trafficking, political assassinations, and indiscriminate bombings led many to believe …show more content…
The Tet Offensive occurred right after the federal government told the American people the war was almost over as the North Vietnamese army was getting smaller and weaker, and destroyed the public’s trust in the government. The website Office of the Historian asserts that “Tet Offensive weakened domestic support for the Johnson Administration as the vivid reporting on the Tet Offensive...made clear to the American public that an overall victory in Vietnam was not imminent.” The American people could see they had been lied to and did not react lightly to this. Support for the war effort continuously dwindled as a result. Mooney claims the “‘credibility gap,’ the distance between what the government said and what the public was willing to believe deepened after Tet.” The public had lost faith in the federal government, and only wanted the war to be over. The map below shows where North Vietnam striked South Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. This is important because it shows how big and strong the Communist Army was, which is the opposite of what the federal government was telling the American people. The people were led to think that the war was going to be over very soon as the Communist Army was weak and diminishing, but with the Tet Offensive, the American public could clearly see that the government had lied to them and it made them more adamant about getting out of the war. The war effort’s support was marred by the people’s loss of faith in the