When is it Appropriate to Engage in War?

1. Which side are you on?

There were several groups of people with views about the U.S.'s involvement in the war at the time it took place. You will research one of these groups to learn how they felt about the war. Below is a list of groups. Next to each group you will see 2 links. These links are sources to begin your research. Visit each link and 2 online sources that you choose. Print the graphic organizer on this page and record information you find in order to complete the organizer. Here is the list:

• Democratic Society (SDS) | SOURCE 1 | SOURCE 2
  
  
• Counterculture/hippies | SOURCE 1 | SOURCE 2
  
  
• Vietnam War veterans | SOURCE 1 | SOURCE 2
  
  
• President Johnson and U.S. Congress | SOURCE 1 | SOURCE 2
  
  
Civil Rights Movement leaders | SOURCE 1 | SOURCE 2



Religious leaders | SOURCE 1 | SOURCE 2

American Media | SOURCE 1 | SOURCE 2

 

Labor Unions | SOURCE 1 | SOURCE 2

2. Click here for Vietnam Graphic Organizer


3. Now that you are historians and have researched your groups' opinions of the Vietnam War, you've been chose to write an entry in an editorial for an online history magazine. The magazine can be found here:

This article should be three paragraphs in length. Using your completed graphic organizer, you need to include 1) who your group is, 2) why it formed, 3) its opinion on the war, 4) supporting evidence to back up its opinion, 5) whether you agree or disagree with its opinion, and 6) why you feel that way.


4. Editorials usually start debates on controversial issues. You are now an educated historian ready to debate this topic. Read the blog posts of 2 other classmates, and respond to 1 of the posts in an online discussion group. The discussion group can be found here:

Your response should be 4 sentences long, and state: 1) Name of the group your are replying to, 2) if you agree or disagree, and 3) why you agree or disagree--using supporting evidence from your post, that student's post, or your personal feelings on the topic.


5. When you finish both sets of posts on the discussion board, you are ready to reflect on what you learn in this project. In Google Docs, create a one page (5 paragraph) reflection paper.

In this paper, tell me about 1) your research (how you found information on your group and its opinion), 2) your editorial post (what you learned most about your group and its opinion), 3) your debate on the discussion board (did you learning something new? Did your opinion change a change or stay the same after reading other editorial and board comments?), 4) what online tool did you like the most and why, 5) which online tool did you like the least and why, and 6) would you want to do an activity like this again sometime?