Annotated bibliography

November 10, 2014

Outline

Thesis: The Vietnam War greatly transformed the American culture and belief towards war.

Introduction

a) Thesis Statement: The Vietnam War remains one of the most memorable events in American history that influenced the cultural beliefs towards war ideologies.

b) Effects of the war: The conflicts had serious impacts on the American society

Overview of American Culture before the War

a) Perceptions of Americans towards war

b) How the event influenced American’s War ideologies

c) American social lifestyle before the war

Effects of the War on American Culture

a) American views and ideologies after the war

b) American social lifestyle after the war

c) The impact of the war on American’s morals

Conclusion

The anti-war ideology in America greatly influenced American lifestyle during the war and the perceptions towards war. The Vietnam War had serious negative effects on the American society and its effects are still persistent to date.

Proposal

This paper aims to investigate the causes of the Vietnam War and the impacts it had on the American culture at large. It seeks to analyze how the war changed the Americans attitude towards the government authorities and the cultural practices. The Vietnam War greatly transformed the American culture and belief towards war as analyzed in this study (Beattie, 2008).

The direct effect of the Vietnam War on America was the high death toll. According to the military report, approximately 58,000 U.S troops were killed in the war. Further, the herbicides that the army used on the war not only devastated the environment, but also caused widespread health problems that have persisted for years. The war also played a major role in American popular culture, especially in film and music industry. Prominent films that were produced during and after the war period dealt with topics ranging from the cruelty of the war to the difficulties of Vietnam veterans ‘ attempts to readjust to American society after returning to the United States. A pop culture was also introduced into the American music whereby musicians blended their music with pop tunes to commemorate the war era (Beattie, 2008).

Previous to the war, Americans embraced a culture of family unity and loyalty. War was left for the equipped military personnel and the citizens had their trust of the government to offer them maximum protection. On the contrary, the Vietnam War brought in new approaches as civilians were recruited to provide reinforcement to the U.S army. Therefore, the conflict brought about family separations as male members of the family were forced to join the war and defend their country. This brought about cultural change as women were forced to take up roles initially performed by the male members of the society. The war gradually brought to an end the ideology that women were only confined to the house duties (Jeffords, 1989).

The Vietnam War greatly altered the Americans view towards combat. The engagement of the American government in the war did not go well with most of its citizens. During the course of the Vietnam War, a large section of the American population opposed the government’s involvement in the South Vietnam. Therefore, the war created a division among the citizens which led to the formation of anti-war movements. The movements opposed the war due to the mass killings that were taking place and the drug culture that was slowly getting its way into the American society (Page, & Brody, 2002)

During the war, the use of drugs such as marijuana, heroin, morphine, and alcohol were widespread. These drugs were abundant and inexpensive in Vietnam and as such the soldiers and other military personnel used them to ease their stress and confusion about what they lived through each and every day not knowing if they would make it through the day. The long-term impact of the drugs for the war veterans is that upon return to the United States, the drugs were not easy to obtain and some of the veterans were too young to legally purchase alcohol. The tragic effects of the Vietnam drug situation were that some men were refused employment since employers considered them to be drug addicts. In addition, the veterans had problems adapting to the society so they continued to use drugs so as to cope with the aggravation and torment of not being accepted back into society (Horowitz & Solomon, 1975).

In conclusion, the Vietnam War not only influenced the American culture, but triggered broad views on various aspects as analyzed above. For instance, protests by civil right groups were common occurrences during the war period. Many groups, including the students’ nonviolent coordinating committee opposed the civil war. They protested the injustice and mass killings of the Americans. Mass media acted to inform the citizens of the unfolding of the war and to some extent; the citizens felt that the government had betrayed them. Families also split as a result of the war, killing the American vision of unity (Yager, et. al. 1984)

References

Beattie, K. (2008). The scar that binds: American culture and the Vietnam War. NYU Press. Jeffords, S. (1989). The Remasculinization of America: Gender and the Vietnam War. Theories of Contemporary Culture. Ed. Kathleen Woodward, 10

Burstein, P., & Freudenburg, W. (1978). Changing public policy: The impact of public opinion, antiwar demonstrations, and war costs on senate voting on Vietnam War motions. American Journal of Sociology, 99-122.

Engelhardt, T. (2007). The end of victory culture: Cold war America and the disillusioning of a generation. University of Massachusetts Press.

Horowitz, M. J., & Solomon, G. F. (1975). A prediction of delayed stress response syndromes in Vietnam veterans. Journal of Social Issues, 31(4), 67-80.

Nye, J. S. (2004). Decline of America's Soft Power-Why Washington Should Worry. The. Foreign Affairs, 83, 16.

Page, B. I., & Brody, R. A. (2002). Policy voting and the electoral process: The Vietnam War issue. The American Political Science Review, 979-995.

Sobel, R. (2001). The impact of public opinion on US foreign policy since Vietnam: Constraining the colossus. Oxford University Press.

Sturken, M. (2007). Tangled memories: The Vietnam War, the AIDS epidemic, and the politics of remembering. University of California Press.

Yager, T., Laufer, R., & Gallops, M. (1984). Some problems associated with war experience in men of the Vietnam generation. Archives of general psychiatry, 41(4), 327-333.