The shootings at kent state university on may 4, 1970, can only be described as a massacre. It was the first and only time that us troops fired upon and killed college students. This paper will highlight the days leading up to the massacre, the massacre itself, the days and months following, and the historical significance of the massacre. Our writers can help get your essay back on track, take a look at our services to learn more about how we can help. President richard nixon took office in january 1969, the united states had been involved in combat operations in vietnam for nearly four years.

Military forces totaled 475,200 2 more than 36,0 3 americans had lost their lives up to that point and in 1968 alone, more than 16,500 u.s. Nixon decided that the vietnam war would not ruin his presidency as it had his predecessor lyndon johnson. The plan set out to build up the south vietnamese forces so that they could assume a greater combative role, at the same time reducing the presence of u.s. Intervention in vietnam, from guaranteeing a free and independent south vietnam to creating an opportunity for south vietnam to determine its own political future. Involvement in vietnam and effectively an end to the vietnam war, just as nixon had promised during the presidential elections, through his slogan peace with honor.

In november 1969, details of the my lai massacre 7 by american troops were exposed to the public and provoked further public opposition in the united states towards the war. Additionally, the selective service system of the united states conducted two draft lotteries 8 to determine induction into the u.s. Many young people grew increasingly concerned about being drafted into fighting a war that they were opposed to.

Expansion of war into cambodia 9 led to eruption of nation wide college protests that helped set the stage for the events that took place at kent state university in early may of 1970. Approximately 500 students 11 at kent state university gathered around the victory bell on campus and delivered protest speeches. During the protests many stores were vandalized and had their windows smashed, and as a result of this several students were apprehended. In reaction to the events, kent mayor, leroy satrom asked the governor of ohio to have the national guard maintain order. That same night a large demonstration was underway on the kent state campus and the campus reserve officer training corps building 12 was burned to the ground. On may 3rd, students woke up to a strong national guard presence on campus, however that did not stop the protests. A protest was scheduled to be held at noon, but the precise purpose was not made clear, but most students assumed it was to protest the presence of the national guard, which by now was resented by many students, even by many who held no deep political beliefs 13 .

No shots were fired and the guardsmen started retreating again, with the students following and cheering. Suddenly the guardsmen turned and fired into the crowd of student protesters, killing four and injuring nine others. Evaluation of sources source 1 14 depicts 14 year old mary ann vecchio kneeling over the body of kent state university student jeffrey miller. The photograph was taken by john filo, a photojournalism student at kent state university and staffer of a satellite paper for the pittsburgh tribune review.

Filo's motives behind the photo were not sensationalism, as the photo was taken in the spur of the moment and was not planned. However, since filo chose to capture the moment when vecchio entered the frame, the picture stirs up negative emotions, showing unreliability and bias in the picture. This bias can be useful to historians as it helps to summarize the emotions of the protesters. Filo's purpose behind submitting the photo to the press was most probably because of the intense drama, power and symbolism of the grief and horror that took place at kent state university on may 4th 1970. Filo's picture holds some limitations to historians that set out to investigate the kent state massacre, mainly the fact that the photograph only depicts one brief second of the tragic day. The photograph does not show the guardsmen being bombarded by rocks that were thrown by the protestors, the photo does not depict the shooting itself, it does not show the protests prior to the shootings it only shows the aftermath. One of the sources values is that it is an image rather than a text written by someone makes it less subjective.

Kent State College Essay Text

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