Kent State Massacre

A detailed Summary of Kent State Massacre

On Thursday April 30th 1970 President Nixon gave a speech to the country. At the end of his speech he asked for the support of the nation for the soldiers over in Vietnam. "I ask for your support for our brave men fighting tonight halfway around the world, not for territory, not for glory, but so that their younger brothers and their sons and your sons can have a chance to grow up in a world of peace and freedom, and justice" (Payne). Also contained in that speech he told the nation that our military would be bombing and invading the nation of Cambodia, which proclaimed its neutrality. It was believed that the North Vietnamese had moved into Cambodia. Nixon believed that the move into Cambodia was crucial to end the war as quickly as possible. The nation was already divided over the war as a whole, the invasion into Cambodia would further that division. Protests were a constant site all across the United States.

Students at many Universities and colleges across the country held peaceful protests against the decision the Nixon had made. The protests never got really large or out of control and occasionally would be seen on the news. Kent State University in Ohio was an exception. Protests began on Friday night and co

Governor Rhodes addressed the media on Sunday morning. Some of his words may have led to the shootings that would occur two days later. Rhodes said, "We're going to use every weapon possible to eradicate the problem" (Payne). When this was said the Ohio National Guard was under assumption that martial law was now in effect and any protests from that moment on were illegal. A curfew was put into effect and a peaceful march began in order to show that the curfew was not needed. The National Guard stopped the march and a sit down protest began. The protestors wanted to speak with the University president and the Mayor of Kent to tell them the presence of the guard was not necessary and that there would not be anymore violence if the Guard was removed. The protestors were promised that they would be spoken to but when that promise was broken they were once again enraged. The National Guard dispersed the crowd again with tear gas and cleared the campus.

As Monday came classes at the college resumed and a gathering was scheduled to take place at noon. The National Guard still thought that martial law was in effect and that the protest would have to b broken up. As classes had a break at around noon many more students joined the rally. The Guard separated the protestors into groups, one was in a parking lot. Students began shouting and throwing rocks at the guardsmen on a hill above them and a warning shot was fired. Guardsmen turned around toward the protestors and began firing into the crowd killing four students and wounding nine. There was never an order to fire.

On May 4th 1970 the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of students and protestors. Sixty-one rounds of ammunition were unloaded into the crowd in thirteen seconds. The bullets killed four people and wounded nine. People are still unsure as to why the National Guard fired their guns into the crowd. The students had the right to be protesting the war,

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Approximate Word count = 1312
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History