Anti War Movement Research Paper

The Vietnam War protests and antiwar movement first began in 1964, gained national prominence in 1965, peaked in 1968, and remained strong throughout the rest of the war. In the beginning, the antiwar movement started out with only a small minority of fervent college students, peace activists, hippies, liberals, and pacifist religious groups who tried to make their voices heard. This opposition originated from people who did not agree with the American government’s actions regarding involvement in the war. Americans were opposed to the Vietnam War because they young men resisted enlistment in the war, citizens argued

In the middle 1960s, every male in America had to register for Selective Service Draft at age 18. He would then be eligible for the draft and could be inducted into the Army for a period of two years. If you were a college student, you could receive a deferment and would be able to finish college without the fear of being drafted. However, once finished with college, a students name would be put to the very top of the draft list and could be deployed at anytime. The anti-war movement was about young men being drafted and then sent into war that most Americans did not believe threatened the security of the US. The Vietnam War was America’s rebellious war, a war without popular support

The Vietnam War began in 1954 with an expected amount critics but these opponents eventually became the basis for the movement. Protests and demonstrations over time gained momentum, creating a community of civilians working to bring troops home from Asia. While the war did end in 1975, it took the antiwar movement alongside the government almost 20 years to do so. The movement also did not prevent the United States from entering other international armed conflict, one of their main goals. In the years to come the United States found itself in other conflicts such as the Persian Gulf War and the Iraq

Many Americans believed that the war ravaged country of Vietnam, had to be resurrected from grave. Beginning in 1964 and growing in later years, anti-war protests began forming. Outrage from civilians erupted when President Johnson issued the draft, as he felt the Americans needed to take a more aggressive action against North Vietnam. Young men refused to join the fight and protests emitted from college campuses and major cities such as Washington D.C. and New York. ((n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.texasgateway.org) and ((n.d.). Retrieved from http://avuth15.wix.com/thecoldwar are both primary sources illustrating anti-war protests, showing the outrage that America had towards the war. By 1968, the whole country had felt the war's impact. When the war finally ceased and the troops returned home, the protests, the actions by the government and the war itself, had taken a toll on the country. America's opinions were sharply turned against the war. The veterans who fought bravely in the war, returned to a nation that was bitter towards anything related to the war. Today, a Vietnam War memorial has been erected in Washington, to honor those who sacrificed their life for their country. As shown in ((n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.english.illinois.edu), the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was built to honor the U.S defence members who died in service in South-East Asia. As a result, the social

In the 1960s, America found itself divided among various social matters. Conformity, civil rights, and the Vietnam war. While the older generations viewed fighting in the war as a civic duty and a true testament to what it meant to be an “American”, the counterculture did not share this belief. Regardless of how anyone felt about the war, it had escalated to epic proportions and as one citizen put it, “It was on our mind every single hour of the day” (PBS CITE). Vietnam was the first war ever to be televised, and with that came constant coverage and a growing concern from young Americans. In addition, the military draft made matters worse by forced the youth America to fight. “By 1968, the war in Vietnam had claimed over 15,000 American lives”(CITE PBS). Between the draft and the growing American casualties, greater tension in the US was created. Young Americans had to ask themselves if the war was worth fighting.

The two sides of the Anti-war movement in the U.S that had a major influence in bringing troops from Vietnam, were the civilian population and the G.I soldiers. Together, along with various movements such as the student movement, black movement, and working class movement mobilized to bring awareness of the truth happening in the Vietnam War abroad. The reason these groups lead social actions such as the student movement and the GI movement was due to the direct effects the war was bringing upon them. With so many soldiers coming home in coffins, the military was forced to open drafting to people as young as 19 years old. These teenagers were not even allowed to drink alcohol legally nor vote but yet were fighting a war abroad. Resentment and anti-war sentiments began to increase among students since education funds were being spent on funding the killings of many in Vietnam. They were a minority of students, artists and activists who did not sympathize with the killings, the drafting, or the values the American government was trying to impose. As a movement, they burned draft cards in college campuses, burned ROTC buildings, and organized walkouts, protests and distributed the truth through newspapers and media. In 1970, there was a height of protest on campus, they slowly realized that 41% of all drafted were black, 80% were high school dropouts and 37 % were being sent to direct combat due to their low

People who were over the age of 30+ were for the war. On May 4th 1970 Richard Nixon gave a speech explaining on how he was going to send more troops in to Vietnam to help the war effort, so this caused riot and chaos in Kent State University, 4 students were gunned down by State troops and 9 students

From the time that the War Resisters League was created, its stance has been against war on an international and civil level. However, it was a one-stance organization when it was first created. This changed at the start of World War II, as several of the members declared themselves conscientious objectors and spent the war years either in Civilian Public Service camps or in prison. The experiences in the Civilian Public Service camps and prison prompted the members to achieve fair working conditions, meaningful work in terms of national interest, and racial integration. As a result, the War Resisters League’s agenda changed from one to several issues. Since then, the issues that the War Resisters league have worked on are World War II, prison life and segregation in prison, Cold War and civil defense drills, Watergate scandal, fight against racism and equality including working closely with Martin Luther King Jr. during the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Great March for Jobs and Freedom, Vietnam War, nuclear warfare and chemical weaponry, women’s rights, poverty and race including the poverty draft into the military, and ending corporate profit from war.

The Kent State shootings was a tragic event that had a profound effect on the outcome of the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon's presidency. This tragic indecent provoked enormous display in campus protests. A national student strike shut down over 500 colleges and universities. The protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, though violent demonstrations, including the burning of Reserve Officer's Training Crops (ROTC) buildings, erupted on many campuses. Wells, 119.

The Kent State shooting played a major role in Nixon’s resignation from presidency and the public’s opinion of the Vietnam War. The students that were protesting started when Nixon announced intervention into Cambodia. Outraged students met on campus the very next day to show that they didn’t agree with the presidents decision. During the shooting students threw containers of tear gas back at the guardsmen. Some students threw rocks as the soldiers left. Protestors would shout “Pigs Off Campus!” (Axelrod et al. 256) Many of the soldiers sent to settle the frustrated protestors were weekend warriors who chose the guard to avoid ending up in Vietnam. Mandy soldiers lacked training for combat and crowds. Most soldiers were confused by the actions of the students and weren’t sure how to react. The student protestors refused the guards orders to disperse which resulted in the guardsmen throwing tear gas toward the rioting protestors. The protestors consisted of upper class and middle class residents.

In 1970, the Vietnam War (although never officially a war) was in its last five years. McCarthyism and the Red Scare, which had reached its peak in the 1950s, had left its mark on the American public and government, with a fear of

Anti-war Movement A. There were few pros to the war. The vast majority of opinions during this movement were against the war. The United States sided with Northern Vietnam but stated that though we could help with equipment and strategy, they must be the ones to win, or loose the war. The US did not inform citizens of what was truly going on, nor why we were being dragged into this ware. We in many ways fueled this war and should have been held responsible for the devastation that would ensue.

The Vietnam War was well on its way by the time the Democratic Convention of 1968 rolled around, and so were the anti-war protests. After the Tet Offensive in the spring of 1968 and the famous Broadcast of Walter Cronkite

The Vietnam War's controversy spurred a great many sources of protest, against our government's use of power, how far we could stretch the rights of free expression, and primarily against the violence of the war itself. "There were said to be three stages of the antiwar movements. "The first phase (1964-1965) was idealistic. The second phase (1966-1968) was more pragmatic, a period when young people characteristically protested not on principal, but out of a desire not to be drafted and killed. The third phase (1969-1972) coincided with the de-Americanization of the war"(Jeffreys-Jones, 43). The administration received disapproval in its acts. Soldiers returned home from battle not to be renowned as heroes, but as killers. Although, some soldiers abroad even took part in the anti war movement; "The antiwar movement spread directly among the combat troops in Vietnam, who began to wear peace symbols and flash peace signs and movement salutes. Some units even organized their own demonstrations to link up with the movement at home" (Schlight, 45). "Many college professors, businesspeople, parents of draft-age youth, religious leaders, doctors, lawyers, politicians and entertainers also voiced their objections to American involvement in the Vietnam War" (Jeffreys-Jones, 77).However the war turned out to be a failure and the moral of American society was low. We see a reflection of that now with the war in Iraq. The support of the war

Beginning in the mid 1960’s, student protesters on college campuses were very common. In November 1968, Richard M. Nixon was elected president, largely due to his promise to eject the United States from the Vietnam war. However, Nixon did not take immediate action to pull the U.S troops out of Vietnam. Because of Nixon’s failure to pull out from Vietnam, many student protesters were angered. On May 4th, 1970, The Ohio National Guard killed four students and injured nine, one of which