why did people protest the vietnam war

Nixon's awkward efforts at early morning reconciliation seemed to have fallen flat. The Vietnam War divided America along all age, race, and gender lines with it came to support for the war. However, when the American Public was asked in 1990, "Looking back, do you wish that you had made a stronger effort to protest or demonstrate against the Vietnam War, or not", 25 percent said they wished they had. Vietnam War Protests. Writer Normal Mailer, a participant in the protest, was among the hundreds arrested. How many kids did you kill today?”. The Tinkers sued their school. In New York City, protesters paraded and held a rally in Central Park. I joined the SDS and started protesting on our college campus. When they publicly threw away their medals and medal ribbons, many in America were shocked that those who had worn the uniform of the US military had come to think that the only way ahead was to discard the very things that had been issued to them to represent their bravery – their medals. In February, about 2,500 members of Women Strike for Peace (WSP) marched to the Pentagon. Though Nixon claimed the action would be limited, it struck many Americans as a widening of the war, and it sparked a new round of protests on college campuses. On 29th August 1970, 30,000 Mexican-Americans marched against the Vietnam war. Mainly with regards to the Vietnam war, people were having issues understanding why the U.S. as a democracy were helping fight a war on the same side of a dictatorship (South Vietnam). Draft Resistance in the Vietnam Era by Jessie Kindig. In February 1965, it had only been 3,000 a month but in October it was increased to 33,000 a month. Using lessons from the Civil Rights Movement, groups of students began to hold "teach-ins" on college campuses to educate their colleagues about the war. Key Idea: Anti-War Demonstrations were a key action taken in the protest movement against the Vietnam War in NZ; Led by the growing counter-culture movement and the increased NZ presence in Vietnam, a young, militaristic group of protesters emerged. The protest was attacked by a violent mob of constructions workers swinging clubs and other weapons in what became known as "The Hard Hat Riot.". The history of protest is a long and complicated one. America rallied to the call of the commander-in-chief and after the Gulf of Tonkin incident it became very apparent that few would raise protests against the decision to militarily support South Vietnam. Vietnam had been divided into North and South Vietnam, and American officials resolved to prop up the government of South Vietnam as it fought against a communist insurgency supported by North Vietnam. Days of unrest at Kent State University in Ohio culminated in a violent encounter on May 4, 1970. However, his very public stance brought a more worldwide dimension to the problem America was experiencing with the draft.eval(ez_write_tag([[468,60],'historylearningsite_co_uk-medrectangle-4','ezslot_3',114,'0','0'])); The war had been sold to the US public as one where a sophisticated and ultra wealthy super-power would have few problems defeating a Third World nation that North Vietnam seemed to represent. Armed troops had been called out to protect the building. On April 30, 1970, President Nixon announced that American troops had entered Cambodia. The 1971 May Day protests against the war in Vietnam. The following morning, before dawn, President Nixon made a surprise visit to talk to student protesters who had gathered in Washington near the Lincoln Memorial. The Vietnam War was the first to actually receive such broadcasts and they clearly had a marked influence on the American population as a whole. 1968 seems to be the key year for protests. Speakers included Senator Wayne Morse, a Democrat from Oregon who had become a sharp critic of the Johnson Administration. A … In May 1968, 562 US troops were killed in one week alone. Those who initially objected to the involvement in Vietnam fell into three broad categories: people with left-wing political opinions who wanted an NLF victory; pacifists who opposed all wars; and liberals who believed that … The protests were part of a movement in opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War, and as such took place mainly in the U.S. Many young men and women claimed that they wanted to ‘drop out’ of society. The counter-culture movement in the '60s and '70s was paired with a dramatic increase in protest action, which fueled anti-Vietnam War protests. Also, civilian killings which … Students at campuses across the nation went on strike in solidarity with the dead of Kent State. Some actions attributed to antiwar protesters were so outside the mainstream that they drew sharp denunciations. In late March 1966, a series of protests took place over three days across America. The most famous person to do this was the world heavyweight-boxing champion Muhammad Ali. Americans were comfortable supporting the anti-communist side. The hippy movement preached love not war. Continued U.S. support for the Thieu … If the result of any protest was to undermine what the American government was seeking to achieve it was the one that took place at Kent State University, Ohio, in 1970. Protests against the Vietnam War did not start when America declared her open involvement in the war in 1964. In 1971, 300,000 took part in an anti-war demonstration in the same city. The war that had been sold to the US public as one where victory was guaranteed was in reality taking many young lives. At the end of 1965, several high school students in Des Moines, Iowa, decided to protest against American bombing in Vietnam by wearing black armbands to school. On the day of the protest, administrators told the students to remove the armbands or they would be suspended. The Vietnam War lasted for over 10 years. The number ONE reason for protesting the Vietnam War was because the "protesters" did not want to be inducted into the US military. But the students all acted from a common belief that the Vietnam War was wrong. As American involvement in Vietnam grew in the early 1960s, a small number of concerned and dedicated citizens started to protest what they viewed as a misguided adventure. The world’s media also played into this. When they publicly threw away their medals and medal ribbons, many in America were shocked that those who had worn the uniform of the US military had come to think that the only way ahead was to discard the very things that had been issued to them to represent their bravery – their medals. US television could bring into the homes of all US citizens what the war was actually like. The draft. International coverage of the protests showed that as the years moved on the protests got larger and more vocal. He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets. They also triggered a backlash. Report … The ASLF was the national association of campus Labor clubs. If there was to be a political protest, it never became apparent in Congress where the entire House voted to support Johnson and only two Senators voted against US involvement. Protesters included a group of men who had served in the conflict and called themselves the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Conservative groups routinely denounced "peaceniks" and counter-protests were common wherever protesters rallied against the war. As more and more troops were being sent to Vietnam only to be wounded or killed, more and more people were joining the movement against the war. In 1971, 300,000 took part in an anti-war demonstration in the same city. A powerful bomb, which was being built by members of the radical Weather Underground group, went off prematurely. In the war’s early stages, protest songs voiced the concerns of a minority movement. Conscientious objectors did play an active role although their numbers were small. As protests intensified that summer, Johnson sought to ignore them. Theories and writings that surrounded the Vietnam war protests included opposition to the military draft and the moral imperative arguments that grew so popular among American college students – students believed that the United States had imperialistic goals in Vietnam, thus, making their interference immoral, according to believe of the students custom dissertation service. In 1975, when North Vietnamese forces entered Saigon and the South Vietnamese government collapsed, the last Americans fled Vietnam in helicopters. At different times they chose different targets: the Pentagon, Presidents Nixon and Johnson, the draft, Dow Chemical. Nixon later said he tried to explain his position on the war and urged students to keep their protests peaceful. Most Vietnam songs released during Kennedy’s presidency articulated a reluctance to be drafted. All of this clashed with any concept that involved doing the ‘right thing’ for your nation. Protests against the Vietnam War took place in the 1960s and 1970s. When the North Vietnamese invaded Cambodia, they said not a word. Dr. Martin Luther King began criticizing the war in the summer of 1965. In 1967, 100,000 took part in a protest rally in Washington DC. Despite a brief upsurge in protests following and resumption of the air war against North Vietnam in the spring of 1972, the factionalization of the movement and the withdrawal of most U.S. forces led to a decline in protests. It seemed to the protesters to summarise exactly why America should not be in South Vietnam. For the most famous athlete on the planet to openly decry the war was, at the time, blasphemous. He was stripped of his boxing title but was eventually vindicated in a long legal battle. According to history.com, a protest on Nov. 15, 1969, was "the largest anti-war … It meant being sent to a war and fighting for a cause that many people did not believe in. This was an underlying cause that had both social and political factors. The war was finally over. The Pentagon Protest helped contribute to the "Dump Johnson" movement, in which liberal Democrats sought to find candidates who would run against Johnson in the upcoming Democratic primaries of 1968. Protests were initially peaceful and included sit-ins or teach-ins or marches, but they eventually erupted into violence. The Vietnam War provoked outrage from people across the political spectrum, including groups and individuals who disagreed fundamentally on ideological issues, and even on the aims of the anti-war campaign. LBJ! As Johnson was speaking in the White House, 350 demonstrators protesting the war were arrested outside the U.S. Capitol. eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'historylearningsite_co_uk-medrectangle-3','ezslot_0',129,'0','0'])); The first protests came in October 1965 when the draft was increased. By the time of the Democratic National Convention in the summer of 1968, the antiwar movement within the party had been largely thwarted. With a population that ran into millions, it could be argued that they represented a very small minority of the city. The changes in public attitudes that emerged during the antiwar movement still resonate in society to the present day. Skepticism about the government influenced events such as the publication of the Pentagon Papers and the public's reaction to the Watergate scandal. In March 1966, 50,000 anti-war protesters took part in a rally in one of America’s most famous cities – New York. The fact is they protested because they did not want to be inducted into the military. The Washington gathering, according to the next day's New York Times, drew more than 15,000 protesters. Three members of the group were killed, and the incident created considerable fear that protests might become violent. A mob of construction workers swarmed the police providing security at City Hall and demanded the flag be raised to the top of the flagpole. Baez often performed at antiwar rallies and participated in many protests. Coupled with these casualty figures were stories that eventually came out about atrocities committed by US troops against the very people they were meant to be defending and supporting. Ironically, as the draft continued to fuel the war effort, it also grew the anti-war cause. The flag was raised, then lowered once again later in the day. The prevailing senti… Why? 'Housewives,, professional people, they were all involved, it was a very wide spread' according to camerman John Miller who states that people all came … One of the first protest actions against the Vietnam War in Australia to get national headlines after Liberal Prime Minister Bob Menzies' April 1965 announcement that Australia was sending troops to Vietnam, was in Canberra and was organised by delegates to the Australian Student Labor Federation conference in May 1965. Fifty were taken to hospital including up to 25 police officers. These protests usually were peaceful and included such things as burning draft cards, fleeing to Canada or some other country to escape the draft, protest rallies and marches, or simply remaining enrolled in college to avoid the draft. This event actually highlighted to the US public the enormous strain frontline troops were experiencing on a daily basis against a supposedly inferior enemy. The Nixon administration claimed to have a plan to end the war, but there did not seem to be any end in sight. Thousands protest the war in Vietnam In Washington, D.C. nearly 100,000 people gather to protest the American war effort in Vietnam. I couldn’t believe our government was going to continue fighting a war they knew we could not win. Joan Baez, a popular folksinger, grew up as a Quaker and preached her pacifist beliefs in opposition to the war. Major protests were held in Washington in 1971. In United States v. O’Brien (1968) the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a man who burned a draft card in protest of the Vietnam War. ... with as many as half a million people attending a protest in Washington, D.C., in addition to smaller protests around the country. In October of 1967 about 35,000 people joined a protest outside the Pentagon. It seemed to the protesters to summarise exactly why America should not be in South Vietnam. January 14 – 20,000–30,000 people staged a "Human Be-In" in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, near the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood that had become the center of hippie activity. American involvement in Southeast Asia began in the years following World War II. Following the end of the war, she became an advocate for Vietnamese refugees, who were known as "boat people.". Cold War > Vietnam Protest Movement Primary Sources Vietnam Protest Movement. As the protests against the war became widespread, notable figures from the world of politics, literature, and entertainment became prominent in the movement. Positive responses were quite low; not many people wanted to protest anything, and those who did want to show a public demonstration often wanted to demonstrate in support of the Vietnam War. On April 15, 1967, more than 100,000 people demonstrated against the war with a march through New York City and a rally held at the United Nations. Some wanted to show solidarity with the people of Vietnam, such as Norman Morrison emulating the self-immolation of Thích Quảng Đức. This portion of the age cohort did so because they feared the draft would result in their military service in Vietnam. Feelings about the war continued to intensify. More than 200 people have been arrested after thousands of demonstrators clashed in an anti-Vietnam war protest outside the United States embassy in London. The following day, Mary Beth Tinker's 14-year-old brother John wore an armband to school and was also sent home. The effort to raise awareness and rally protests against the war picked up momentum. All of this clashed with any concept that involved doing the ‘right thing’ for your nation. In an expansion of his message concerning race and the war in Vietnam, King began to link the oppression of the poor to the global oppressiveness of capitalism as exhibited in the U.S. action in Southeast Asia. The draft, as a system of conscription which threatened lower class registrants and middle class registrants alike, drove much of the protest after 1965. When the Soviets invaded Afganistan the did not protest. The first was film of children running away from their village having been burned by napalm and the second was the summary execution of a Vietcong suspect by a South Vietnamese police chief on the streets of Saigon in 1968. Protests against the war continued at various locations around the country. On October 21, 1967, a crowd estimated at 50,000 protesters marched from Washington, D.C. to the parking lots of the Pentagon. Simple. In United States v. O’Brien (1968) the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a man who burned a draft card in protest of the Vietnam War. Protest by Teens in Middle America Reached the Supreme Court. This particular protest involved many veterans from the war. A sit-down … The end of the draft was announced in ’71, because the draft wasn’t needed and Vietnam combat was ending. Joan Baez at a 1965 antiwar rally in London. High-profile opposition to the Vietnam War increasingly turned to mass protests in an effort to shift U.S. public opinion. The suspended students did not return to school until after New Year's, past the end of their planned protest. With a population that ran into millions, it could be argued that they represented a very small minority of the city. In contrast to O’… And in the wake of Kent State, the nation remained deeply divided. The 1960’s and 1970’s was a time of global cultural change that mobilised young people all over the world. Hundreds of young people were beaten in the streets as a small force of police officers mostly stood by and watched. America rallied to the call of the commander-in-chief and after the Gulf of Tonkin incident it became very apparent that few would raise protests against the decision to militarily support South Vietnam. One cry of the protesters particularly hurt President Johnson: “Hey! International coverage of the protests showed that as the years moved on the protests got larger and more vocal. To many, the draft was a death sentence. The mobilization of a massive number of protesters greatly influenced public opinion, which in turn influenced how the war was conducted. Protests against the war also accelerated. It is impossible to think about America's long and complicated involvement in Vietnam without considering the impact of the antiwar movement. The flag at New York's City Hall was flown at half-staff to honor the Kent State students. Within a span of just a few years, opposition to the Vietnam War became a colossal movement, with protests drawing hundreds of thousands of Americans into the streets. Many veterans used the opportunity to throw their medals on the steps of the Capitol building. The protests during Vietnam were not so much a protest against the war, as they were a protest against the draft. With assistance from the ACLU, their case, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, eventually went to the Supreme Court. Vietnam Veterans Against the War Homepage Over 30,000 Vietnam Veterans were protesting the war while it was still going on. Americans began to sense that Vietnam was turning into a major problem when, in the spring of 1963, Buddhists began a series of protests against the American-backed and extremely corrupt government of premier Ngo Dinh Diem. The issue of American involvement came up in an interview with President Kennedy conducted by journalist Walter Cronkite on September 2, 1963, less than three months before Kennedy's assassination. The protests against the war started to pick up when body bags started to return to America in increasing numbers. Yet during the Vietnam War, draft evasion and draft resistance reached a historic peak, nearly crippling the Selective Service System. Included in this movement were now veterans who went as far as throwing away any medals they had won during their time fighting a war. It is said that two images in particular did a great deal to turn US opinion with regards to was in Vietnam. Other speakers included Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, Bayard Rustin, one of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington; and Dr. Benjamin Spock, one of the most famous doctors in America thanks to his best-selling book on caring for babies. Ask them. 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