The anti-war movement in the USA

1964 to 1975

Aims of the lesson

By the end of this lesson you will

• Identify the main features of the anti-war movement in the USA during the 1960s and 1970s

• Evaluate the influence that it had on the conduct of the war

• Evaluate the importance of other factors in the ending of the war

The anti war movement

• Initially only a small number of Americans opposed the war

• Three categories of people opposed to the war

• Left wingers who wanted a Communist victory

• Pacifists• Liberals who objected to the

South Vietnamese govt

1964 to 1965

• 1st protest December 1965 – 25 000 attended

• Biggest anti war protest in US history

• November 1965 - Norman Morrison burned himself alive in protest at the war

• In the weeks that followed Roger La Porte and Alice Hertz did the same

Protests against the draft

• 1965 draft introduced• Increased the level of protest

by young men – especially students

• 1965 David Miller burned his draft card publicly and was sent to 30 months in prison

• 1963 to 1973 nearly 10 000 men were sent to prison for “draft dodging”

Draft dodging

• Many young men refused to be drafted – the rich could avoid the draft

• Bush and Clinton – good examples of this

• Muhammad Ali – objected for religious reasons

• Became a symbol for all non white protesters against the war

The International War Crimes Tribunal 1967

• Set up in 1967 – led by Bertrand Russell

• Argued that the US was violating international war by sending troops to Vietnam, torturing captured soldiers and using illegal weapons

• Claimed that the behaviour of the US was similar to the Nazis in WW2

The war and civil rights (1)

• Draft targeted black and Hispanic young men from poorer backgrounds

• Many objected fighting for a system which did not give them civil rights

• Luther King and other civil rights leaders led protests

• 1968 – violent protests in black ghettos in the major cities

The war and civil rights (2)

• By 1968 the war was costing $60 million a day

• Took resources from projects to help poor Americans

• Poor areas and the ghettoes suffered most

• Many worried that a revolution was taking place

1968 – a year of protests

• In New York a protest involving over a million people took place

• A majority of people still supported the war

• This changed after the My Lai massacre and the Tet offensive of 1968

• The draft was starting to cover middle class children as opposed to poor working class men – bit home

1968 – the end of LBJ

• By 1968 the war was taking its toll on President Johnson

• The war had broken his sprit and he decided not to stand for re-election

• Nixon was elected in his place

• Once LBJ had gone the war was as good as lost

Soldiers against the war

• 1960 to 1973 – 503 626 soldiers deserted the army

• Many soldiers did not believe in the cause that they were fighting for

• Did not feel that they had the support of the folks back home

• 1967 – Vietnam Veterans Against the War was formed

The Kent State Massacre 1970

• On 4th May 1970 a protest against the war took place at Kent State University

• The state troopers panicked and opened fire – 4 protesters were killed

• Many people were horrified by this – others felt that they got what they deserved

The media and the war (1)

• First war to be covered in colour and to have pictures via satellite

• Meant that the government could not control what people saw on television

• Every night pictures of the war were seen in ordinary homes in colour

The media and the war (2)

• Many in the military criticised coverage of the war – esp the Tet offensive

• Time magazine in 1970 showed the pictures of 242 US soldiers killed in one week

• As the war dragged on the media became more sceptical towards the war