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THE NATURE, IMPACT AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT
As the Vietnam War dragged on, it became increasingly unpopular at home in the US, giving rise to one of the biggest anti-war movements ever seen. In this report I will be discussing the nature, impact and significance of this anti-war movement.
DIVISIONS OF THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT
The anti-war movement was made up of many different groups. These groups were not unified, but they all had one thing in common – opposition to the war. There was no one particular leader, and it was by no means a mass organized movement, but instead several different movements involving different groups.
· African Americans and other minority groups opposed the war as it took valuable funds away from achieving equal rights and decreasing poverty. As well as this, the percentage of African Americans serving in Vietnam was disproportionate to the population of white Americans. Dr Martin Luther King, a prominent civil rights activist was a main supporter of the anti-war cause.
· People from a low socio-economic background opposed the war, as they didn’t have the opportunities to escape the draft by becoming students or fleeing the country. ...
· Many students and teachers opposed the war. They were the first people to actively speak out against the war. During this time, the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Free Speech Movement (FSM) were formed.
· Some soldiers fighting the war in Vietnam opposed it and would disobey orders in order to show their support for the anti-war movement. The Vietnam Veterans Against the War was formed in 1967, and organized marches against US involvement in the war. ...
· Hippies opposed the war and set about establishing a new counter-culture in America. ... They used music to express their ideas and 500 000 congregated in 1969 for the Woodstock festival, where many anti-war singers performed. ... It has been argued, that the fractions that existed in the anti-war movement were a great downfall for the movement in general. Schulzinger supported this when he wrote, “ Because of deep internal divisions, the opposition to the war was less successful in ending it than it might have been” (1997)
TYPES OF PROTEST
Throughout the duration of the war, there were many varied forms of protests. Teach-ins, sit-ins, moratoriums, rallies, petitions, burning of draft cards, riots and even self immolation were some of the forms that anti-war protestors used to voice their opinion of the war and U.
Approximate Word count = 1971
Approximate Pages = 7.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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