The Protests In Vietnam

Superior Essays
In the year of 1965 The United states of America had began to deploy troops to fight communism in the country of Vietnam. The U.S. would find themselves with new problems both overseas and at home. During the war there was a great amount of conflict that grew on American soil. Many people in the U.S. did not believe in the U.S. involvement in the war and made that clear through a series of violent and non-violent protests and demonstrations. Along with the problems in the U.S., there were many problems soldiers faced over seas. Soldiers had to fight against in army that used tactics they had never seen before, had to live in terrible conditions, and lacked the morale needed to fight a war. In result of this the U.S. was forced to withdraw …show more content…
The protests against war made some soldiers feel like they did not have the support of their fellow countrymen. This can play a large role in the morale of the people fighting in this war. A very important aspect to winning a war believes in what you are fighting for, but this was not the easiest thing for many soldiers in Vietnam. Although the protests and antiwar movements. The protests played a large part in the failure in Vietnam War because they were affective. In the long run the protests did have an affect on the government and when the war would be ended. Since the protestors really highlighted how flawed the U.S. policy was during this time. There were also other protests that directly put pressure on the federal court system; members of antiwar groups collected more them 1,000 draft cards and brought them to the directly to the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. By doing this protestors overwhelmed the court with cases on the draft and really caught the attention of the government. The antiwar movement caught the attention of the government and put a spotlight on how flawed the U.S. policies were, this played a large role in the government putting a halt to the seeming unending

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Vietnam War Opposition

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages

    US citizens expressed their outrage and opposition of the invasion of Vietnam fervently and loudly. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the earliest protesters were civil rights activists, who, having witnessed the oppression of blacks within the US, responded to Lyndon Johnson’s announcement of the invasion of Vietnam with wary suspicion. Other early protesters were students, hundreds of thousands of whom rallied in protest—and because of which nearly 1,000 were expelled or suspended. Yet, civil rights activists and students were not the only vocal objectors. Working-class men and women bore strong anti-war sentiments. In contrast to what many have believed to be the case,…

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Anti-war movement started during the 1960s and shaped America’s public opinion on conflicts for years to come. As in all its conflicts, the support of the people on the homefront influences America’s military commitment.. Without Homefront support, the American war machine dies. American pop culture during the 60s and 70s, sought to change public opinion against the Vietnam War. Through blatant anti-war lyrics to their actions, the popular artists and musicians of the era influenced the mindset of a generation to oppose the military actions in Vietnam.…

    • 2408 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Vietnam War Dbq Analysis

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Overall, the Vietnam war was a popular conflict that failed in terms of the defense of S, Vietnam against the communist N. Vietnam, and changed many American’s opinions about the nation’s role in the world and on their lives. The Vietnam War was yet another example of the escalation of the cold war, but his time, American intentions were completely misguided, and the damage done to society was huge. American involvement in Vietnam increased conflict and tension in the U.S. because of the overwhelming unpopularity of the government decisions causing great social unrest and unhappiness especially young people, political corruption in the Johnson and Nixon administrations, and economic mismanagement of the war effort vs. domestic programs.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Vietnam War DBQ

    • 1226 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Vietnam War could not have occurred at a worse time in Unites States. PRior to the war, the long, grueling, and strenuous Civil Rights Movement resulted in an “unofficial official” divide within the country. As far back as JFK, U.S. interest in Vietnam was made evident. JFK adopted Eisenhower 's fostered idea of the “Domino Theory”. JFK wanted to prevent the South Vietnamese from spreading Communism throughout the rest of the country. Despite the billions of dollars invested, along with the billions of lives lost, the U.S. ultimately withdrew for Vietnam, thus allowing Communism to take hold. The South East Asian country suffered as well. Innocent citizens of Vietnam were made refugees in their own country. At home, Vietnam veterans were…

    • 1226 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gulf Of Tonkin Resolution

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In 1963, the streets of Saigon and the surrounding cities of Southern Vietnam were flooded with Viet Cong (VC). These were Vietnamese Communists who lived all throughout Vietnam. The towns became overrun and soon the South started to lose control. As a result, the United States sent around 16,000 military “advisers” to Southern Vietnam. Their job was to aid the South in their efforts to drive the VC out of their country. This, however, was rarely the case as there was a thin line between providing military assistance and taking total control. The incident that occurred in the Gulf of Tonkin is a perfect example of how the United States took matters into their own hands and escalated problems in Vietnam. This opened the door for U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War (Versache 12).…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Vietnam War Dbq Analysis

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Vietnam War was one of the most controversial wars of its time. Many americans opposed of the war because they thought it was highly unnecessary with all the trouble that appeared based around how the young felt and the use of brutal weaponry. Even though some government officials thought they were doing the right thing to protect southeast asia's freedom. It wasn’t worth giving up the many of our own people's freedom.…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to “The Antiwar Movement”, “Protest against war in Vietnam while protesting its own origins, characteristics, and degree of effectiveness, did not represent something new in American Society”. This being said, it is peculiar that the American society is surprised from the big opposition to the Vietnam war because all other American wars, except for World War II, had momentous opposition as well. Operation Rolling Thunder, a code name for President Johnson’s campaign against North Vietnam, was slowly de-escalated because of the intense pressure from the anti-war protests that wanted to reduce American involvement (“An”). This was in response to the many protests that were going on during the war. The anti-war protests weighed heavily on President Johnson leading in part to his resignation. Johnson fought the war with a violent strategy. He thought that through enough bombings of key resource areas, the Viet Cong’s confidence would be destroyed and the U.S. could easily win the war but because of the protests, Johnson “was convinced that anti-war protesters were encouraging the Vietcong and undermining the American cause” (“Freedman”). This was a concern Johnson had and eventually prolonged war. The protests peaked in 1968 during the Tet Offensive. The public outcry of the offensive that followed, “caused a re-evaluation of American policies among many officials in the departments of the state and defense” (“Antiwar”). The antiwar attitudes increased following the Tet Offensive sending waves of shock across the American homefront after Nixon escalated the U.S. involvement into the war, killing large numbers of U.S. lives. President Johnson shocked America with his policies and surprises that were placed on…

    • 1549 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A grassroots movement was catalyzed by American intervention in Vietnam. The United States threw their support in the war behind South Vietnam, in fierce opposition to the communist forces of the north (Vietnam War Protests, 2010). However, the war was costly and national discontent manifested itself in protests and rampant claims of conscientious objection. The demonstrators of the anti-war movement included famous faces such as John Lennon and Martin Luther King Jr (Vietnam War Protests, 2010). The anti-war movement truly permeated every part of society. Even some veterans of the Vietnam War became demonstrators, tossing their helmets and medals at the foot of the US Capitol building in protest (Vietnam War Protests, 2010). Although the anti-war movement disquieted domestic peace, it is worth noting that it strengthened the foundation for peaceful protest in the United…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Vietnam War is a war that lasted from November 1st, 1955 to April 30th, 1975 yet the United States of America officially taken upon themselves to join in August 7th, 1964. The major reason why the United States joined the war was to prevent Communistic control over South Vietnam, to stop the establishment of a satellite country; as part of the United States’ Containment Policy, which it’s primary objective is to eradicating the spread of Communism. Many men of the United States have been drafted, enlisted and volunteered to train at the boot camps to prepare themselves in a new setting of war with a new type of warfare, the guerrilla warfare. As the United States gathered the manpower and firepower to fight the Viet-Cong based on the request…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the beginning of the war, many Americans volunteered serving for their country and helping those who needed it in and win their trust in Vietnam. Towards the end of the way, their whole perception of the war changed. Many soldiers were drafted instead of volunteering; many believed South Vietnamese people were indifferent to their own nation. They began to think that American soldiers were dying to defend a nation whose people are unwilling to die to defend themselves. President Lyndon B. Johnson thought otherwise. “We are there because we have a promise to keep.” (Document 3). American soldiers were not the only ones that were affected by the war. According to (Document 5a), on April 27, 1968 Anti-Vietnam War protesters marched down Fifth Avenue in New York City, which attracted eighty seven thousand people and caused sixty arrests. College students suffered from lack of learning due to closings of college campuses because of the march of Anti-Vietnamese War protesters. “A spokesman for the National Student Association said that students had been staying away from classes at almost 300 campuses in the country…” (Document 5b). In addition, with many people affected by the war in the American society foreign affairs were also as equal…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Despite the fact that many of the soldiers being sent to Vietnam were from the working class, the majority of the people on the pro-war side were from the working class as well. During the war there were many protests on college…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The continuous uprisings and protests from civil rights movements were very common and not unheard of making war protests just as easy and normal of a thing for citizens. Speaking out started to become more and more acceptable and popular among the population therefore war protests only became larger and escalated very quickly. Another thing that continued to fuel the fire for Americans in this anti-war situation is that the clarity of what was happening and why things were happening involving the war was foggy. The government would never give clear statements as to why America was going into war, and rumors circled that put Americans in a defensive state of mind. Continuous reports of things such as U.S. casualty rate increasing, , the new tactics that the North Vietnamese had such as the strong Tet Offensive,, and the necessity for more troops raised alarm for citizens. Because of all of the uncertainty and changes put upon the American people the opposition…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Following the actions of the U.S government in carrying out North Vietnam bombings a sense of responsibility in ending this outright senseless acts of war emerged. A wave of activism by intellectuals and peacemakers alike spread across the country; initially only what started as a small group of protesters in higher institutions having one agenda in hand: stop the war, spread its ideas to the mass American populace who also shared their views. The protests against the U.S involvement in the Vietnam War was viewed as a means to an end in itself that required commitment and sacrifice to be achieved by its main two proponents at that time: peace activists and intellectuals in…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Vietnam War was one of the many bloody Cold War era conflicts. It was a conflict between North and South Vietnam, who both had different ideals; the North was communist, and the south was anti-communist. Although the war was brutal and bloody for both sides, it has greatly impacted and changed both societies in one shape or form, shaping them into the ones we know to this day. There is no doubt that the Vietnam War had affected society during its time and still has a lasting effect on society today, seeing as it has damaged and affected the entire country of Vietnam, changed foreign and military policies in the US, and caused social and political changes in the US and Canada.…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Anti-Vietnam War movement eventually succeeded with U.S forces exiting Vietnam. Previous to that, achievements of the movement were in public opinion not policy. The United States interfered in Vietnam for the purpose of containing the geopolitical spread of communism. The Anti-Vietnam War movement was mainly made up of baby-boom college students, as they were the people threatened by the draft. The movement co-occurred with social change for American women, black people and non-straight people. Because of the climate of change, complacency was no longer an option in the face of injustice. The Anti-Vietnam War achieved meaningful change by ending the draft and stripping away willful ignorance that allowed injustice to occur. The movement…

    • 1389 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays