Running head: Antiwar Movement

The Vietnam War Antiwar Movement

Frida A. De la torre
University of Texas at El Paso

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Antiwar Movement

Abstract
The Vietnam War was a long and expensive conflict that served to prevent communism from
spreading throughout Asia. In 1965, after a year of bombings in North Vietnam, rumors and
critics began to lure among the American public, it sparked the beginnings of the Antiwar
Movement. The protest were first seen vividly within student campuses were students could be
more protected and freely exercise their freedom of speech. The main arguments during the
protests regarded topics such as the opposition of the draft and all the moral and legal violations,
it however grew in purposes and opinions. Soon thousands of protestors joined the Antiwar
Movement. To the government the demonstrations and the marches were issues to be resolved
immediately. Attacks were made against the students and many citizens still opposed the Antiwar
Movement. Yet, the Antiwar Movement stood until the end of the Vietnam War. The results
included the division of ideologies across the nation and the birth of a new era of activist groups
and civil rights movements.

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The Antiwar Movement

The Vietnam War (1954-1975) was a conflict in which the U.S. government and military
forces intervened the spread of communism across Asia. They did so by protecting South
Vietnam, also known as Viet Cong, from communist North Vietnam and allies. According to
Ronald H. Spector the Vietnam War was some sort of backlash or manifestation of the Cold War
between the U.S. and the Soviet Union (Spector, 2016).The war lasted 20 years, the longest war
in U.S. history. Such a lengthy war meant that the costs were going through the roof. But what
astonished many Americans was the loss of morals and humanity exhibited by the military and
the governments throughout their journey.
1. How did the Antiwar Movement begin?
2. What conflicts did the antiwar activists face during the war?
3. What is the effect of the Antiwar Movement?
These questions will narrow down the main points of the topic in the hope of effectively
delivering the message to the public in an easy way to understand.
How did the Antiwar Movement begin?
Before and during the war many men began to hide or flee the country as a way to resist
the draft. It arose many problems such as a shift in population and anger among the government
and the American public. Many went into hiding in Canada and Mexico. The U.S. government
wanted Canada to deport all the men who ran back to the United States to confront the
consequences, however Canada did not have any trouble receiving new citizens so many stayed.
In the end former President Nixon declared that those who abandoned their country in a time of
need were not welcomed back (Maxwell, 2015). For those who did join the war they were sent to
Vietnam. By 1964 the deaths of both sides had surpassed expectations, and the drafts kept taking

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young men to the battle field. The opposition to the war was beginning to take shape, it started
mainly in college campuses when students did teach-ins within their campuses.
Many government official in the beginning believed that the students involved in the
demonstrations and marches were only rude misfits that just wanted to get a kick out of it.
However, both political official Johnson and Nixon took the issue in hand very seriously
(Fendrich, 2003). As campuses around the United States joined the fight for peace, the
government and the public grew more and more concerned. At one point the college campuses
were declared on unrest. The U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare described this
movements as This crisis has roots in divisions of American society as deep as any since the
Civil War Campus unrest reflects and increases a more profound crisis in the nation as a
whole. This crisis has two components: a crisis of violence and a crisis of understanding.
(1970). This phenomenon among student soon spread across other groups such as minority
organization that joined in to create an alliances among other groups across the county.
What conflicts did the antiwar activists face during the war?
From the beginning of the Antiwar Movement the American public had always been
skeptical about the opposition to the war and decisions made by the government. The popularity
of the Antiwar Movement peaked after the shooting at Kent State University after the
demonstrations took a hostile turn against public and school property, as well as the National
Guard and other official authority. In the film The Day the 60s Died by Jonathan Halperin, it
focused on the views on the people involved in the protests and that were present the day of the
shooting in Kent State University, according to them all that student wanted was to express their
right of freedom of speech and to let the government know that not all American were okay
with what was going on in Vietnam. On the other hand, many other Americans at the time still

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believed that the students who opposed the war deserved to die on the day of the shooting and
that their opinion was not valid just because they were not loyal to the government and their
country (2015). It was too late to change the minds of the young protestors, by 1970 about 40
percent of universities had closed temporarily to cool down protests between 50 and 60
percent of college students took part in protests (Fendrich, 2003).
Figure 1. A news article about the shooting in Kent State University that killed 4 students and
wounded 9.

Source: The University of Iowa Libraries. (2010). Student Protests of the 1970s. Retrieved from
http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/news/2010/05/04/student-protests-of-the-1970s/
The students struggled to reach a status of credibility and of recognition for their long
fought war for peace, however, their actions rippled across many other minority groups that
jumped into the trend to develop power for their own campaigns (Fendrich, 2003). The diversity

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of the people who seen at the rallies was something unseen by the American public and many
believed is what brought to life the unity and the determination of the protestors.
What was the effect of the Antiwar Movement?
The Antiwar War movement was definitely a big changing point in American history. According
to Jonathan Halperin, last massive anti-war demonstrations were held in the spring of 1971
(2015). The aftermath of the war and the protest include two main points. The first one was that
it helped divide America, between conservatives and liberals. The second includes that fact that
many other organization and activist groups started their movements. Such as the womens
movement, the gay rights movement, the environmentalists, and so on. These and much more
were the decedents of the Antiwar Movement a period that left a mark in U.S. history.

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References
History.com Staff (2010). Vietnam War Protests. History.com. Retrieved September 15, 2016,
from
http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-protests
James Max Fendrich, 2003. Sociological Inquiry. The Forgotten Movement: The Vietnam
Antiwar Movement, Volume 73 (Issue 3), pages 338-358.
Jonathan Halperin (2015) The Day the 60s Died. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=hR8Q1JPQjwk
Lewis, Penny W. Hardhats, Hippies, and Hawks: The Vietnam Antiwar Movement as Myth and
Memory. Retrieved from
http://0-site.ebrary.com.lib.utep.edu/lib/utep/reader.action?docID=10685102
Maxwell, D. W. (2015). These Are the Things Gain If You Make Our Country Your Country:
U.S.-Vietnam War Draft Resisters and Military Deserters and the Meaning of Citizenship
in North America in the 1970s. Peace & Change, 40(4), 437-461.
Doi:10.1111/pech.12142
The University of Iowa Libraries. (2010). Student Protests of the 1970s. Retrieved from
http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/news/2010/05/04/student-protests-of-the-1970s/

U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1970). The Report of the Presidents
Commission on Campus Unrest. Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED083899.pdf