Speech

What was the Vietnam Anti-War Movement?

Informative Speech 

Ella Reidway 

By 1964, it was obvious to millions of Americans that the war in Vietnam was not a war we should be fighting. Before we get into the anti-war protests, What was the Vietnam War?  The Vietnam war lasted from 1955 to 1975 with the United States entering soldiers in 1965. It was originally a conflict between North Vietnam and South Vietnam but focused in Laos and Cambodia as well. The U.S. entered the war to provide help to their allies, South Vietnam, and to help stop the spread of communism. There were many disagreements about whether or not the U.S. should enter the war in the first place, but in the end, it was decided to go in. The war was brutal and many soldiers were unprepared to fight in it. By the end of the war, 58,148 Americans died in Vietnam and of that number 61% were under 21 (“Vietnam War Facts”).

 

Protests quickly spread around the country as soon as the people learned about the idea that we would enter the war. The article "Antiwar Movement" states that “A New York City protest in April 1967 saw 130,000 dissenters”("Antiwar Movement"). The protest showed passion and persistence for something that was extremely hard to challenge. The antiwar movement was easily caricatured by the government, big businesses, and parents with the conservatism of the fifties as disrespectful, but these hopeful young protesters knew that going against the idea of war was something worth fighting for. 

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The antiwar movement was enormously diverse: Black, White, Young Women and Men, and many different religions, but it was led mostly by the younger generation. They were not only making a statement about war, however, but about the society that enabled war. The long haired and bellbottomed crowd steered away for the conservative crewcuts and tailored pants to fight the conventional wisdom about the war. To quote Sandy Tolan from the NPR weekend edition, “it was the picture of enraged young people coming up against the defenders of law and order.” They felt that violence was not the answer and we should give peace a chance. The protesters wanted to challenge the establishment because they felt like it was time for a new way of thinking. Their goal was to break out of the “cookie-cutter” mold of the 50s to convey that this war was unnecessary and caused more harm than good. As mentioned before, 61% of the Americans that died were barely adults. For many young protesters, it also meant bringing their peers home. 

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However, the protesters had a lot of opposition. Older generations believed that it was just a bunch of kids who didn’t understand the meaning of patriotism and fighting for your country. An article called “Antiwar Movement: Was the Vietnam Era" said that “To a significant part of the public, the antiwar protestors appeared to be spoiled children rejecting the nation that had given them so much” (“Antiwar Movement: Was the Vietnam Era"). They believed that the “Hippies,” for lack of a better word, were un-knowledgeable about their country's heroic and honorable history and what the power of war meant. The older generation was not completely about violence either. War was normal and this was one of the first times that it was really being challenged to this extent. 

 

Even though the Antiwar protests did not stop the war, it set up an example for how to speak up against the government even on subjects as entrenched in human nature as war. Alyssa Rosenberg states that “It's one thing to accept that war is savage. It's another to really confront that fact and grapple with what that means for our understanding of human nature”(Rosenberg). The quote sums up the weight of what the anti-war protesters were trying to do. War has been part of human life since the beginning of time. It is human nature to try to dominate others whether it be taking land, fighting for food or even winning the pumpkin bowl. It was sometimes even a means of survival. The antiwar protesters recognized that the government was wrong when they said war was the only option.  They recognized that they weren’t just protesting one war, but the instinct to use violence to get what we want. They recognized that despite all the insults and disrespect they received, they still had the right and the duty to stand up. All in all, they created a path for many Americans to continue to stand up for what they believe in, even if it seems like an impossible change. 

Bibliography 

 

"Antiwar Movement." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History: War, Gale, 2009. Gale In Context: Global Issues,  Accessed 28 Sept. 2021. 

 

"Antiwar Movement: Was the Vietnam Era Antiwar Movement Successful?" History in Dispute, 

edited by Robert J. Allison, vol. 2: American Social and Political Movements, 

1945-2000: Pursuit of Liberty, St. James Press, 2000, pp. 3-10.  Accessed 28 Sept. 2021.

 

Merli, M. G. "Socioeconomic Background and War Mortality during Vietnam's Wars." 

Demography (Pre-2011), vol. 37, no. 1, 2000, pp. 1-15. ProQuest, Accessed 28 Sept. 2021. 

 

“Profile: Legacy Of Anti-vietnam War Protests.” NPR, Washington, D.C., 2000. ProQuest, 

Accessed 28 Sept. 2021. 

 

Rosenberg, Alyssa. ‘The American War’: How the Vietnam War Revealed the Fragility of 

Human Decency: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Talk about Episode 7 of "the Vietnam War," and the Horrors Carried Out in Vietnam by both Sides. WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post, Washington, 2017. ProQuest, Accessed 28 Sept. 2021. 

 

“Vietnam War Protests.” ProQuest, Ann Arbor, 2019. ProQuest, Accessed 28 Sept. 2021. 

“Vietnam War Facts, Stats and Myths.” US Wings, 28 Sept. 2019, Accessed Oct. 12. 2021. 

Wapshott, Nicholas. "Anti-War Protest Singers Reclaim the Limelight: ." The Times, Apr 05, 

2003, pp. 13. ProQuest, Accessed 28 Sept. 2021.