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May 1954
The French loss at the battle ended almost a century of French colonial rule in Indochina. -
Martin Luther Kings Support
Martin Luther King supported the anti-war movement, which helped bring many African American citizens to support the movement aswell. -
Give peace a chance
The late 1960s became increasingly radical as the activists felt their demands were ignored. Peaceful demonstrations turned violent. When the police arrived to arrest protesters, the crowds often retaliated. -
Vietnam War Era Songs
There were many songs written in that era that protested the war that were widely popular. Songs such as Phil Ochs "What are you fighting for?" and Marvin Gays "What's going on?" all became hits in the 60s and 70s. -
Troops who were drafted and why people are mad.
50,000 troops were drafted.
It was a Peace movement leaders opposed the war on moral and economic grounds. The North Vietnamese, they argued, were fighting a patriotic war to rid themselves of foreign aggressors. -
How did protests affect the Vietnam War?
Massive gatherings of anti-war demonstrators helped bring attention to the public resentment of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The confrontation seen above took place at the Pentagon in 1967. Despite the growing antiwar movement, a silent majority of Americans still supported the Vietnam effort. -
The draft
The age of the average American soldier serving in Vietnam was 19, seven years younger than its World War II counterpart. Antiwar demonstrations were few at first, with active participants numbering in the low thousands when Congress passed the Tokin Gulf Resolution. -
American Aircraft
American aircraft attack targets in Hanoi and Haiphong in raids that are among the first such attacks on cities in North Vietnam. -
Protesters V.S. Resistance
The protesters had begun to split into two different groups of people. There were the regular protesters who tried to solve problems peacefully, and then there was the resistance. The resistance was a group of people that would try to shut down city centers and perform illegal actions such as marching on the pentagon. This conflict within the group made the protests look bad. -
Muhammad Ali Burned His Draft Card
When Muhammad Ali burned his draft card, it caused a lot of protest towards the Vietnam war. He said "Why shoot them?" showing that he didn't feel there was a reason to be at war with Vietnam. -
Lincoln Memorial Protest
100,000 protesters gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to protest the Vietnam war, 30,000 of which continued to march to the Pentagon. Many were arrested but this showed that there was a large portion of the population that didn't agree with the war. -
Political Consequences
Polls had shown that 50% of the population was unhappy with the way Vietnam was handled by the government. The other 50% was split 20% having no opinion and 30% agreeing that it was handled well. -
Resistance Within the Military
Many soldiers were against the war as well. Soldiers would sometimes kill their superior officers when ordered into war. Also, one in six soldiers were addicted to heroin. -
The "Yippies"
The Youth International Party, or Yippies, were a radical group that had formed as more and more pro-war officials were elected, as well as more citizens being drafted and soldiers being killed in Vietnam. The Yippies were anti-war extremists, some would even go as far as to break into offices of draft boards and burning their records. They also nominated a pig named Pigasus as their presidential candidate during the Chicago Democratic Convention. -
Invasion of Cambodia
The U.S. invasion of Cambodia brought many more people to the movement, and within 8 weeks of the invasion beginning, troops were removed from there. -
Kent State Shooting
National Guardsman shot 13 Kent State students. -
The March On NYC
70,000 people attended a pro-war march in NYC. -
War Vet Protests
800 war vets protested and even through their medals over a fence that surrounded the capital. -
Opertation Homecoming
North Vietnam returns 591 American prisoners of war (including future U.S. Senator and presidential candidate -
The War Was Over
up to 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died and more than 2 million civilians were killed on both sides of the war. The last taskforce in Vietnam was pulled out.
