How did protests against the Vietnam War develop?

Lesson objectives To identify the different ways that people protested against the Vietnam War. To examine and unwrap cartoon sources relating to the US policy towards Vietnam.

Opposition to the draft Men who were conscripted or drafted into the army received a draft card from one of the 4000 draft boards summoning term serve in the US army. An early form of protesting against the Vietnam War was to burn the draft cards or refuse to report for training. By 1969, 34,000 men were wanted as draft dodging.

The Catonsville Nine Burning draft cards escalated to raiding draft offices and burning records. This happened in Catonsville in Nine people were caught – including two Catholic priests and a nun. All were sent to prison. By the 1970s, the war became so unpopular that the punishments for draft burnings were much reduced. Indeed a similar offence in Camden in 1971 led to all the offenders being found not guilty.

Sit-ins Sit-ins – a form of civil disobedience, where protests sit in a public place and refuse to move – became very popular with students against the Vietnam War. These protests were influenced by the civil right movement. Indeed, The Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee had been set up originally to campaign for civil rights but later opposed the Vietnam War,

Teach-ins Many teachers and lecturers agreed with their students and were opposed to the Vietnam War. Many arranged ‘teach-ins’ and lectured against the war.

The impact of Martin Luther King In 1967, Martin Luther King joined the anti-war movement. He opposed the war because he felt that the black-Americans and poor made up a disproportionate number of recruits for Vietnam. He was also disappointed by the failure of Johnson’s Great Society.

The impact of Johnson’s resignation In 1968, President Johnson decided not to stand for re- election. This encouraged the anti-war movement and huge protest marches took place in 1969, 1970 and Half a million took part in the largest march in Washington in Two weeks later a protest march in favour of the war took place – only 15, 000 took part.

Kent State In 1970, President Nixon ordered the invasion of Cambodia insisting that they were sheltering VC. This escalation of the war sparked huge protests in universities. In one of these protests in May 1970, four students were shot dead by the National Guard at Kent State University. The killings sparked off 400 protests and strikes while Nixon condemned the students as ‘campus bums’