A Generation of Conflict

Ch 29Pages 883-888

A Nation Divided-A Generation in Conflict

• Why was Vietnam a working class war?• What were the roots of opposition to the

war?• What was the anti- war movement?• Why was their growing division in the US

over the war?

Roots of Opposition-”The Times They are A-Changing”

• College students became more involved in social protest• The New Left demanded sweeping changes in American

society• Students for A Democratic Society (SDS) charged that large

Corporations and large government institutions had taken over the US (They wanted democracy and individual freedom) Anti-WAR

• In 1964 The Free Speech Movement grew out of a dispute between administrators and students at Univ. of CA at Berkeley

From Campus to Mass Mobilization

• Professors and students used teach-ins to protest the war (Sit-In for the campus)

• In April 1965, SDS organized a march on Washington of 20,000, then 30,000

• By 1969 SDS had chapters on 400 campuses• In spring of 1967 nearly 500,000 gathered in NYC’s Central

Park “Hell no we won’t go!” “Burn Cards not People!”• In October 1967 100,000 anti-war protestors marched from

the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon (1,500 injured, 700 arrested)

War Divides the Nation

• Hawks v Doves • In December 1967, 70% of Americans felt that the

protests were “acts of disloyalty”• Backlash to the Protestors organized• “America Love it or Leave It!”• “Support our men in Vietnam!”• “College professors, students…don’t love our

country.”• LBJ was determined with slow escalation• Sec. of Defense McNamara resigned in the end of

1967

Songs of Protest and Support• CCR- Fortunate Son

• Country Joe's Anti Vietnam War Song Woodstock

• Bob Dylan –The Times they are a Changing• Eve of Destruction

• The Ballet of the Green Berets

The Counterculture of the 1960’s• Counterculture was a movement made up of mostly

white, middle-class college young people who were disillusioned with the war and injustices of society

• They turned their backs on traditional American and founded a society based on peace and love

• Hippies • 25%-30% of college

Age students

• Materialism, technology, and war were hollow

• Harvard psychologist & philosopher Dr. Timothy Leary

• formed the "League of Spiritual Discovery," an LSD advocacy group

• Many left home, work, and school to create an ideal community of peace love and harmony

Hippie Culture• The Age of Aquarius• Rock ’n’ Roll Music• Sexual Revolution (Free Love)• Marijuana and LSD (Illegal Drugs)• Eastern Religions (Zen Buddhism)• Ragged Jeans, Tie-dye shirts, military garments, love

beads and muslin shirts• Long hair and beards• Many joined communes• Haight-Asbury District of SF

Art of the 1960’s• Pop-Art by Andy Warhol

                                                                                                              

Music of the 1960’s• The music was a form of protest that grew out of

African-American rhythm and blues of the 1950’s (Folk and Rock)

• The Beatles, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, the Who, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and the Rolling Stones

• In 1969 the appex of the counterculture was the music festival Woodstock

• The 1970 Concert at Altamont Speedway was a disaster and ended the era of peace and love

The Working Class War-Teenage Soldiers

• Many dogged the draft as Americans doubted the war (Draft included 18-26 year old males)

• Some got medical exemptions• Some joined the National Guard or Coast Guard• Some got a college deferment• The less economically privileged fought the war

which included lower economic class whites and minorities

• African Americans made up only 10% of the population but 20%-30% of the combat deaths

• Draft lottery was instituted in 1969

Coping Back Home• Met with indifference and hostility

– No parades– Rotated home individually and not with their units– Many blamed soldiers for the war

• 15% PTSD– Nightmares, headaches, memory lapses– Apathetic, abusing drugs and/or alcohol– Suicide

• U.S. Issues Report on Agent Orange– After years of Defense Department denials– Thousands of veterans had demanded a government investigation into

the effect that dioxin had on the human immune system.

Coping Back Home• Carter Issues Pardon to Draft Evaders

– In a bold and controversial move, Carter extends a full and unconditional pardon to nearly 10,000 men who evaded the draft.

• Dow Chemical Knowledge of Dioxin Revealed– Documents used as part of a lawsuit brought by 20,000

Vietnam veterans against several chemical companies reveal that Dow Chemical had full knowledge of the serious health risks posed by human exposure to dioxin.

– Evidence indicates that despite this information, Dow continued to sell herbicides to the U.S. military for use in Vietnam.

• Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Washington DC

Women Join the Ranks• 10,000 US Women served in Vietnam• Most served as military nurses (China Beach)• Thousand more served in the Red Cross and the

USO (United Services Organizations)