The Purposes Of The Vietnam Anti-War Movement

The Vietnam anti-war movements had multiple purposes and the movements changed vastly over the course of the war. Not only just this, but the attitude of Americans views on the war and the anti-war movements changed as well. As time went on many saw the war as a symbol of government overreach and had an overall critique of United States foreign policy. Based on modern stereotypes it has been considered a young person’s protest but it goes much deeper than that. The war called to question the values of patriotism and the role, breadth, and legitimacy of the United States government. First, it is essential to discuss the effects of the cold war scare. Those who opposed the government's take and supported peaceful coexistence with the Soviet

One issue was what the preferred solution was to get out of Vietnam. Moderates favored negotiating with the Northern Vietnamese and creating an acceptable government that would please both them and the United States. Whereas the radicals argued that the Vietnamese had the right to determine their government and future and that the United States needed to withdraw immediately as we had no place being there in the first place.3 Not only just this, but individual groups themselves were not always on the same page. A great example of this was the SDS who were imperative to the start of the antiwar movement. Although mostly organized in the beginning as they gained popularity and as more members and chapters joined they were unable to keep a uniform stance. Even at their conventions, it became an argument between chapters and or factions on whose ideas were most revolutionary.2 The lack of organization in the movement definitely had an impact on the success they were able to achieve during the time. This isn’t to say they weren’t successful in many areas

While protestors were faced with being called unpatriotic they felt quite the opposite. Many of the protesters saw themselves as true patriots who were fighting for the principles upon which the United States was founded. They believed that the government's actions in Vietnam were betraying these principles and undermining the country's values. For example, Michael Foley, author of Confronting the War Machine, wrote, “The vast majority of American dissenters thought of themselves as patriots, distraught over the government's abandonment of core American values.”1 As discussed before the propaganda against the protestors was extreme and despite this, they still believed that they were doing the right thing for their