youth protest in vietnam war
In 1961 president Kennedy decided to send American troops to Vietnam to stop the spread of Communism and to show the United States' strength of resolve. At the time he did not know the turmoil he would bring to his own country. The United States was split between those who believed it was our part to get involved in Vietnam and those who thought it was none of our business. As the war continued people's opinions intensified, especially student's. Youth protests during the 1960's changed the way many Americans viewed the Vietnam War. In the early 1960's protests first became a way of change for the civil rights movement. Then as men started going off to war it became a way of displaying activism. Liberal cities with big universities were the first to experience the antiwar movement. The cities of Ann Arbor, Bloomington, Chicago, East Lansing, Lawrence, Madison, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis saw the movement in full effect (Anderson 4-5). Some people believed that the protesters were a disgrace for betraying their own country (Dudley 83). "Teach-ins" became a way of educating students about what was really happening in Vietnam. Speeches, songs, discussions,
accusing him of "war crimes." At a University of Colorado professors talked to their neighbors about their outlook on the war. They also organized antiwar groups, passed out leaflets, and discussed and lectured about the war. Over two months since the plan began, support for the war dropped 12% (Dougan and Weiss 88). The Kent State incident caused a psychological change for many students involved with protests. They began to realize that they could die for their participation in antiwar demonstrations (Dudley 218). The shootings brought the war to a higher level of awareness (Kaiser). The division of society was also brought to its peak. Throughout the 1960's antiwar activists influenced other people their age and anyone else who was interested, to take part in protests. In 1965 a rally in Boston only had about one 100 participants. Four years later another demonstration was held in Boston, this time it had 100 thousand people involved (O'Neil 110). Mark Rudd, the president of the Students for a Democratic Society, knew how to get his view across to millions. On the second day of students occupying the Columbia buildings, he met with the press for an interview (Kaiser 166-67).
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2137
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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