Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War

The Vietnam anti-war movement in the United States began with demonstrations in 1964 and grew in strength in later years. The US became polarized between those who advocated for continued involvement in Vietnam and those who wanted peace. Opposition groups sprang from the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-nuclear movement; they contributed to second-wave feminism, the environmental movement, and the New Left. The anti-war and peace movements consisted largely of college and graduate students, and mothers, as well as anti-establishment "hippies". Their opposition events ranged from peaceful nonviolent demonstrations to radical displays of violence.

Timeline

1945

• First protests against U.S. involvement in Vietnam take place in 1945, when United States Merchant Marine sailors condemn the U.S. government for the use of U.S. merchant ships to transport French troops whose express purpose is to "subjugate the native population" of Vietnam. These protesters oppose the "recolonization" of Vietnam.

1963

• May 1963, the first coordinated Vietnam War protests occur in London and Australia. These protests are mounted by American pacifists during the annual remembrance of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.

1964

• May 2, In the first major student demonstration against the war, hundreds of students march through Times Square in New York City, while another 700 march in San Francisco. Smaller numbers also protest in New York;......
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