The Anti-War Movement and the Counter-Culture

1. The Anti-War Movement and the Counter-Culture Changing opinions at home Sections 20.3 and 21.1

2. Anger for the Escalation • 1965 – less than a year after the start, Johnson issues a draft for 17,000-35,000 men per month • Casualty lists broadcasted every night • Congressional opposition begins to grow in the gov’t • Hawks vs. Doves

3. Causes of the Anger • The Draft • 1,500,000 men • Deferments • College kids exempt • Most draftees are poor and working class

4. Minority Frustration with the System • Because deferments, African Americans made up almost 10% of the army but had 20% of the casualties early in the war • Less likely to be officers • More likely to be posted in combat positions

5. MLK Jr. Speaks Against the War • Vietnam was hurting the War on Poverty • The Irony: as African Americans received gov’t aid on the one hand, they were injured by the gov’t on the other • Mohammad Ali refused to fight

6. Oct. 1967: Stop the Draft Week • Some draft-eligible men burn their draft cards • 1969 – pressure building, draft boards switch to a lottery system

7. Colleges Come to Represent Resistance • College enrollment rises from 2,000,000 to 8,000,000 from 1946-1970 • Upper middle class, white students now start to resist • Pushed by liberal professors • Students join protests

8. Anti-War Demonstrations

9. Students for a Democratic Society • SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) founded at University of Michigan in 1960 to combat racism • Became anti-war leader • By 1964 – SDS organized campus “teach-ins” to spread the movement

10. The Free Speech Movement • UC Berkeley banned organizing off campus political activities while on campus • 1964 – student arrested and FSM (Free Speech Movement) surrounds police car for 36 hour sit-in

11. The Weather Underground • Radically Anti-War • Thought SDS was too weak and slow • Bombed the Pentagon, US Capitol, and other gov’t buildings • Got Marxist and urban war training

12. The Tet Offensive • 30 January 1968 • Truce called on Tet (Vietnamese New Year) • VC pretend to bury dead but carried guns in the coffins into cities • All across South Vietnam – massive, coordinated attack • Tet was put down but looked bad on TV

13. Results of Tet • US really wins Tet • Media shows the carnage and it is taken as a loss by the citizens at home • Turning point of Public Opinion for the war • Fuels anti-war movement • US View – Vietnam is unwinnable • VC View – the people would lead a popular uprising…nope • VC kills thousands, turning Vietnamese opinion against them

14. The “Credibility Gap” • Many Americans distrust the optimistic statements about the war from the politicians • Pessimism and anti-war feelings grow

15. The March Against Death • 13 November 1969 • 250,000 march on Washington holding name cards of dead soldiers • One of the leaders…Dr. Benjamin Spock • Organization – New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (NMCEWV)

16. The US Invasion of Cambodia • US tries to cut Ho Chi Minh Trail • 4 May 1970 – Kent State Shootings • 4 killed by National Guard as students riot

17. The Hard Hat Riot in NYC • 8 May 1970 • Pro and Anti-War rallies clash in NYC

18. The Counter-Culture • The Beat Movement of the 1950s combined with the 1960s politics = • Those who rejected America’s mainstream values • Different in dress, music, behavior

19. Values of the Counter-Culture • Don’t trust anyone over 30 • Drugs lead to enlightenment • Music = cultural revolution • Personal freedom of expression • Make Love, Not War

20. Hippies • Chinese opium dens = bruises on hips = hippies • Use of drugs to escape boundaries of society • Free love and peace

21. The Sexual Revolution • Wanted to separate sex from marriage • Communes developed where everything was shared

22. Haight-Ashbury • “Capital” of hippy drug culture in San Francisco • “Tune in” to hippie culture, “turn on” to drugs, and “tune out” mainstream culture

23. Eastern Spirituality • Interest in non-Western religions grew in Counter Culture (rejection of Western values and customs) • Buddhism and a return to “primitivism” (living off the grid) • Does this lead to environmentalism?

24. Woodstock • 1969 – 3 day rock concert/festival • Gathering for the whole hippy movement • Seen as proof that people can live in harmony

26. Nixon’s Silent Majority Speech • Nov 1969 – Nixon gave a speech to assure the “Silent Majority” that the vocal minoritywould not pull the nation apart

27. The Death of the 60s • Altamount – Rolling Stones hire Hell’s Angels to provide security • Charles Manson – his “family” brutally murder American “mainstream” movie star family • Death of rockers by drug overdoses makes drugs less appealing (Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison)

28. The 1968 Election The Signal to End the War?

29. The Winds of Change… • Clark Clifford takes over for Secretary of Defense • McNamara had a “change of heart” about the war • Westmoreland wants more troops to fight the war • Clifford looks at Vietnam • Tells LBJ to pursue PEACE over VICTORY

30. 1968 Democratic Primary • Politically weakened, LBJ challenged by Anti-War candidates Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy • March 1968 – LBJ announces he won’t run for reelection • “Hey, Hey LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?”

31. Two More Deaths • MLK Jr. – April 1968 • Outspoken critic of the war (killed by James Earl Ray) • Robert F. Kennedy – June 1968 • Killed while campaigning in California by Palestinian SirhanSirhan • Revenge for Israeli support)

32. The 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago • As convention starts, anti-war protests begin • Mayor Daly orders the National Guard and police to the scene • Democrats elect pro-war VP Hubert Humphrey over anti-war Eugene McCarthy • VIOLENCE!!

33. A Disunited Front • The chaos at the convention strengthens Nixon’s (R) candidacy • Promises “Peace with Honor” in Vietnam • Vowed to represent the silent, peaceful majority in US • Southern Strategy • Splits S. Democrats who want peace and order • Gov. Wallace splits Democratic vote (yes he is still a racist)