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• Before 1965, there was broad support for US involvement in Vietnam
• Once Johnson escalated military involvement

  The media and the public became more concerned
• MLK: from 1967 marched and spoke at anti-war protests. Some civil rights activists felt this lost support for the civil rights cause
• 2 Nov 1965: Norman Morrison, a Quaker, burned himself to death outside the Pentagon deliberately copying Buddhist monks who had done the same in Vietnam
• Roger Allan La Porte, a catholic, did the same outside the UN building in New York
• Wayne Norse (Oregon Senator) gave only speech in Senate against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• 1967: Vietnam veterans formed Vietnam Veterans against the War. They spoke at demonstrations and meetings, and they handed in their medals. They collected evidence about the misconduct of the war, including the regular murder of civilians
• Short-term factors, such as events in Vietnam (e.g. the Tet Offensive), or presidential policy changes (e.g. invading Cambodia)


  Triggered opposition
• Long-term factors: rising death toll, the loss (or serious injury) of family members or the length of the war


  The cost of the war (paid for from taxes) became an increasingly important factor as the cost of US involvement rose
• Black Panthers said they would not fight for a country where they faced racism on a daily basis
• Muhammad Ali refused for the same reason
• 8.5 million students in 1970. A significant number of these students rejected the values of their parents' generation and wanted social change
• Students became part of a 'counter-culture' movement in American society
• Student protest methods


  • Sit-ins
  • Boycotts
  • Protest demonstrations and marches
  • Strikes, refusing to go to classes
  • Burning draft cards
• Student demonstrations became more organised, more radical, bigger and more violent
• Student protest got media attention because protesters were largely white and middle class
• Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), set up in 1960. It had 3,000 members and groups on over 80 US college campuses
• October 1965: SDS gave its first statement against the war
• SDS angered many people because they supported the North Vietnamese
• Student protesters often chanted slogans that shocked many, such as "Hey, hey, LB) [President Johnson], how many kids did you kill today?"
• Many carried posters with Fidel Castro on
• August 1965: poll of 3,525 people across the USA were asked about Vietnam. The poll showed that. 187 people favoured sending more troops and invading North Vietnam; 3,338 were against