University of Michigan students march to the Adminstrative Building to show their frustration with student rankings.
By the summer of 1965, young Americans across the country began to change focus in their fight against the Vietnam War. After the campus teach-ins, the National Teach-in, and the March on Washington, young people in the anti-war movement understood why the Vietnam War was illogical and ineffective, and therefore started protesting against the immorality of them being forced to fight in the war they opposed. The anti-war activists began objecting to the Vietnam War by resisting the draft, which was cemented in the minds of young, American males who were eligible to go to war. To many, the draft was a death sentence. It meant being sent to a war and fighting for a cause that many people did not believe in. Ironically, as the draft continued to fuel the war effort, it also grew the anti-war cause.
In almost every major city in the nation, an anti-draft protest took place. Draft cards were burned, Selective Service buildings were protested, and teach-ins and sit-ins were continual events. At the University of Michigan, anti-war activists participated in the International Days of Protest by conducting a sit-in at the Selective Service building in Ann Arbor, which ended with thirty-nine students, professors, and activists being arrested. Several teach-ins occurred as well as multiple events where draft cards were burned. The student activists at the University of Michigan found themselves in a difficult and paradoxical position in which their university was a determiner in their likelihood of being drafted, as well as a place for them to voice their opposition to the draft.
FAQs
Sit-ins, forums, and take-overs of university buildings are just three examples of how students used their protesting capabilities to oppose the continuation and advancement of the Vietnam War on their campus.
What was the anti Vietnam War movement in Michigan? ›
From 1965 until 1972, the campus of the University of Michigan became a stronghold of political activism and intellectual discussion against the war in Vietnam. Students, faculty, and the administration of the University all played roles in advocating and resisting political change.
What describes the importance of the University of Michigan to the 1960s anti-war movement? ›
The first prominent University of Michigan anti-war activism occurred in March 1965. Receiving resistance for their original idea of a strike, faculty members at Michigan innovated the idea of a teach-in to educate students on U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam. Teach-ins quickly spread to campuses across the nation.
What was the anti Vietnam War movement in 1965? ›
The SDS March on Washington to End the War in Vietnam, held on April 17th, 1965, turned out to be the largest peace protest up to that point in American history, drawing between 15,000 and 25,000 college students and others to the nation's capital.
Why did college students protest the Vietnam War so much? ›
Democratic president Lyndon Johnson's escalation of the Vietnam War in 1965 gave SDS a cause of its own, as well as a recruiting boost. SDS leaders opposed the war because they felt it was unjust and feared being drafted. As the war continued to escalate, so did the militancy of anti-war students.
How did college students impact the antiwar movement? ›
Student groups held protests and demonstrations, burned draft cards, and chanted slogans like “Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” Massive US spending on the war effort contributed to skyrocketing deficits and deteriorating economic conditions at home, which turned more segments of the American public, ...
What were 3 reasons for the anti movement against the Vietnam War? ›
Many Americans opposed the war on moral grounds, appalled by the devastation and violence of the war. Others claimed the conflict was a war against Vietnamese independence, or an intervention in a foreign civil war; others opposed it because they felt it lacked clear objectives and appeared to be unwinnable.
What did the anti Vietnam War movement do? ›
Anti-war activities, particularly large-scale resistance to military conscription, forced an end U.S. combat operations in Vietnam and a suspension of the draft by January 1973.
What were the goals of the anti Vietnam War movement? ›
The Antiwar Movement's agenda revolved around promoting pacifism and demanding an end to military intervention in Vietnam. SDS members refused to be drafted into the military and opposed the idea of military induction. The military draft resulted in mandatory enrollment in the American Army.
Why was the antiwar movement especially strong at colleges? ›
Answer and Explanation: In the 1960s, the Antiwar Movement was especially strong at colleges due to fears over the draft at the potential of being forced to fight in the Vietnam War. While male college students received a deferment from the draft, this could be taken away if they failed classes.
Their goal was to organize a “work moratorium,” or a strike, in opposition of the 'moral, political, and military consequences' of the war and to get their colleagues as well as students involved.
What student organizations grew from the antiwar movement? ›
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), American student organization that flourished in the mid-to-late 1960s and was known for its activism against the Vietnam War. SDS, founded in 1959, had its origins in the student branch of the League for Industrial Democracy, a social democratic educational organization.
How did the anti Vietnam War movement protest? ›
They marched by the thousands, on campuses from coast to coast. At different times they chose different targets: the Pentagon, Presidents Nixon and Johnson, the draft, Dow Chemical. But the students all acted from a common belief that the Vietnam War was wrong.
What happened in 1965 Vietnam War? ›
August 17, 1965
In this, the first major battle of the Vietnam War, the United States scores a resounding victory. Ground forces, artillery from Chu Lai, ships and air support combine to kill nearly 700 Vietcong soldiers. U.S. forces sustain 45 dead and more than 200 wounded.
What was the anti Vietnam War protest? ›
Anti-Vietnam war protesters rallied to Washington on Saturday, October 21,1967, in the first national demonstration against the war. The Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam organized the protest to get national visibility for the anti-war movement.
What did college students do during the Vietnam War? ›
As the Vietnam War escalated, college communities rallied to oppose the conflict. Protests against the Vietnam War occurred at almost half of all American college campuses. Antiwar student activist groups date back to 1900, but often diminished once the United States became involved.
How did most college students who opposed the Vietnam War protest? ›
How did most college students who opposed the Vietnam War protest the fighting? They held sit-ins or used other nonviolent tactics.
What movement started at the University of Michigan and spread throughout universities to protest the war in 1965? ›
The March 1965 teach-in at the University of Michigan inspired a wave of more than fifty similar teach-ins at universities around the nation and directly challenged the Johnson administration's ability to shape public opinion about the War in Vietnam.
What case was about students protesting the Vietnam War? ›
Tinker v. Des Moines is a historic Supreme Court ruling from 1969 that cemented students' rights to free speech in public schools. Mary Beth Tinker was a 13-year-old junior high school student in December 1965 when she and a group of students decided to wear black armbands to school to protest the war in Vietnam.
