Olan McEvoy
Research expert covering the European Union for society, economy, and politics.
Get in touch with us nowVietnam War: Anti-war protests in the United States 1963-1975
The anti-war movement in the United States arose during the 1960s in reaction to U.S. actions in Vietnam and the conscription of soldiers into the military through a draft lottery. The movement encompassed a broad swathe of U.S. society, largely stemming from social movements such as Students for a Democratic Society and the civil rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as less conventional sources of dissent (at the time) such as clergy, artists, and military servicemembers themselves.
Protests escalated from 1968 onwards, with particularly notable moments around the 1968 Democratic Party national convention in Chicago, Illinois, and the Kent State University shootings, where four student protesters were killed by National Guard members. Media coverage of events such as the My Lai massacre in 1968, where around 400 unarmed Vietnamese villagers were killed by U.S. soldiers, further galvanized public opinion against the war and spurred on protests.
Protests escalated from 1968 onwards, with particularly notable moments around the 1968 Democratic Party national convention in Chicago, Illinois, and the Kent State University shootings, where four student protesters were killed by National Guard members. Media coverage of events such as the My Lai massacre in 1968, where around 400 unarmed Vietnamese villagers were killed by U.S. soldiers, further galvanized public opinion against the war and spurred on protests.
