How Music Affected the Anti-Vietnam Movement

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Humans throughout history have proven to be a very aggressive species. They disagree with one another, which might lead to conflict, and if the conflict is big enough, war. There have been many great battles and wars in the past, but one of the most controversial and protested war in human history was the Vietnam War. As World War II ended, the young males returned to their homes. They began families which brought a significant number of new children into the world. This dramatic increase in the number of births is called the Baby Boom. The Baby Boomers were new generation of people. As the world started to recover from the war, time passed, but as the saying goes “History will repeat itself” (George Santanaya, 1905). As time passed a conflict between the United States and Vietnam erupted. Communism was the reasoning behind the war. During the 50’s and 60’s communism was seen as a problem to the United States because of the domino effect it had on the Asian countries. Communism was spreading quickly and the United States feared that Vietnam was going to fall under communist control the way China and Korea had. To try and prevent this disease from spreading, the United States declared war as a way to stop this effect. In the past, citizens, for the most part, supported the United States in declaring war but the baby boomers thought otherwise. The baby boomers felt that the war was wrong and without knowing it changed history for the better though the power of love, peace, and most importantly, music.
The music of the 1960’s served as the voice of millions and was a large contributor to the revolution that was about to occur during the decade. This was a time of rebellion, when the young people of the country questioned everything ...

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...the movement was on a very memorial farm. This was not an ordinary farm; it was the location of The Woodstock Music and Art Festival. On August 15th 1969, The Woodstock Music and Art Festival brought together the most popular artists of the era to celebrate peace, love, and above all, music. Over 400 000+ people showed up to help support the cause and because of this, the festival gained a lot of media attention.

Works Cited

Phull, Hardeep. Story behind the Protest Song: A Reference Guide to the 50 Songs That Changed the 20th Century. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2008. Print.
Perone, James E. Songs of the Vietnam Conflict. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2001. Print.
Yagi, Randy. "10 Top Anti-War/Protest Songs About the Vietnam War." Examiner.com. N.p., 29 Mar. 2012. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.
"Vietnam War." HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications, 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.

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