The Antiwar Movement in the U.S. - End the War in Vietnam!
The antiwar movement against Vietnam in the US from 1965-1971
was the most significant movement of its kind in the nation's history.
The United States first became directly involved in Vietnam in 1950
when President Harry Truman started to underwrite the costs of
France's war against the Viet Minh. Later, the presidencies of Dwight
Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy increased the US's political, economic,
and military commitments steadily throughout the fifties and early
sixties in the Indochina region. Prominent senators had already begun
criticizing American involvement in Vietnam during the summer of
1964, which led to the mass antiwar movement that was to appear in the
summer of 1965. This antiwar movement had a great impact on policy and
practically forced the US out of Vietnam.
Starting with teach-ins during the spring of 1965, the massive
antiwar efforts centered on the colleges, with the students playing
leading roles. These teach-ins were mass public demonstrations,
usually held in the spring and fall seasons. By 1968, protesters
numbered almost seven million with more than half being white youths
in college. The teach-in movement was at first, a gentle approach
to the antiwar activity. Although, it faded when the college students
went home during the summer of 1965, other types of protest that grew
through 1971 soon replaced it. All of these movements captured the
attention of the White House, especially when 25,000 people marched on
Washington Avenue. And at times these movements attracted the interest
of all the big decision-makers and their advisors (Gettleman, 54).
The teach-ins began at the University of Michigan on March 24,
1965, and spread to other campuses, including Wisconsin on April 1.
These protests at some of America's finest universities captured
public attention. The Demonstrations were one form of attempting to go
beyond mere words and research and reason, and to put direct pressure
on those who were conducting policy in apparent disdain for the will
expressed by the voters (Spector, 30-31). Within the US government,
some saw these teach-ins as an important development that might slow
down on further escalation in Vietnam. Although several hundred
colleges experienced teach-ins, most campuses were untouched by this
circumstance.
Nevertheless, the teach-ins did concern the administration and
contributed to President Johnson's decision to present a major Vietnam
address at Johns Hopkins University on April 7, 1965. The address
tried to respond to the teach-ins campus protest activity.
Among the riots caused by Nixon’s decision were revolts at many universities, such as Kent State. Young students were upset because they were the ones being drafted and the sooner the war ended the less chance they had of seeing war. On Friday, May 1, 1970 anti-war rallies began to take place at Kent State University. Students gathered and burned a copy of the constitution. Also, many riots broke out in downtown Kent.
The Vietnam War lasted from the winter of 1956 to the spring of 1975. The Vietnam War was a domesticated civil war between the communist, North Vietnam, and the democratic, South Vietnam. The North was supported by the Chinese communist, and the leader Ho Chi Minh. The Vietnam War introduced the United States to the Vietcong and Guerrilla warfare. During this time, the United States faced our own battles at home between two social groups called the Doves and the Hawks. This war was very divisive. The Doves protested and Hawks shunned them. Young men without money were being drafted while others went to college, got a medical note, or fled the country. Tensions were already high in the United States when Congress passed Public Law 88- 408, also known as the Tonkin Gulf Resolution.
April 24th is the day of grief for many Armenians. Almost every Armenian reminisces on their loved ones that they have lost during this time of year. About 1.5 million Armenians were horrifically dragged out of their homeland, western Armenia. This was to be known as the first Genocide during the 20th century. However, before the Armenian Genocide took place both the Turks and Armenians were peacefully living in the Ottoman Empire for years. Armenians were not great fully equal but they did in fact have no violence at the time. The reason why things were getting out of hand was because of nationalism. It was a new power in the world, which made the cultural alliance very significant. Therefore because of Nationalism the Ottoman Empire began to have problems. Also, Turkey was fearful of the Christian crusade, therefore things went politically worse because Armenians were starting to become the only major Christian minority. World War one then took place and it gave the Ottoman Empire the perfect change to reconstruct their Empire. World War one gave them the reason to continue with their plan, which was to eliminate the Armenian ra...
In conclusion, the organized manner in which the Armenian genocide was carried out made it easy for the Ottoman Empire to rationalize their actions. Since an act of genocide is very calculated only a government has the resources to carry it out. In case of the Armenian genocide the Ottoman Empire’s strong military facilitated the murders that occurred. The actions of the Ottoman Empire were rationalized as the preservation and purification of Turkish nationalism. Majority of Armenian diaspora communities came as a result of the Armenian genocide. The denial of the Armenian Genocide is still an issue till this day.
First of all, the author shows that through persevering through adversity anyone can achieve their dreams. During the book Santiago continuously faces problems that he will have to overcome to achieve his Personal Legend. In this scenario, Santiago is in the city of Tangier when he is suddenly robbed of all of his money, by a thief who promised to take him to Egypt. However instead of thinking of himself as a victim of a thief he decides that “I’m an adventurer, looking for treasure” (34). Santiago was able to persevere through a situation that many people would not have been able to overcome and not able to continue their journey. Being able to persevere through
The Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire faced years of persecution and murder due to their religious beliefs and their choice of location. This genocide began, as quoted in The Armenian Genocide: An Interpretation by Stephan Astourian, as beginning between the nights of April 24th and 25th, 1915. (Astourian, 1990) On these nights, hundreds of Armenian leaders, ranging from the political sphere to financial and even intellectual leaders were arrested in Constantinople, the capital of the
The Armenians had many barriers to overcome but shocked the community is how much the Armenians strived under Ottomans Empire. Many Christian Armenians tended to be much wealthier and have a stronger education than others. But what was most shocking to other was the fact that the Armenians were more loyal to Ottomans Empire government then the Russians were.
The Armenian genocide is recognised as the first of the century and it was carried out by Turks during World War I. The genocide was an act of revenge as selected Armenians volunteered to fight alongside the Russian army, against Turkey. The attack on Armenians of the Ottoman Empire began in March, 1915. It took an immense toll on the women; hundreds of thousands of women were murdered or died on the harsh march from Turkey, south to Syria. The genocide consisted of brutal deaths, including burning alive, drowning, being tossed off cliffs, starvation, dying of thirst and through the act of rape and evisceration. The majority of men were killed through the severing of the head. Khanum Palootzian was a surviv...
James A. Baldwin once said, “The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose” (BrainyQuote.com). In the 1960s, “the man” was youth across the country. The Vietnam war was in full force, and students across the country were in an outrage. Society needed an excuse to rebel against the boring and safe way of life they were used to; Vietnam gave them the excuse they needed. Teenagers from different universities came together and formed various organizations that protested the Vietnam war for many reasons. These reasons included protesting weapons and different tactics used in the war, and the reason the U.S. entered the war in the first place. These get-togethers had such a monumental impact on their way of life that it was famously named the Anti-War Movement. When the Vietnam War ended, The United States did not have a real concrete reason why; there were a bunch of theories about why the war ended. Through negative media attention and rebellious youth culture, the Anti-War Movement made a monumental impact in the ending of the Vietnam War.
The Turkish government had a reason to get rid of the Armenians. In the Ottoman Empire, Armenians were second class citizens that lived in harmony with the Turks before the forces of nationalism came into the picture. Even though the Armenians had to face higher taxes and second class citizenship, they were treated and accepted pretty well. When nationalism took over, things began to change. The Ottoman Empire began to fall and the Armenians were considered to be the only major Christian minority since all the other minorities had gained their independence already. The Ottoman Empire became known as the "sick man of Europe". An empire that was once strong and an independent power, was now starting to collapse. The Turks had an envision of spreading new-Pan Turkic empire to Central Asia and the only thing that came in the way of doing so was the Armenians. Because of this, Turks wanted to get rid of the Armenians. Sultan Hamid II ruled the Ottoman Empire and because of him, the empire was saved and did not fall. Despite saving the Ottoman Empire, Hamid ordered th...
When people hear genocide they normally think of the Holocaust which was the persecution of Jews by the Nazi’s. This took place under Adolf Hitler’s rule but there have been other genocides throughout history. The Armenian Genocide is one of the many that have taken place. It took place in the Ottoman Empire between the years of 1914 to 1918 (“Armenian” Armenian). It started when the “Young Turks” took control of the government (Beecroft). The Holocaust and Armenian genocide are similar in the reasons that started them, but they are different in who was involved and how the two genocides were executed.
Upon arriving they said they would stay at the oasis until it was safe to cross the desert. A camel driver tells Santiago that, “There are rumors of tribal wars” (The Alchemist 80). When entering the oasis they had to hand over their arms and stay in tents with locals and fellow travelers. During his short time at the oasis Santiago experiences love at first sight with a girl named Fatima. As the war drags on Santiago tells Fatima about his personal legend and she encourages him to continue on to Egypt. Although she has been waiting for him her entire life she still insisted that he achieve his personal legend. She said if they are meant to be together they will meet again one day. Then Santiago left the oasis with the Alchemist towards the pyramids. Through this he realizes that each challenge he faces on the way to his destination forms part of God's
Ethnic Armenians have resided in the Middle Eastern region of the world since approximately 3500 BC. Armenians lived and still live in many Middle Eastern countries such as Armenia, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Azerbaijan, and the republic of Georgia. Armenians have their own language and alphabet and have a very unique culture, which has set them apart from other countries and ethnic groups. In 300 AD, there was not a single nation who had Christianity as their national religion. “Following the advent of Christianity, Armenia became the very first nation to accept it as the state religion.” Armenian pride in their culture and way of life never wavered, even throughout being conquered by different nations. Armenian lands were taken over by many different nations on several different occasions, but they finally ended up in the Ottoman Empire in the 1500s, when ...
The Armenians are an ancient people whose home has been in the southern Caucasus since the 7th century BC. Mongol, Persian, Russian and Ottoman (Turkish) empires have fought on and over this region for many centuries."Armenian Genocide."Armenian Genocide. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. . At the end of the 19th century, Turkey and Russia were recovering from a war with each other. In the west, 2.5m Christian Armenians were governed by the Turks; eastern Armenia was in Russian hands. A surge in Armenian nationalism gave the Armenian leaders confidence to demand political reforms."Armenian Genocide."Armenian Genocide. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. . This was unwelcome to both Ottoman and Russian powers, afraid of armed partisan resistance or even the revival of interstate war. They began to repress Armenians even more harshly."Armenian Genocide."Armenian Genocide. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. . In some Turkish Armenian provinces large-scale massacres were carried out from 1894 ...
The draft took more and more people in as the years went on, and in1968 it peaked to over 500,000 soldiers involved in Vietnam. The government was so desperate for troops that even men with poor eyesight fought, and no education was needed. The people began to strike out and a revolution took place to restore peace to the nation. Some key ways to get the movement attention included student activism and anti-war messages present in songs and literature.