Many people in the US were for and against the Vietnam War. In 1964 the Us joined the Vietnam war. When we first joined not many people protested against it. Soon after many people were having peaceful protests. The protestors were protesting the war and the draft.

By late 1964 the protests started to become more and more popular with many young people. The marches and protests were organized by the SDS (students for democratic society). In December of 1964 the first really significant protest was held in San Fransisco. Around 600 people attended this.

When the US started the drafting of young men the protesting turned violent and more serious. Draft resistance had been an issue ever since the Spanish American War; it reached a record high with the Vietnam War. Some months about 40,000 men were being called into war. This made the protestors really angry. On October 21 one of the most significant and well known protest took place. Around 100,000 protestors gathered at the Lincoln Memorial. 30,000 out of the 100,000 marched around the pentagon that night.

Many famous people protested against the war as well. Martin Luther King Jr spoke publicly and expressed his objection towards the war. He disagreed with the war because he thought our countries money should not go towards foreign issues but our own issues here in the US. Not only did he think that, but also he thought the draft was unfair for African Americans. He believed that more African Americans were dying than whites. Also Muhammad Ali protested the war. He was drafted into the war but refused and burned his draft card. He was sentenced to a year in jail which was overturned, also he had a 3 year ban on boxing.

Many Vietnam veterans also disagreed. Many soldiers if they won a medal would throw it away. In January 1968 Vietnam launched the Tet Offensive. 35% of American agreed with the way we were taking on the war and 50% disagreed and the rest had no opinion. Antiwar Movements now spread to Paris, Rome, and London.