- Explain why there were such different reactions in the USA to the country’s involvement in the conflict in Vietnam in the 1960’s.
Most American people supported the Vietnam War at the beginning of the 1960’s because they believed that it would stop the spread of ‘evil’ communism. Propaganda such as films and books were used to a large extent to make people believe that communism was a major threat to America and the rest of the world. Many people became scared of a media constructed idea of communism. Furthermore, to some extent support for the war was a hangover of McCarthyism. During the 1950s, Senator McCarthy led a witch-hunt against anyone suspected of being involved in Communist activity, called the ‘Red Scare’. Alongside the media and anti-communist hype many people, especially the older generation, were extremely patriotic. People who supported the war at the beginning were known as ‘Hawks’.
On the other hand, not all American people supported the war in the beginning. A small percentage opposed the war, known as ‘doves’. These included people from left wing parties who supported communism and wanted the Vietcong (NLF) to win in Vietnam. Early opposition also included liberals, who believed that encouraging democratic governments, rather than authoritarian governments was the best way of stopping the spread of communism. Last but not least were the pacifists, who were against all wars, as they believed that violence was not the way to settle disputes.
Opposition to the war slowly began to increase as the war progressed, mainly within the younger generation. After World War Two, a record number of babies were born due to the men coming home from war, leading to the term ‘baby boomers’. This new generation were more affluent and rebellious than the previous, and began to question the beliefs of their parents in their taste of music, morals, politics and attitudes to war. Many became members of the ‘Counterculture’ and expressed their opposition to American politics, the Cold War and the Vietnam War through music, drug taking and casual sex. The ‘Counterculture’ was a group with lifestyles and values opposed to those of the established culture. The ‘Counterculture’ largely originated on College campuses and followed a ‘hippie’ look. Music established itself as an identity for the ‘counterculture’ as songs were used to a great extent to portray their views. An example is Country Joe and The Fish’s Vietnam Song, which contained lyrics such as, “Well, come on generals, let's move fast; Your big chance has come at last. Now you can go out and get those reds. 'Cause the only good commie is the one that's dead”. They also took part in protest rallies to demonstrate their anti-war views such as the first march to Washington in December 1964, where 25,000 people took part leading to it being the largest anti-war demonstration in American history. This clearly shows that opposition to the war began to increase.
