Anti War Protests In The 1960's

What antiwar efforts were made by the younger political activists in the 1960’s, and how does it relate to today?

The effects of the Vietnam war are huge, however maybe not as big as the effects of the protests against the war. They caused major protests in the United States. The reasons were mostly because of the costs, drafting, casualties, and time. There were a few hippie groups who opposed the war. One group was the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) which created the New Left and was involved in many protests. Another was the YIP party (Youth International Party), or the “Yippies”. This was a very different kind of political party, as they didn’t actually believe in government at all and wanted to create anarchy. Both groups eventually …show more content…
You could be a rioter, an anarchist, a Commie, a runaways, a draft dodger, an acid freak, a sniper, a beatnik, a deserter, or even a Chinese spy. They spent their time doing drugs and listening to rock and roll. But there were some who were more focused on changing the government. There were a few groups who were against the “establishment” or “the man”. One of these groups was called YIP. The founding members were Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Paul Krassner, Abbie Hoffman, and Jerry Rubin. They tried to bring the benefits of sex, drugs, and rock'n' roll to the entire nation and to change the it (and eventually the entire world) for the better. Sometime in 1967 or early 1968, they decided to form a group called the Yippies, with the letters YIP which stood for Youth International Party. The members often did guerrilla theater (outdoor dramatic events about political or social issues that they were against) which included burning money in public, scattering money on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and laughing while stockbrokers scrambled for it, nominating a pig for president (“we will bring our revolutionary theater to Washington to inaugurate Pigasus, our pig, the only honest candidate, and turn the White House into a crash pad.” (yippie manifesto)), and disrupting the Democratic …show more content…
The term New Left was created by SDS’s Port Huron Statement which criticized the lack of individual freedom and the power of bureaucracy in government, universities, and corporations and called for participatory democracy.
The leaders of the SDS believed that colleges were the best base to promote social change. Before the opposition to the Vietnam War took place, their main topics were about student’s social freedom, including dress codes, course requirements, greek organization discrimination, and minority admissions. When the administration tried to stop the political activists speaking out at UC Berkeley in 1964, the Free Speech Movement was created. The Berkeley students started used tactics such as sit‐ins and taking over college buildings, which became common forms of antiwar protests everywhere. When SDS went against drafting in 1965, their demonstrations included draft card burnings, confrontations with military recruiters, and sit‐ins to protest ROTC programs. They also targeted companies that were very involved with the war effort, and they were targeted when they came to universities to

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