A Nation Divided

A Nation Divided

Avoiding the War What were some ways that

young men used to avoid military service in Vietnam

Found doctors to give them medical deferments

Looked for lenient draft boards

Enrolled in college to receive a deferment

Joined the National Guard or Coast Guard

In what sense was the Vietnam War a “working class” war?

• Enrolling in college to get a deferment required having money

• So, 80% of U.S. troops came from lower economic levels.

New Left: (name given to the youth movement of the 1960s)

Students for a Democratic Society

The Free Speech Movement

College Students- Young people

Opposing the War: organizations and group

opposition

The war was draining U.S. strength

Belief that war is immoral Belief that the U.S. should

not try to police the world Belief that this was a civil

war between the North and South Vietnamese and was not really U.S. business

President Johnson had revoked college deferments for those not getting good grades.

Reasons that “doves” opposed the war

Ways that “doves” showed their

opposition• Held antiwar

demonstrations• Publicly burned

draft cards• Marched on

Washington• Fled to Canada

and Sweden to dodge the draft

Defending the WarBy 1967: Most Americanssupported U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War

Hawks criticize the Johnson administration's policies in Vietnam:

The “Hawks”( those that supported the war) felt that Johnson should escalate the war more quickly