Library > History & Government > War & Conflicts

Radical Times:The Antiwar Movement of the 1960's

1999
The Vietnam War was fought by the United States between 1965 to 1973. It was the longest war the country had ever fought. The Vietnam War was unique in one other regard: It gave rise to the largest and most successful antiwar movement in United States history. In a sense, the war in Vietnam could be described as a two front war -the war in Vietnam was waged with tanks, guns and bullets - and a "war at home," was fought on the streets and campuses throughout the nation. Rooted in early Sixties? student radicalism protesting political repression on college campuses, the Antiwar Movement is considered to be a direct outgrowth of the Free Speech Movement. At the outbreak of the Vietnam War, student radicalism inspired by the Free Speech Movement later grew to represent a national voice protesting United States involvement in the war, as Americans started to question the relevance of U.S. presence in a conflict-taking place halfway around the world. The goal of this site is to educate the visitor about this ?forgotten era? in American history and relate the past of the Antiwar Movement to the present.