Overview

Overview of Protests:

Throughout the 1960’s protesting the Vietnam War started to catch on among college students and young adults across the country. The war was centered around the United States fear of communism that was present during the Cold War, and whether it was growing in southern Vietnam. The war was against the public's want and created a fear that the US government was making poor decisions by not retreating troops while clearly loosing the war. The Vietnam War was more opposed by the population than wars in the past. A growing restless feeling among citizens especially younger adults and teenagers was present and was the reason for the start of all of the protests. In the late 1960´s protests started to catch on at the University of Minnesota. These protests involved students mainly focusing on protesting in usually violent ways throughout the campus. With well set leadership, the protests were able to catch on in popularity and grow in size. A growth in size also increased with the noticeable amount of Asian immigrants coming to the US. Many Chinese and Hmong students at the U of M joined the antiwar protests looking for a sense of belonging as well as protesting one of the things that drove them to America. The war in Vietnam affected many nearby countries which sparked the increasing number of immigrants. With students making signs and chants as well as egging various professors and authority figures which started to catch the attention of authorities. Police tried to use non violent ways to restrain the protesters yet at certain parts throughout the protests things such as mace were used by authorities. These protests were large in importance in the Vietnam War protests yet they did not get as much publicity as other protests like the ones in California or Chicago. All across the country colleges like the U of M had various types of protests; one of the strongest examples was at the University of California at Berkley. UC Berkley had some of the earlier protests in the mid 60’s, yet instead of being about the Vietnam War their early protests were focused towards free speech. The growing sense of rebellion increased after those earlier protests in the mid 60’s increased more and more into the late 60’s and into the 1970’s. Although the protests at the U of M were not the most publicized or affective, they impacted Minnesota culture and exemplify characteristics of 60's protesting.



Author: Drew Whitaker