The 1960's made a huge impact on America. Up until this point the majority of the population conformed to social norms, most people dressed the same, most people had very similar haircuts, also the majority of the population really believed in the government. Up until this point everybody pretty much stood by the government and the decisions that it made. Nobody ever questioned WW1 or WW2, people just believed that whatever our government chose to do was the right thing. But this all changed in the 1960's. People no longer wanted to conform, people wanted to be unique and not follow along with everybody else like they had been doing for so long. When the Vietnam war began people started to realize that they shouldn't just follow everything that the government says. They realized that they could think for themselves and stand up for what they believe in, and choose not to fight in a war that they did not believe in. Along with massive war protests this was also the time of the civil rights movement. African Americans were no longer satisfied with the way they were treated as unequal in our country. So they too stood up for what they believed in, and made change. People started dressing differently, people started having new haircuts, people started listening to new and very different music. Everything was changing, but it all revolved around people thinking for themselves and wanting to be individuals. This really changed America from then on. Americans now are not afraid to stand up against the government when they feel that they are being misrepresented. They know that it is okay because they have seen what the Vietnam war protesters and the civil rights activists were able to accomplish in the 1960's. Today there is no longer a typical American. People no longer try to all dress the same way and look the same way and live in similar houses. This was very appealing before the 1960's, but after that many Americans realized that they wanted to be unique. This trend of individualism and new thinking has stayed very strong in America ever since the 60's.
So why did people protest the Vietnam war? Why had Americans shown full support to every war previous to Vietnam? Was it that people didn't believe in what they were fighting for? That is definitely a factor. People really didn't believe in this war like they had in the past. But the main thing was that the youth of this time were the baby boomers. They were all the children of WW2 veterans and they really wanted to start thinking for themselves. They didn't want to conform and just go in to the military like their parents. They didn't want to go die in a war that they didn't believe in. So they stood up for what they believed in.
