Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam
Encyclopedia
The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam was a large demonstration
against the United States
involvement in the Vietnam War
that took place across the United States on October 15, 1969. The Moratorium developed from Jerome Grossman
's April 20, 1969, call for a general strike
if the war had not concluded by October. David Hawk and Sam Brown
, who had previously worked on the unsuccessful 1968 presidential campaign of Eugene McCarthy
, changed the concept to a less radical moratorium and began to organize the event as the Vietnam Moratorium Committee with David Mixner
, Marge Sklenkar, John Gage
, and others.
By the standards of previous anti-war demonstrations, the event was a clear success, with millions participating throughout the world. Boston
was the site of the largest turnout; about 100,000 attended a speech by anti-war Senator George McGovern
. Bill Clinton
, while a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, organized and participated in the demonstration in England; this later became an issue in his Presidential campaign.
The first nationwide Moratorium was followed a month later, on November 15, 1969, by a second massive Moratorium march on Washington, D.C.
, which attracted over 500,000 demonstrators against the war, including many performers and activists on stage at a rally across from the White House
. Most demonstrators were peaceful; however, late in the day conflict broke out at DuPont Circle, and the police sprayed the crowd with tear gas. Over 40,000 people gathered to parade silently down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, where protestors walked single file all evening, each calling out the name of a dead soldier as he or she reached the sidewalk
directly in front of the White House. The people of Washington, D.C., generously opened schools, seminaries, and other places of shelter
to the thousands of students and others who converged for this purpose. A daytime march before the White House was lined by uniformed police officers, some flashing peace symbols on the inside of their jackets in a show of support for the crowd
.
President Richard Nixon
said about the march, "Now, I understand that there has been, and continues to be, opposition to the war in Vietnam on the campuses and also in the nation. As far as this kind of activity is concerned, we expect it, however under no circumstances will I be affected whatever by it."
Activists at some universities continued to hold monthly "Moratoria" on the 15th of each month.
At the Moratorium, a quarter of a million demonstrators were led by Pete Seeger
in singing John Lennon's new song "Give Peace A Chance."
, who was made Chairman, and John Lloyd, secretary of both organizations. The VMC was, however, a much more representative body, including a wide variety of pre-existing Australian groups: Church groups, Trade Unions, radical and moderate student organizations, pacifist groups and anti-war groups. The VMC inherited the CICD's interstate connections with the Association for International Co-operation and Disarmament (its NSW equivalent), the Campaign for Peace in Vietnam (SA) and the Queensland Peace Council for International Co-Operation and Disarmament, giving it a truly national character. The structure of the Moratorium, in Victoria at least, was conflicted - the VMC executive vied for control with the Richmond Town Hall mass public meetings, which could involve up to 600 members and usually went late into the evening, full of arguments over slogans and policies.
Work began quickly to organize the Moratorium. The original date was set for April 1970, but changed soon after to May 8th, 9th and 10th, to coincide with protests in the USA, just days after the killings of four students at Kent State. The demonstration in Melbourne, led by member of Parliament Jim Cairns, had over 100,000 people taking to the streets in Melbourne alone. Across Australia, it was estimated that 200,000 people were involved.
A second Moratorium, attracting smaller crowds, was held in September 1970, and a third in June 1971. The name 'Moratorium' went on to be applied to an Aboriginal rights campaign (the 'Black Moratorium'), and marches for Vietnam went on under the Moratorium sunburst until 1975 in Melbourne.
Protest
A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
against the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
involvement in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
that took place across the United States on October 15, 1969. The Moratorium developed from Jerome Grossman
Jerome Grossman
Jerome Grossman is a political activist and commentator, particularly on the issues of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons...
's April 20, 1969, call for a general strike
General strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
if the war had not concluded by October. David Hawk and Sam Brown
Sam Brown (activist)
]]Sam W. Brown, Jr. was a political activist, the head of ACTION under Carter, and ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.-Early life and education:Sam W. Brown, Jr. was born July 27, 1943 in Council Bluffs, Iowa...
, who had previously worked on the unsuccessful 1968 presidential campaign of Eugene McCarthy
Eugene McCarthy
Eugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
, changed the concept to a less radical moratorium and began to organize the event as the Vietnam Moratorium Committee with David Mixner
David Mixner
David Mixner is a civil rights activist and best-selling author. He is best known for his work in anti-war and gay rights advocacy.- Childhood:...
, Marge Sklenkar, John Gage
John Gage
John Burdette Gage was the 21st employee of Sun Microsystems, where he is credited with creating the phrase "the network is the computer." He served as Chief Researcher and Vice President of the Science Office for Sun, until leaving on June 9, 2008 to join Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as a...
, and others.
By the standards of previous anti-war demonstrations, the event was a clear success, with millions participating throughout the world. Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
was the site of the largest turnout; about 100,000 attended a speech by anti-war Senator George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
. Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, while a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, organized and participated in the demonstration in England; this later became an issue in his Presidential campaign.
The first nationwide Moratorium was followed a month later, on November 15, 1969, by a second massive Moratorium march on Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, which attracted over 500,000 demonstrators against the war, including many performers and activists on stage at a rally across from the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. Most demonstrators were peaceful; however, late in the day conflict broke out at DuPont Circle, and the police sprayed the crowd with tear gas. Over 40,000 people gathered to parade silently down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, where protestors walked single file all evening, each calling out the name of a dead soldier as he or she reached the sidewalk
Sidewalk
A sidewalk, or pavement, footpath, footway, and sometimes platform, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb...
directly in front of the White House. The people of Washington, D.C., generously opened schools, seminaries, and other places of shelter
Shelter
Shelter is a basic architectural structure or building that provides cover. The word may also refer to:-Places:*Port Shelter, Hong Kong*Shelter Bay , various locations*Shelter Cove , various locations...
to the thousands of students and others who converged for this purpose. A daytime march before the White House was lined by uniformed police officers, some flashing peace symbols on the inside of their jackets in a show of support for the crowd
Crowd
A crowd is a large and definable group of people, while "the crowd" is referred to as the so-called lower orders of people in general...
.
President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
said about the march, "Now, I understand that there has been, and continues to be, opposition to the war in Vietnam on the campuses and also in the nation. As far as this kind of activity is concerned, we expect it, however under no circumstances will I be affected whatever by it."
Activists at some universities continued to hold monthly "Moratoria" on the 15th of each month.
At the Moratorium, a quarter of a million demonstrators were led by Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
in singing John Lennon's new song "Give Peace A Chance."
Australia
Following the success of the November 1969 Moratorium in the United States, a series of citizen groups opposed to the war in Vietnam decided to band together to put on a Moratorium in Australia. Late in 1969, they formed the Vietnam Moratorium Campaign or VMC, which had its own executive, a permanent secretary and a number of affiliated organizations. The group that claims credit for mooting the idea is the Congress for International Co-operation and Disarmament (or CICD), a pacifist organization formed out of the Melbourne Peace Congress of 1959. The VMC and CICD certainly shared a number of members, among them Jim CairnsJim Cairns
James Ford "J. F." Cairns , Australian politician, was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government...
, who was made Chairman, and John Lloyd, secretary of both organizations. The VMC was, however, a much more representative body, including a wide variety of pre-existing Australian groups: Church groups, Trade Unions, radical and moderate student organizations, pacifist groups and anti-war groups. The VMC inherited the CICD's interstate connections with the Association for International Co-operation and Disarmament (its NSW equivalent), the Campaign for Peace in Vietnam (SA) and the Queensland Peace Council for International Co-Operation and Disarmament, giving it a truly national character. The structure of the Moratorium, in Victoria at least, was conflicted - the VMC executive vied for control with the Richmond Town Hall mass public meetings, which could involve up to 600 members and usually went late into the evening, full of arguments over slogans and policies.
Work began quickly to organize the Moratorium. The original date was set for April 1970, but changed soon after to May 8th, 9th and 10th, to coincide with protests in the USA, just days after the killings of four students at Kent State. The demonstration in Melbourne, led by member of Parliament Jim Cairns, had over 100,000 people taking to the streets in Melbourne alone. Across Australia, it was estimated that 200,000 people were involved.
A second Moratorium, attracting smaller crowds, was held in September 1970, and a third in June 1971. The name 'Moratorium' went on to be applied to an Aboriginal rights campaign (the 'Black Moratorium'), and marches for Vietnam went on under the Moratorium sunburst until 1975 in Melbourne.