Blog #7: Antiwar Censorship

     The United States of America is commonly stereotyped as a nation whos people are patriotic democrats who are willing to fight in wars and even die for their proud country. However, while this stereotype is true for some Americans, over the course of U.S. history we have seen numerous antiwar movements. Despite the presence of these movements, we so rarely ever hear about them especially through mainstream news sources. Websites such as Antiwar.com and The American Conservative are hardly ever promoted on social media as they go against the patriotic narrative that fits America. 

    With every war that America has fought in its history, there have been those who oppose it. Even during the Revolutionary War, there were those who had the desire to stay under England's control as forming a new country seemed a daunting task to some. During the Civil War, the deadliest war fought on American soil, there were those who were against the war effort as families and friends became divided. Perhaps one of the first well-documented antiwar movements was the World War I antiwar movement. As this war was fought all the way in Europe and initially posed no threat to the U.S., the majority of Americans were strongly opposed to joining the war. President Woodrow Wilson even promised that he would not enter the war. Despite the interception of the Zimmerman Message which alluded to Mexico attacking the U.S., there were still antiwar protesters. One of most famous antiwar movements was against the war in Vietnam, as many Americans viewed the effort as not concerning the U.S. After news of terrible tragedies such as the My Lai Massacre reached the American people and as the war continued for years, the antiwar voices became louder. As the documentary Sir! No Sir! says, there were plenty of soldiers of the U.S. military that opposed and even refused to fight in the Vietnam War. All of these movements are often lost in history or suppressed in the current day as America would much rather stick to the ultra-patriotic narrative in order to show its strength.