Homefront USA

Question 1: Discuss the New Left and its emergence in America.

Answer 1: The New Left was the liberal political movement that emerged in the United States and other countries in the 1960s and was part of the “counterculture” that burgeoned during that decade. The New Left focused on issues such as authority, alienation, and conventional norms rather than the traditional focus of left-wing politics, such as labor and the distribution of wealth. As such, the New Left did not concern itself with industry but with society, which it hoped to influence and change through social activism. In the United States, the New Left was embodied mainly by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), which became the most prominent organization that opposed the Vietnam War on college campuses throughout the country. However, as the New Left was composed primarily of students, its influence dwindled as its original followers aged, and both the New Left and the SDS faded away in the 1970s.

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Question 2: Describe draft dodging and its practice in the Vietnam War.

Answer 2: Draft dodging is the deliberate refusal to submit to a country’s conscription policies. The term became well known throughout the Vietnam War, as it was a common response to the unpopular war. This was different from the evasion of conscription using legal methods; draft dodging was, at the time, a criminal offense. There were numerous methods of draft dodging, foremost of which was to leave the country, primarily for Canada, which opposed the Vietnam War and chose to allow U.S. draft dodgers to cross its borders. Others remained in the United States as fugitives from the authorities or allowed themselves to be drafted but refused induction, taking their cases to the courts, which typically handed down prison sentences. The draft was formally abolished in the United States in 1973, after which presidential amnesty was granted to all draft dodgers still at large.

Question 3: Describe some legal methods of draft resistance.

Answer 3: While draft dodging itself was illegal, there were legal methods to avoid conscription. These methods were diverse, and some were more effective than others. Young men from politically influential families could usually be exempted from the draft, as could those who could afford to enroll in college or university. Clergy were exempt, which caused the rate of new applicants to ministries and rabbinates across the country to dramatically increase. Other young men eligible for the draft pretended to be mentally unbalanced or feigned homosexuality. Finally, those willing to submit to the draft but reluctant to fight in Vietnam were able to enlist in the Navy, Air Force, or Coast Guard rather than the Army or Marines, thus minimizing their chances of being sent to fight on the ground.

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