Every American man who was registered for the Vietnam draft was issued a draft card. Each individual owner of a draft card was ordered to have the card in their possesion at all times. The draft card supplied basic information about the owner. American citizens did not like the idea of the draft cards deciding their future. Because of all the anger within the American citizens regarding the draft cards and the war, actions were taken to abolish the cards.
As an act of retaliation, the American citizens began burning their draft cards. This was to show the government that they had rights and that they could not be forced into a war. The act of burning draft cards became a common way of showing the beliefs against the war. The point of this was to get rid of all draft cards, this way they could not be inducted into the Vietnam War.