Counterculture During the Vietnam Era With a country in shambles as a result of the Vietnam War, thousands of young men and women took their stand through rallies, protests, and concerts. A large number of young Americans opposed the war; with a common feeling of anti-war, thousands of youths united as one. This new culture of opposition spread like wild fire with alternative lifestyles blossoming, people coming together and reviving their communal efforts, demonstrated in the Woodstock Art and Music festival. The use of drugs, mainly marijuana, became a staple in the community of anti-war youths. The countercultures’ radical views and actions caused American society to turn its head and look to the young. They set themselves out as a group and were going to stand up for their rights as well as the rights of mankind. Songs of peace and harmony were chanted throughout protests and anti-war demonstrations, America’s youth was changing rapidly. Never before had the younger generation been so outspoken. Fifty thousand flower children and hippies traveled to San Francisco for the "Summer of Love," with the Beatles’ hits song, "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" (listen) as their light in the dark. The largest anti-war demonstration in history was held when 25,000 people marched from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, once again, showing the unity of youth.1 More than any other countercultural group, hippies reflected a deep discontent with technocracy- society’s reliance on scientific experts who ruled coldly and dispassionately and who wielded enormous power. Hippies said good-bye to that and hello to the mystical spirit, oneness with the universe- life as passion, passion as life, harmony, and understanding. The... ... middle of paper ... ...vision industry as a gold mine for money. Advertising catered directly towards the hostile youths and hippies in order to appeal to the people. The counterculture deeply influenced society today by erasing the blatant disregard of the views of youth in earlier times. The counterculture became a presence in society that could not be ignored. 1. National Museum of American History: Smithsonian Institution. Lisa Law: A Visual Journey 1998, http://www.si.edu/organiza/museums/nmah/ve/lisalaw/1.htm> 2. Neil A. Hamilton, The 1960's Counterculture in America (California: ABC-CLIO Inc, 1997), xi. 3. Hamilton, 210. 4. Kenneth J. Bindas and Kenneth J. Heineman, "Image is Everything? Television and Counterculture Message in the 1960s," Journal of Popular Film and Television 22 (1994): 33.
In this paper, I want to share the history of Haight Ashbury, and its transition from a small town with nice Victorian homes, to its deterioration in the 1960’s. The importance of a farm in Woodstock, to the Cultural Revolution and how it all spread from there including the role of radio and television in spreading the news of the hippie movement and how an attempt to free culture from its moral ideals and standards only led it with no standards or moral compass, and all they were left with was thought to be an idea of the Summer of Love.
The Vietnam War (1965-1975)was fought between the North and South Vietnam. The North was called Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the South was the Republic of Vietnam which was supported by the United States. On August 2nd, 1964 the USS Maddox was on a secret intelligent mission on the North Vietnamese coast where in the Gulf on Tonkin they were attacked by torpedo boats. The USS Turner Joy was attacked in the same area two days later. Due to the second attack Congress declared the Gulf of Tonkin resolution which led to air strikes.In 1959 there were 5,000 guerilla fighters and in 1964 the numbers jumped to 100,000. At Pleiku on March, 1965 U.S Marine barracks were attacked causing the three stage escalation bombing of North Vietnam to begin. The 3 year lasting bombing was used to force North Vietnam to stop supporting the "National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam" by destroying their industrial infrastructure and Vietnam's air defenses. Unfortunately this did not stop the North's support for the NLF. The U.S. Air Force bases were constantly being attacked so the U.S. on March 8, 1965 the 3,500 U.S. Marines was deployed to South Vietnam. At this point in time, the U.S. public supported the dispatch because the Vietnam War had been portrayed to the American people as a war against the spread of Communism. Johnson was president at the time and he kept adding more and more troops as the war went on. As the draft quotas increased, the American public protests started. When Nixon came into presidency his policy towards the Vietnam War was "peace with honor" in other words he wanted to widen the war. After more bombing and fighting, on January 27, 1973 the Paris Peace Accords was signed, restoring peace in Vietnam and U.S. forces pulled out. Nixon stopped all American attacks on Vietnam. The condensed summary of the Vietnam War is to see what presidents were involved in this war (Johnson, and Nixon) and what foreign policies were taken towards Vietnam mostly before the protests began.
American society and culture experienced an awakening during the 1960s as a result of the diverse civil rights, economic, and political issues it was faced with. At the center of this revolution was the American hippie, the most peculiar and highly influential figure of the time period. Hippies were vital to the American counterculture, fueling a movement to expand awareness and stretch accepted values. The hippies’ solutions to the problems of institutionalized American society were to either participate in mass protests with their alternative lifestyles and radical beliefs or drop out of society completely. The government and the older generations could not understand their way of life.
In the summer of 1969, a music festival called, “Woodstock”, took place for three straight days in Upstate, New York, with thirty-two musical acts playing, and 500,000 people from around the world coming to join this musical, peaceful movement. Woodstock started out being a small concert, created to locally promote peace in the world, by the power of music and its lyrics. Now, Woodstock is still being celebrated over 40 years later. The chaotic political climate that the ‘baby boomers’ were growing up in is most likely the reason for this event becoming of such an importance to the world. The violence of the Vietnam War, protests at Kent State and the Democratic Convention, and the assassinations contributed to an ‘out of control’ world. The fact that so many people came to Woodstock and were able to latch onto the ideals of peace, love, and community became a wonderful, joyous symbol to this generation. This three day music festival represented the ideal for baby boomers during a chaotic political time.
Freedom Rides, Vietnam, and Social activism among the youths of America have left the 60’s with a very profound effect on our society. Without question, the decade of the 1960’s was one of the most controversial in American History. Throughout this period of social unrest, anti-war attitudes were gaining prevalence in a peace-loving subculture, and individuals began to question certain aspects of governmental policy and authority. This was the decade of peace and war, optimism and despair, cultural turbulence and frustration.
In this paper I test whether the counter culture movement had an affect on party identification for young Americans between 1964-1972. I hypothesize that young Americans were more prone to became anti-war due to the counter culture movement; which correlates to a decrease in the amount of them that identify as Democrats. I believe there was a decrease in democratic representation among young Americans because the Democratic Party was in power during this time period. The emergence of this movement was due to many factors including: feminism, civil rights, war in Vietnam, and lack of trust in the government. The counter culture consisted mainly of new journalism, protests, drugs, and psychedelic rock. My hypothesis is proven true through the analysis of Jimi Hendrix's “Voodoo Child” and polls taken throughout this time period.
Counterculture is a group of people who reject the values of the dominant culture. It was viewed as a threat to the society because they attempt to find the alternative use of value to guide their life. They always see themselves as a life that is trapped to follow the dominant culture, which it was faulty, oppressive and dehumanizing. There are two subgroups in Counterculture Capitalists: Hippies and Political Radicals. The difference between Hippies and Political Radicals are the lifestyle and attitudes toward the society. Hippies are freer flowing and loving who wanted a peace while Political Radicals are more active against the political issues and wanted to get the political issues resolved
The 1960’s was one of the most controversial decades in American history because of not only the Vietnam War, but there was an outbreak of protests involving civil and social conditions all across college campuses. These protests have been taken to the extent where people either have died or have been seriously injured. However, during the 1960’s, America saw a popular form of art known as protest music, which responded to the social turmoil of that era, from the civil rights movement to the war in Vietnam. A veritable pantheon of musicians, such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan sang their songs to encourage union organizers to protest the inequities of their time, creating a diverse variety of popular protest music, which has reached out to the youthful generations everywhere demanding for a revolutionary change. The protest music took the children of the 1960’s to a completely new different level. Musicians of this generation were not going to sit and do nothing while the government lied to the people about what was going on in Vietnam. Instead, they took their guitar-strumming troubadours from the coffee houses, plugged them in, and sent the music and the message into the college dorm rooms and the homes of the youth of America. However, as decades went by, protest music does not have much of an impact as it use to because of the way things have changed over the years. Through the analysis of the music during the 1960’s, there shall be an understanding on how the different genres of protest music has affected social protesters based on how musicians have become the collective conscience of that generation through their lyrics and music and the main factors that contributed to the lack of popula...
Hatch, Bill. “In Praise of Hippies and the Counter-Culture.” CounterPunch.org. Web. Weekend Edition, April 12 – 14, 2008. 2013.
The American Counterculture Revolution, which lasted between 1956 to 1974, completely transformed both politics and culture. Among many revolutionary movements, the Antiwar Movement consisted of strong protest and outrage towards the Vietnam War and America’s military actions abroad. A countless amount of writers, musicians and even athletes participated in the movement and contributed to its success. Many activists contributed to this movement, such as writer, Allen Ginsberg and government official, Daniel Ellsberg. The movement gained popularity due to the growing American disapproval towards the Vietnam War and The Draft. This movement has also contributed to peace organizations, congressional laws, and has produced antiwar scholarship.
(Murphy, 2) Holden, born in 1933, was at the peak of his teenage years and his time at Pencey during this tumultuous time. The commotion surrounding the war drove a wedge between adults values and children’s young minds, as they struggled to understand the war itself and the uneasiness it caused. Much of America began to lean towards conservatism, and culturally, social rules served as a “code of conformity” for the younger generation. So, as the cultural and social divide between teenagers and adults grew, a new youth culture sprung about, one that attempted to find their way around this new found cultural and parental censorship. The strive to surpass their parental restriction gave birth to a newfangled breed of delinquents. It has been said that the first independent mass youth culture in the twentieth century came about among this crowd of rebels, who created new rituals and customs that have since left their mark on this period in American history. While these new ideals often were (and still are) seen as a more radical departure from the parent culture than they really were, the teenagers of this period did set the example for other developments. (Austin,
Hippies were known for their large amounts of drug consumption and at the time the anti- war movement contained a bulk amount of younger people. In the 60’s, drugs were not seen as corrupt or as a threat. They were seen as a cure for disease. Specifically, drugs were seen as pain relievers, they help with sleeping, they lessened worry, etc (Hippies and drugs). Also, in the 50’s, there was lots of cigarette use. Citizens did not know the influence cigarettes’ had, causing people in the 60‘s to naturally not realize how unacceptable drugs were. Additionally, hippies mostly used hallucinogenic drugs, particularly marijuana and lysergic acid diethyl amide (LSD). In the article “Hippies,” it mentions how hippies were “justifying the practice as a way of expanding consciousness” (hippies). Moreover, hippies undertook the largest drug use in human history that was completely uncontrolled (Hippies and drugs). Youthful people were exposed to the kind of b...
During the sixties Americans saw the rise of the counterculture. The counterculture, which was a group of movements focused on achieving personal and cultural liberation, was embraced by the decade’s young Americans. Because many Americans were members of the different movements in the counterculture, the counterculture influenced American society. As a result of the achievements the counterculture movements made, the United States in the 1960s became a more open, more tolerant, and freer country.
The Antiwar movement of the 70’s was front page news and happening all across the nation Guy said. He also said that this was the first time the youth in society began to seek, act, and unite for social change in America. These youth were tired of the Vietnam war and the unfair practices of the military draft of the 1970’s. These protests also turned violent. The violent protests created a great sense of division within American society. In today’s society, we still see the effects of youth protests. At college campuses across the nation, youth are forming and organizing groups and protests with the goal of social change. These youth protests originated from the successes of anti war movements in the 70’s. I think in the future, the society will begin to lose the norm of youth protests. I think the older generations will begin to lose the respect for the youth as the trend of youth taking longer to self-sufficient continues. This will cause fewer successful youth protests in the
The purpose of this paper is to describe how an underground youth culture emerged into a social “hippie “movement and what led them to Haight-Ashbury, the Summer of Love in San Francisco and the aftermath in 1967. The Summer of Love was a social movement that consisted of a wide range of ages from teenagers to college students even middle-class vacationers, inspired by The Beats, who gathered in Haight-Ashbury in 1967 that rejected the conformist values of Cold War America. The main event was held in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco, where rent was low, Victorian homes and little trendy shops those who flocked here wanted to amongst their peers. Many just wanted to make peace with the world, but ended in October 1967, The Death of a Hippie, when the town became over populated with homeless runaways, the shops closing down and the overuse of drugs no one wanted to be there anymore. “According to Steve Watson, the Beatniks had a certain stereotypical look that you could tell belongs to the counterculture.