Hippies

H I P P I E S

 **Introduction:** One could easily spot a hippy in a crowd. In general, hippies had long, matted hair, wore bright colored clothing such as tie dye and Indian inspired clothing such as peasant blouses and tunics, listened to rock or traditional Eastern music, were found at protests or marches, and hung around a VW bus. Of course, not all hippies were the same. All hippies were either teenagers or young adults, with similar ideas about society. Hippies wanted to bring peace and love to the world, and were often on a journey to discover their inner self. The hippies emerged at the onset of the 1960s; the 60s were a time of change for America and the hippies reflected these ideas specifically in areas such as **music**; **drug** and **sexual culture**; and **politics**.
 * // "Who were the hippies and how did they reflect 1960s America?" //**

** Music: ** Hippie music sent important messages and new ideas to the masses, which had never been done before. The music evolved from Elvis' hip swinging "rock 'n' roll", to a more emotional and profound rock sound. Many hippie artists of the 1960s wrote lyrics about civil rights, the Vietnam War, and other governmental issues. The songs were called topical songs because they pertained to current topics. Hippies were inspired by their favorite artists to act upon their discontent with these current issues and enforce the change they wanted to see in the world. Some of the most inspirational hippie rockers were:
 * Phil Ochs: American protest singer located in Greenwich Village, NY; performed topical songs at political events.
 * Bob Dylan: Famous artist who originated in the hippie movement; performed civil rights and anti-war anthems; incredibly poetic lyrics.
 * Jimi Hendrix: Guitarist who came on the scene in the late 1960s; played at Woodstock in 1969.
 * Jefferson Airplane
 * Janis Joplin
 * Sly and the Family Stone

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 * Woodstock Music FestivalAugust 15-18, 1969
 * Organized by John Roberts, Joel Roseman, Artie Kornfeld, and Michael Lang
 * More than 450,000 people attended
 * Musical acts included: Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix


 * Drugs and Sexual Revolution: Hippies introduced new drugs to the youth of America, and began a sexual revolution. The rebels of the 1950s had experimented with drugs, but for the most part the widespread use and purpose of using narcotics in the 60s was a new idea spawning from the hippie movement. Sexual freedom was also a completely new idea; before the 60s, sex was taboo and not talked about publicly.[[image:http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii71/larrydoyle/lsd_collage2.jpg width="283" height="206" align="right" caption="Collage of LSD blotters."]] **
 * Drug Culture
 * Hippies commonly used LSD, marijuana, mescaline/peyote, and psilocybin mushrooms
 * LSD: Studied during the 1950s as a psychiatric drug, but made popular as a recreational drug in the 60s.
 * Mescaline: Naturally occurring psychedelic found in the Mexican Peyote cactus.
 * Psilocybin Mushrooms: Commonly known as magic mushrooms, another psychedelic drug.
 * Psychedelics
 * Alters perception of mind and cognition (senses, emotions, memories)
 * Traditionally used in medicine and religion
 * Said to have similar effects as yoga, meditation, and dreaming
 * Timothy Leary
 * Leader of the LSD movement
 * Harvard professor who studied effects of LSD; introduced the psychedelic to artists
 * Coined the mantra: "Tune in, turn on, and drop out."
 * Sexual Revolution
 * Believed in "free love" (temporary sexual relationships and sexual experimentation)
 * __Human Sexual Response__ by William Masters and Virginia Johnson (1966) detailed exactly what happens during sex
 * Believed they could obtain enlightenment through sex (Kama Sutra, Osho, etc.)
 * Homosexuality
 * Stonewall Riots: violent demonstration against police at a raid of Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, in Greewich Village
 * Sighted as the beginning of the Gay Rights Movement


 * Politics: The hippies represented the new "left" and opposed the traditional ways of government. Before the 1960s, groups of people had opposed the government and its policies, but were not as active and as noticeable as the hippies. Hippies attacked all aspects of government with their new ideas and did change United States politics. **
 * The Peace and Freedom Party
 * Organized June 23, 1967
 * Included social activists for farm workers (labor), civil rights, and anti-Vietnam movements
 * Achieved ballot status in 1968 in California
 * Peace Movements
 * Hippies organized non-violent demonstrations to protest the Vietnam war and support the civil rights movement
 * Draft card burning was a ritual of young men dodging the enlistment due to their opposition of war[[image:http://www.republicanrebel.com/hippie-surfer.jpg width="199" height="263" align="right" caption="Hippies living in rural areas."]]
 * Political Legacy
 * The hippie generation left political "fossils" behind, some which still affect modern American politics
 * Civil Rights Act of 1960
 * Civil Rights Bill
 * Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
 * GI Bill (1966)
 * Air Quality Act
 * DDT banned
 * Supreme court decision against sexual discrimination
 * Equal Right Amendment
 * Back To The Land Movement
 * Origination of organic farming movement
 * Alternative energy

Links and Bibliography