The Hippie Movement
Mathieu Caplan
Mr. Sander
English III
11 March 2008
The Hippie Generation
Past and present
Looking back at the 1940’s, there are some possible causes for the retaliation imposed by the Hippies. First of all, the United States has just gotten out of not its first, but its second world, not to mention a depression thrown in there as well. Now they were going into another war. People wanted a change…these people were the hippies.
A Hippie is a “member of a counterculture that began appearing in the early 1960’s, which expressed a moral rejection of the established society” (“The Hippie Dictionary”).
The two main places that hippies originated were San Francisco and Berkeley, and rapidly grew throughout the United States. Generally, hippies were of the younger bunch ranging “from the ages of 15 to 25”, although there were older ones as well (Huber and Lemieux). Early on, the hippie culture was characterized as “a freak of society” by the straight culture.
Hippies sought to free themselves from societal restrictions. They usually wore brightly colored clothing and wore unusual styles, such as bell-bottom pants. They were also big on tye-dye garments. Most hippies tended to have long hair, which they believed, “ was against society standards” (“Origin of the Hippie”). Hippies weren’t concerned about being hard-working. They were the complete opposite. They had easy-going attitudes. “They were party animals” (Huber).
Hippies were “angry at the injustices in the country, such as racism, poverty and the lack of women’s rights” (Hippie History). They opposed was and government. Hippies were also very Anti-Vietnam. The government had started sending more and more young people overseas, and more and more young people were dying. The hippies made their beliefs known to the world. They did this...
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