About

Hippies are a counterculture similar to beatniks that promote love and peace, drugs, and environmental friendliness. (Randall, Annie Janeiro (2005), "The Power to Influence Minds", Music, Power, and Politics, Routledge, pp. 66–67) They were one of the defining cultural movements in the 60s and continue to be iconic to this day.^[1]

Origin

There is no particular origin, instead hippies developed from the beatniks of the 50s and settled in places like Greenwich Village in NYC and Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco. They spread like any other youth culture.

Spread

The spread of hippie culture has in some ways permeated all levels of American society.^[1] Hippie culture after a few years emerged from its small bases and spread throughout America and to many other countries. The frustration of the world's youth with the conservative culture of the era allowed for the youth to be exposed to hippie culture. In the late 60s, the hippies were a cultural icon and they had spread to music (Gaines, Steven (2002), The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of the Beatles, NAL Trade,) and politics,^[2] culminating in the 1968 DNC protests, the Summer of Love and Woodstock. In music, it inspired bands such as Jefferson Airplane, CCR, The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, and many others.

External References

^[1] TIME – WE OWE IT ALL TO THE HIPPIES

^[2] Dissent Magazine – In Defense of Hippies