it symbolized the freedom and idealism of the 1960s. Critics argue that Woodstock
represented much of what was wrong with the 60’s: a glorification of
drugs, a loosening of sexual morality and a socially corrosive disrespect
for authority.
Whether one is a supporter or a critic, it is undeniable that Woodstock was
one of the major climaxes of the hippie movement: a culmination of all of
the peace and love ideals in one place. After Woodstock, the movement was
on the downswing. One could argue that Woodstock was the grand finale, with
the seventies arriving soon after it and there was a general “been there,
done that”(interview) mentality which created the seventies, a decade of
disco, and doom, never quite living up to the intensity of the sixties.
The 1960’s, then, did more than just “swing”. Many of the values and
conventions of the immediate post- war world were called into question, and
although many of the questions had not been satisfactorily answered by the
end of the decade, society would never be the same again.
In conclusion, the hippy culture arose as a result of vast political changes
occurring in North America and beyond and not as a result of drugs and music.
The drugs and music were a by-product of the hippy culture, but by no means
a reason for it’s occurrence. The previous pages cite the more relevant
political and social milestones, which, I believe were directly responsible
for the evolution of the hippy culture. These milestones affected everyone,
one way or another, either directly or indirectly. They changed the way people
thought. You would be hard pressed to find someone over the age of about
forty-five who, to this day, cannot remember what they were doing the day
Kennedy was shot, and how they were affected by it. The sixties simply evolved;
a microcosm of numerous political and social change that swept the then current
generation. The hippies were simply reacting to changes in society and, in
reacting to these changes, left an indelible mark on the history books of
our time.
Bibliography
Archer, Jales. The Incredible Sixties. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1987.
Benson, Kathleen, and Haskins, James. The Sixties Reader. New York: Viking
Kestrel, 1988.
Collier, Peter, Horowitz, David. Destructive Generation: Second Thoughts
About the’60s. New York: Summit, 1989.
Dickstein, Morris. Gates of Eden: American Culture in the Sixties. New York:
Basic Books, 1977.
Gitlin, Todd. The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage. New York: Bantam,
1987.
Ingham, John. Sex’N’Drugs’N’Rock’N’Roll. Toronto:
Canadian Scholars Press, 1988.
Kostash, Myrna. Long Way From Home:The Story of the Sixties Generation in
Canada. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 1980.
Martin, Elizabeth. 57 Edgemore Dr., Etobicoke, Ontario. Interview, 12 February
1997.
Oakley, Ronald. God’s Country: America in the Fifties. New York: Red
Dembner, 1986.
Rosen, Obst. The Sixties: The Decade Remembered Now, by the People Who Lived
Them. Toronto: Random House Publisher, 1977.
Roy, Andy. Great Assassinations. New York: Independent Publishing, 1994.
Stern, Jane, and Micheal. Sixties People. New York: Knopf, 1990.
Tucker, Ken, and Stokes, Geoffrey, and Ward, Ed. Rock of Ages: The Rolling
Stone History of Rock and Roll. New York: Rolling Stone Press, 1986.
Weiss, Bill. King And His Struggles. New York: Penny Publishing, 1987.
Yinger, Milton. Countercultures: The Promise and Peril of a world Turned
Upside Down. New York:
Macmillan Publishing, 1982.