The 60s were a time of peace and power to the people. With the Vietnam war in full swing, flower power hippies were preaching love and peace. These were the times of The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkle, or The Zombies amongst others.
Hippies saw mainstream authority as the origin of all society's ills, which included the war. According to the American historians, hippies joined with political radicals in their support for the civil rights movement and their opposition to the Vietnam War. Hippies were for peace so innocent people and even those not innocent losing their lives was reason enough to protest.
Hippie, also spelled hippy, member, during the 1960s and 1970s, of a countercultural movement that rejected the mores of mainstream American life. The movement originated on college campuses in the United States, although it spread to other countries, including Canada and Britain. Eventually, the hippie movement came to an end.
The Vietnam War (1959-1975) was a major issue that the hippies vehemently opposed. But by the 1970s, the war was gradually winding down, and finally by 1975 (when the war ended) one of the core factors for their raison d'être was gone.
Written by Carl Boniface
Vocabulary builder:
Flower Power = Hippies embraced the symbolism by dressing in clothing with embroidered flowers and vibrant colors, wearing flowers in their hair, and distributing flowers
Raison d'être = the most important reason or purpose for someone or something's existence. "seeking to shock is the catwalk's raison d'être"
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