History Throughout the 1960's & 1970's
The 1960's began with the election of the first president born in the twentieth century John Kennedy. For many Americans, the young president was the symbol of a spirit of hope for the nation. When Kennedy was murdered in 1963, many felt that their hopes died with him. This was especially true of younger men and women, and members and supporters of minority groups. A time of innocence and hope soon began to look like a time of anger and violence. More Americans protested to demand an end to the unfair treatment of black citizens. More protested to demand an end to the war in Vietnam and to demand full equality for women. In addition to President John Kennedy, two other influential leaders were murdered during the 1960's. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior was shot in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968. Several weeks later, Robert Kennedy, John Kennedy's brother, was shot in Los Angeles, California. Their deaths resulted in riots in cities across the country. The unrest and violence affected many young Americans. The effect seemed especially bad because of the time in which they had grown up. By the middle 1950's, most of their parents had jobs that paid well. They expressed satisfaction with their lives. They taught their children what were called "middle class" values. These included a belief in God, hard work, and service to their country. Later, many young Americans began to question these beliefs. They felt that their parents' values were not enough to help them deal with the social and racial difficulties of the 1960's. They rebelled by letting their hair grow long and by wearing strange clothes. Their dissatisfaction was strongly expressed in music. Five hundred thousand Americans "did their own thing" at the Woodstock music festival in 1969. They gathered at a farm in New York State. They listened to musicians such as Jimi Hendrix and Joan Baez, and to groups such as The Who and Jefferson Airplane. Woodstock became a symbol of the young peoples' rebellion against traditional values. They themselves were called "hippies." Hippies believed there should be more love and personal freedom in America. In 1967, poet Allen Ginsberg helped lead a gathering of hippies in San Francisco and twenty thousand attended the gathering. Another leader of the event was Timothy Leary. He was a former university professor and researcher. Leary urged the crowd in San Francisco to "tune in and drop out". This meant they should use drugs and leave school or their job. One drug that was used in the 1960's was lysergic acid diethylamide, or more commonly known as LSD. LSD causes the brain to see strange, colorful images. It also can cause brain damage. Along with LSD, many other drugs quickly came into the lives of the Americans in this time period, most of them causing more than just brain damage.