1960s Essay The 1960s had a profound impact on the United States. When the seventy million baby boomers reached adolescence, they brought with them a change that is still evolving in our society today. The 1960s were a time when American culture moved from being conservative to new and insightful ways of thinking. With these changes, he brought a new counterculture that would be known as hippie culture. The hippies pioneered a new sexual revolution that would break the boundaries of the old style. The hippies also ushered in a new era in which drugs became popular with a wide audience as well as within their own culture. The drugs were becoming part of American culture, as was new scientific research on the benefits of psychedelic drugs. The Cultural Revolution of the 1960s produced many revolutionary ideas that are still present and changing in our society today. The 1960s were a revolutionary era. American life would change and adopt new ways of thinking that we still use today. “Seventy million postwar children were reaching adolescence.” (Goodwin) They would usher in the new counterculture that produced new music and new fads. Skateboarders were emerging on the West Coast, and fashion was being influenced by teenagers on U.S. college campuses that were changing dramatically during the Vietnam War. Campuses were becoming large areas where students would protest the war and the draft. They all protested for peace, but often clashed with the police forces. Not only did teenagers protest, but the 1960s also saw the beginning of the civil rights movement, in which African Americans protested for better civil rights in the South. Martin Luther King Jr. was the movement's most prominent leader. He pro... middle of paper... would have been possible without the many civil rights leaders, the baby boom generation and the new hippie culture. By the end of the 1960s, U.S. culture could barely compare to how it had remained just ten years earlier. Works Cited Baciq, Tom. “History of Marijuana Use.” Information, please. Infoplease, 01 May 2007. Web. 13 March 2012. .Goodwin, Maria. "American Cultural History." - 1960. Lone Star College, June 02, 2011. Web. March 13, 2012. "Sexual Revolution." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, March 13, 2012. Web. March 13, 2012. .Casa, Christopher. “Drugs of the Sixties.” The University of Minnesota Duluth welcomes you. August 25, 2002. Web. March 13. 2012. .