Woodstock's Influence On American Counter Culture

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Peace and music over powered the 600-acre dairy farm in the town of Bethel, New York 46 years ago. The Woodstock Music and Art Fair was a festival known as an Aquarian Exposition of three days. For an audience of 400,000 people, 32 acts performed outdoors. Woodstock was a pivotal moment in music history as it changed the world of rock ‘n’ roll. The festival connected the 1960s counterculture generation through the power of music. Art and new ideas were the main historical force that changed society August 15th through the 17th in 1969, leaving a powerful influence on the Western world between the late 1960s and mid 1970s. Hippies, also known as the counterculture, were longhaired people who wore vibrant colors and held up peace signs. The …show more content…

The middle-class youth made up the bulk of the counterculture, so they had the leisure time to focus their attention on political issues in America. At the time, the counterculture rejected the cultural standards of the United States and those older than them, specifically the initial support for the Vietnam War. The politics and government history force held a high influence during this time of change. The Vietnam War devastated the young adult population and families of those who enlisted. Some Americans found the movement to reflect American ideals of free speech and equality, while others thought of it to reflect pointless rebellious acts and very unpatriotic. In the end, authorities restricted political gatherings and the counterculture collapsed once civil rights, liberties, equality, and the end of the Vietnam War were …show more content…

The crowd was filled with 400,000 people who were part of the counterculture generation. They watched 32 artists perform over the three-day weekend. Janis Joplin, Santana, Grateful Dead, and Jimi Hendrix were some of the many who played for the massive crowd. Muddy roads and fields caused facilities to not be equipped to provide sanitation or first aid to the large amount of concertgoers. On Sunday, August 17th, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller called Roberts, the festival organizer, and told him he wanted to order 10,000 New York State National Guard troops to the Woodstock festival. Roberts was able to persuade Rockefeller not to order in the troops, but the Sullivan County declared a state of emergency and had the nearby Air Force Base assist in helping airlift the performers out of the grounds. Jimi Hendrix was the last performer and didn’t go on until Monday morning at 8:30. The audience was now reduced to 30,000 of those who wanted to catch a glimpse of Hendrix before leaving the

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