The United States in the 1960s was a time of cultural change and social movements throughout the country. The youth movement was characterized by young college students that had become political activists and were against political suppression by the government. They were also were majorly involved in the civil rights and antiwar movements. Others that were apart of the youth movement simply separated themselves from the mainstream ideals of the society. The social, cultural, and political impacts of the counterculture that took place in the 60s had a very large impact on United States history and today.
The people of the counterculture were young college age men and women. Majority of these students were middle-class and attended nice universities across the country. With the growth of the counterculture these students dropped out of school and out of the mainstream United States society to join this alternative style of living. The people of the counterculture were more commonly called hippies. Hippies promoted a different bright colored clothing, sex, drugs, rock music, and independent free style of living. The people of the counterculture lived in groups called communes that were set up in larger cities around the world. Some of the largest and most well known communes are Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, Greenwich Village in New York City, and Old Town in Chicago. Hippies living in these communes shared the majority of things among each other. Communes featured gardens, restaurants, cheap alternative ways of living, and head shops. One prominent hippie of the time was Timothy Leary. He was on of the major promotes of drugs in the counterculture. He supported the concept of "acid test" which was when people would do LSD in a friendly and loving environment. Leary is most famous for his "turn on, tune in, and drop out" campaign which became a very popular slogan during the counterculture.