Assignment:
Think about the stereotypical images of family life in the pre-industrial United States. How have these images been romanticized in the media and in elementary- and secondary-level textbooks and historical fiction? Give examples of how we are led to believe that eighteenth and nineteenth century family life was better than contemporary family life. How do romanticized images of preindustrial society compare to what you have read in the textbook and in the article by Stephanie Coontz? What are the implications of portraying colonial America as "the good old days?