Little House, Long Shadow Laura Ingalls Wilder's Impact on American Culture

Because both Wilder and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, opposed the New Deal programs being implemented during the period in which they wrote, their books reflect their use of family history as an argument against the state's protection of individuals from economic uncertainty. Their writing emphasized the isolation of the Ingalls family and the family's resilience in the face of crises and consistently equated self-sufficiency with family acceptance, security, and warmth. Fellman argues that the popularity of these books- abetted by Lane's overtly libertarian views-helped lay the groundwork for a negative response to big government and a positive view of political individualism, contributing to the acceptance of contemporary conservatism while perpetuating a mythic West