HOOfan_1 said:
Maybe based on the literature. Based on real life? Not likely....
What do we know of real life 100 or 200 years ago except what we can know from the literature of the time depicting everyday life? That would include journals, biographies, as well as fiction.
HOOfan_1 said:
...I don't think Tory on rebel and rebel on Tory violence, nor situations like bleeding Kansas, show that manners and social conventions were any better than today...
But inferring daily life from such would be like inferring what daily life is like today from Waco, Virginia Tech, Newton or other such idiosyncratic violence.
HOOfan_1 said:
...Not sure we can say there was more freedom 100-200 years ago either...
And that's probably true. It would depend on how one looked at freedom.
Certainly acquisition and possession of firearms wasn't as tightly controlled, except in New York City (and carrying a gun was illegal in Texas, except if on a journey). And there might have been more freedom in some other respects -- unless of course you were Black, Chinese, Italian, Irish, etc.
A hundred years ago, you could freely and legally buy marijuana, opium and other mind altering drugs. But at least today, we can still call into question the wisdom of our current policies on that subject. Of course some folks think the war on drugs is a fine thing, and they are free to say so.
Of course a hundred years ago pornography was tough to come by. It's now freely available. Chalk one up for freedom.
Once upon a time, it was illegal some places in this country to sell an ice cream soda on Sunday. That's how the sundae came to be. And it was also illegal some places here to do other sorts of business on a Sunday.
And during much of our history consensual carnal relationships between persons of different races, or persons of the same gender, or persons who were not married to each other were crimes.
On the other hand, there were fewer zoning and land use laws, fewer taxes, less regulation of business.
It all depends on what freedom means to you.