Discussion Questions: Marx, The Machine in the Garden, pp 219-226
due June 5

1. What is the pastoral ideal? What is its political meaning? (Hint: Jacksonians opposed the vision of an industrialized, centralized republic.)

2. How do the paintings portray technology in pastoral scenes?

3. Why was technology linked so strongly with progress in the mid-1850s?

4. Do you agree with Marx that the pastoral ideal played an important cultural role, even though Americans were becoming more focused on urban and industrial pursuits?