What were the general attitudes of previous generations in America toward their successors throughout our history? Were they similar in tone to the Baby Boomers toward Millennials or did the concept of generational strife even exist?

This is a very broad question, and one that I cannot hope to answer totally. I am, however, aware of at least one example that you might find interesting.

The historian Robert Orsi talks a lot about the contrast between Catholic immigrants and their daughters during a period roughly centered around the Great Depression. The gist of his point is that the ethical/societal standards were set by the example and expectations of the immigrant mothers. These women exercised considerable influence within the home, were deeply religious and often devoted to the cults of established saints, emphasized the ties of family, and above all did not encroach upon male dominated spheres. That is, they were homemakers, not breadwinners. They also tended to live in ethnic enclaves and marry within them.

The economic realities of the Great Depression changed all that for the daughters. Often, they were forced to work given that their husbands couldn't find work -- a fact which drove many a man to drink or despair. They married outside the enclave. They left the enclave to live and work elsewhere. At the same time, they were expected to be homemakers still. And to be fruitful and multiply -- even women for whom pregnancy was downright dangerous write letter of petition to the shrine of St. Jude asking for more children. They were, in essence, forging a dual identity as both Catholic and American.

Of course, the fact that women were working was condemned by the broader Catholic society, necessity be damned.The religious authorities, premised on the ideal of the previous generations, still expected to marry who they were told, have lots of babies, and keep the home. That they insisted on working was scandalous, but in any case couldn't be allowed to detract from their real duties as Catholic wives and mothers. The religious authorities did not offer comfort, but scorn.

In response, many women turned to the emergent cult of St. Jude, the patron saint of hopeless causes -- the chain of hospitals bears his name. Even in this, however, the daughters were subtly breaking with the expectations of their mothers. They were not, after all, honoring some established saint, but one who had been almost forgotten until the establishment of a shrine in Chicago in the early 20th century. This was perhaps not so radical a departure as marrying who they wanted, rather than who they were told to, but it was a departure nonetheless.

The reaction of the Catholic establishment was, as I said, scorn for the younger generation and praise for an idealized vision of the older. Orsi traces this throughout popular Catholic publications, writings, sermons, etc.

Sauce: Robert Orsi, Thank You, St. Jude