How Did European Settlement Influence American Culture

European settlement in North America contributed to the spread of European artistic traditions in colonial painting, architecture and furnishings. Many trained artists arrived from Europe to New England to make a living and incorporated the styles of their culture in their work. For example, many painters arrived with a preference for Elizabethan – Jacobean style portraiture. The paintings displayed wealth and social position, and alluded to domestic interiors popular in 17th century Dutch paintings. Portraiture of aristocratic leaders in the southern colonies featured English residences and fashion envied by merchants’ wives. The presence of the Dutch in the new nation can also be found in colonial architecture. Brick-row houses and stone farmhouses with tile roofs characteristic of the Dutch can be found in many 18th century paintings. Furthermore, furniture designs in most colonial homes were borrowed from Europe, contributing to the development of high and popular
The Puritan towns were laid out in a gridded model similar to New Jerusalem, Renaissance Europe and the Spanish American colonies. However, the Puritan town had a religious theme, “which was a diagram for moral order and not merely a convenient system for the equable division of real estate.” (Framing America p66) Colonial homes featured furniture with European designs, however, increase in international trade brought designs from all over the world. These designs were then transformed by local craftsmen skilled in woodworking into forms more reflective of colonial life. Young women in the colonies produced needlework similar to English stitching which used strips of cloth with basic “samples” of stiches. Yet, the designs took a new direction in the mid-18th century. The new embroidery included names, dates, maps, houses, and more. Colonists were beginning to establish their own artistic