‘Protestant Ethic’
Degler reports, “In place of medieval and aristocratic notions about the degrading nature of trade and business, seventeenth-century Englishmen brought to America two forms of that bourgeois spirit which Max Weber has called the Protestant ethic: Puritanism and Quakerism .It is possible to overemphasize the extent to which Puritanism departed from medieval conceptions of a just price, prohibitions on interest, and so forth, for such restrictions of unfettered capitalism also formed a part of Puritan economic practice in Massachusetts.” Puritanism heartens capitalism. The wave of Puritanical ideology depicts the intersection between religion and economic ideologies. Interest is mandatory in the flourishing capitalist economy. Accordingly, the philosophies of the Puritans motivate people to abandon medieval notions which would discourage them from engaging in capitalist ventures.
“Golden Age”
Degler reports, “The first half of the eighteenth century, as Thomas Wetenbaker has said was a golden age of American culture; elegance was replacing mere comfort in the homes of the rich, comfort was supplanting privation in the houses of the not-so-rich; farmers and merchants, planters and craftsmen, were building a prosperous and productive economy. A new society, often graceful and cultivated, following the model of western European culture, was being firmly established on the edge of the North American wilderness." The 'golden age' inspires Americans to pursue a sophisticated life. Productivity of the American economy paves the way for a civilization that permits Americans to delight in a stylish and high quality lifestyle.
Architecture
Degler reports, “Even in architecture, where the demands of living compelled the Americans to engage in its pursuit, the European influence was overwhelming; the American emulation of English models bordered on the abject…Georgian architectural forms, which enjoyed enormous Vogue in England, duplicated their triumph in the colonies almost without alteration.” Architecture in America emulates the European style because the supervisors of the constructions are predominantly from Europe. The emulation enables the American to recreate the European Ambiance and environment in America. Accordingly, the living environments in Europe and America are similar.
