How Before 1800 what models influenced American writers and painters?

Before 1800, American writers and painters were heavily influenced by European models, particularly those from the Enlightenment period and Romanticism. The works of British authors like Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson shaped American literature, while Neoclassical ideals inspired a focus on reason and order. In visual arts, the Baroque and Rococo styles, along with the emerging Romantic movement, influenced American painters like John Singleton Copley and Benjamin West. These influences helped shape an emerging American identity, blending European traditions with local themes and settings.