Dutch+American+Artwork

Dutch American By: Michael Mondon

The Dutch first arrived in America in 1609 when Henry Hudson landed in Sandy Hook and then rode up the Hudson River into New York, which at the time was given the name of New Netherland. The Dutch then established the first trading post, Fort Orange which later became the capital of New York and renamed Albany. Soon following that establishment the Dutch bought an island off New York from the Native Americans, which was then named New Amsterdam. In a about the mid 1700’s the governor of New Netherland tried to encourage the Dutch people to move from the mainland to their newly acquired colony in America. He promised the immigrants free land along the Hudson if they decided to settle the land. The population in eighteen years quadrupled as it went from 2,000 to 8,000 inhabitants. However the population ceased to grow because in 1664 the English came into the Dutch territories and took it over and renamed all the areas including New Netherland (New York), Fort Orange (Albany), and New Amsterdam (Manhattan). It wasn’t until the 19th century that the Dutch had ideas of settling America again. There were a few reasons for the immigration of the Dutch into America which included: Taxes in Holland were high and wages low and emigration became popular with agricultural laborers. These laborers tended to focus on the production of beet sugar, vegetables, and dairy products. Others decided to go for religious reasons. The Dutch Reformed Church was the largest group which emigrated from Holland due to laws within their country which restricted their abilities to practice their religion. When the Dutch came over to America many settled in the Midwest in areas such as Michigan, Illinois, and more specifically Chicago. For the most part the majority of Dutch settlers stayed in the north and since they were very religious many Dutch were very opposed to slavery and sided with Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party. Due to this many of the Dutch immigrants joined the Union Army and fought during the Civil War. From 1820 to 1900 over 340,000 people from Holland immigrated to the United States. After the Second World War Holland was the most-densely populated country in the world. As a result the Dutch government encouraged people to immigrate to America. Today there are approximately 8,000,000 Americans of Dutch descent in the United States.

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Eddie Van Halen's famous solo

There are many influential Dutch-American immigrants, but arguably the most famous one can be considered Edward Van Halen. Eddie Van Halen formed the group Van Halen and took lead as the main guitarist. He became famous for his incredible solos along with the popularization of his guitar playing technique called tapping. Tapping is when the guitarist utilizes both hands on the neck of the guitar instead of using one hand to strum the guitar. Although he was not the “inventor” of this technique he was the first to perfect it, which can be heard in his song ‘Eruption”. Van Halen is still known as one of the greatest rock bands of all time and Rolling Stones Magazine said, "Second to only Jimi Hendrix...undoubtedly one of the most influential, original, and talented rock guitarists of the 20th century".

Willem de Kooning was a DutDutch American abstract expressionalist artist who immigrated to America in the post WWII era. Kooning differed from his fellow abstract because while they just painted abstract pictures, his were both abstract and figurative. Kooning’s most famous pieces are Woman II-VI. Recently his painting Woman III was sold for 137.5 million dollars making it the second most expensive painting ever sold. This alone shows how impressive and influential Kooning’s works really were.