u/ElectricAccordian

What role did artistic or literary depictions of the Americas play in encourage Europeans to cross the Atlantic?

This question sort of has two parts.

If I am a European and I want to go live in one of those colonies over in America, what am I expecting to find over there, specifically in terms of the landscape / ecology. Am I expecting a paradise, basically the same sort of things I'll see in Europe, or something else?
Were there popular pieces of art or literature that acted as a sort of catalyst to get people to go over to the Americas? Essentially, I'm thinking of something akin to how a lot of modern scientists will say "Star Trek" got them interested in pursuing a science. Was there something popular that would have got a perspective colonist interested, and how much did it diverge from the actual reality of what the American colonies were like?

"As the most widely anticipated and heavily hyped film of modern times, “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” can scarcely help being a letdown on some levels, but it’s too bad that it disappoints on so many. At heart a fanciful and fun movie for young boys, the first installment of George Lucas’ three-part prequel to the original “Star Wars” trilogy is always visually diverting thanks to the technical wizardry with which it creates so many imaginative creatures, spaceships and alien worlds. But it is neither captivating nor transporting, for it lacks any emotional pull, as well as the sense of wonder and awe that marks the best works of sci-fi/fantasy."

u/ElectricAccordian — 15 days ago