I wonder if Sarah Palin knows that American Chippendale differs from English Chippendale out of political-economic protest by the Thirteen Colonies to the taxation measures of Crown?  In the 1760s, various colonies passed non-importation resolutions vowing not to import English goods – including London-made Chippendale furniture.  By 1765, the flow of the fashionable Chippendale furniture from England to America had practically dried up.  But copies of Chippendale’s book of designs had already made it to America & up until the Revolution there was a steady migration of journeymen cabinetmakers from London.  However, as our cabinetmakers began to work in the Chippendale manner, fundamental differences between American & English Chippendale began to manifest.  While Chippendale’s designs were a pared down, Anglicized version of the French Rococo under Louis XV, American Chippendale retained the strong structural lines of London’s Queen Anne & early Georgian furniture.  American Chippendale was less influenced by the more feminine aspects of the Rococo & is characterized by more masculine vigor.