Exterior shutters were once an indication that the homeowner was too poor to afford glass windows. However, times have changed. When the Spanish colonized the Americas, they brought with them their own concepts of architecture including exterior window shutters. During the slave trade era window shutters changed drastically in form from the shanties in the Bahamas to the plantations in the South to townhouses in New England and became a status symbol for the wealthy. Today exterior shutters are still a common addition in affluent neighborhoods.