Letters From An American Farmer

James, a yeoman farmer and the author of the majority of the letters, is friendly and accommodating. He is also modest about these attributes, insisting to Mr. F.B. that “I gave you nothing more than what common hospitality dictated” (9). He is equally modest about his ability to write, expressing surprise that Mr. F.B. does not have “persons more enlightened and better educated” (9-10) with whom to exchange letters and declaring that the task of describing life in America requires “a variety of talents which [James does] not possess” (9). James is extremely humble and has only simple aims, claiming to have “never possessed nor wish[ed] to possess anything more than what could be earned or produced by the united industry of [his] family” (202), and to be satisfied with “the narrow circles in which [he] constantly revolve[s]” (38). He also claims to “envy no man’s prosperity,” wanting only “to teach the same philosophy to [his] children” so that they can “be like their father, good, substantial, independent American farmers” (38). It is interesting to note that, despite such celebrations of humble American lives, he is, initially at least, intimidated by the task of writing to Mr. F.B. precisely because his correspondent is an educated Englishman.