Obviously, it’s not realistic to say that
everyone in America is happy, but James wants F.B. to see that, in places as different as Nantucket and the Pennsylvania countryside, extensive freedom allows people to live as best they can. James’s list of obstacles to happiness is interesting—besides foolishness and litigiousness (quickness to sue), he doesn’t seem to have a clear category for simple cruelty and oppression, which surely made many people unhappy.