Summary Of John Downe's Letter To A Weaver

Opening up one’s self to new experiences and places can stimulate positive changes to their wellbeing and career. In 1830, John Downe, a weaver, traveled to the United States from England and took a job so that he could earn enough money to enable his wife and children to join him. He wrote a letter to his wife about the flourishing country of America and glorified its widely available resources. Downe provides overwhelming examples of its greatness, apologizes for his absence from his wife, and compares America’s superiority to England in order to convince his wife to join him and reveal the reason why he is staying. In his first remarks, Downe acknowledges many different places in which the resources and people of America are robust enough
Later on, Downe apologizes for his absence from his wife and children to make her understand the necessity of his leave. He begins his sentiments with “My dear Sukey, all that I want now is to see you, and the dear children here, and then I shall be happy, and not before.” Here, Downe is appealing to his wife’s emotions by claiming his happiness would be fulfilled by her and their kids’ presences. Although he has newfound food, freedoms, and job opportunities, he will be helped by their company, convincing her to move. Additionally, Downe reminds his wife that he would have taken her if he had the money and that he did not want to watch their children’s suffering any longer, stating, “I would rather cross the Atlantic ten times than hear my children cry for the victims once.” This statement emphasizes the lengths he would go to make sure his family is comfortable. Although he did leave for an extended period of time, he would do it again in a heartbeat to solidify their happiness. Therefore, he is reminding his wife of his intentions of leaving and he has a plausible reason for why he left