Final answer:
The narrator in 'Letters from an American Farmer' claims that being a yeoman farmer is the occupation most conducive to virtue, reflecting Thomas Jefferson's belief in the moral superiority of rural, agrarian life.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to the narrator in "Letters from an American Farmer," the occupation most conducive to virtue is that of a yeoman farmer. This idea reflects the beliefs of notable figures such as Thomas Jefferson, who highly valued the independence and self-sufficiency found in rural agricultural life.
Jefferson believed that those who labor on the earth were closest to God and were the backbone of a virtuous, republican society. He was critical of urban life and industrialization, which he felt widened economic inequalities and created an underclass that could never be good republican property owners.
Jefferson's ideals supported the notion that yeoman farmers, or self-sufficient property-owning citizens, embodied the key to the success and longevity of the American republic, being central to republican virtue.