Henry George

Lore & Background

Henry George was born in Philadelphia to a lower-middle-class family, the second of ten children. He left school at age 14 and went to sea as a foremast boy at 15, later settling in San Francisco where he worked as a typesetter. He married Annie Corsina Fox in 1861 after eloping, and they had four children, including future U.S. Representative Henry George Jr. George experienced severe poverty, once begging for food and considering robbery before a stranger gave him five dollars. He worked as a journalist, becoming managing editor of the San Francisco Times and later editing his own newspaper, the San Francisco Daily Evening Post. His 1869 essay 'The Chinese in California' argued for ending Chinese immigration. In 1871, while overlooking San Francisco Bay, he had a revelation that rising land values with population growth caused poverty amid wealth, leading to his 1879 book 'Progress and Poverty'. George ran for Mayor of New York City in 1886 as the United Labor Party nominee, receiving 31 percent of the vote and finishing ahead of Theodore Roosevelt, and again in 1897 as the Jefferson Democracy nominee, receiving 4 percent. He died during the second campaign.

Reader's Guide

Henry George's significance lies in his economic philosophy, Georgism, which holds that people should own the value they produce, but the economic value of land and natural resources should belong equally to all members of society. His most famous work, 'Progress and Poverty', investigated the paradox of increasing inequality amid economic progress and proposed a single tax on land values as a remedy. George's ideas influenced reform movements of the Progressive Era and were carried forward by organizations and political leaders in the United States and other Anglophone countries. Mid-20th century labor economist George Soule called George 'the most famous American economic writer' and noted his book had a larger worldwide circulation than any other economics work. George also defended free trade, the secret ballot, free public utilities, Pigouvian taxation, and public ownership of natural monopolies. His legacy includes ongoing debates about land value taxation and economic justice.

Did You Know?

• Henry George ran for Mayor of New York City in 1886 as the United Labor Party nominee and finished ahead of future President Theodore Roosevelt.
• George's book 'Progress and Poverty' sold over three million copies worldwide.
• George once begged for food and considered robbing a stranger, who instead gave him five dollars.
• George's daughter Anna Angela George was the mother of dancer and choreographer Agnes de Mille.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Lecture delivered at the Metropolitan Temple in San Francisco on 26 March 1878." — Henry George "There are people into whose heads it never enters to conceive of any better state of society than that which now exists." — Henry George "How can a man be said to have a country where he has no right to a square inch of soil..." — Henry George "Trade has ever been the extinguisher of war, the eradicator of prejudice, the diffuser of knowledge." — Henry George