George, Henry (1839–97), left his middle‐class, devoutly Episcopalian Philadelphia home (1855) to sail as a foremast boy to Calcutta, where he was struck by the contrast between poverty and wealth. In 1857 the promise of work drew him to San Francisco, where he struggled against want intermittently for ten years, as printer, gold hunter, publisher, and freelance editor and author, observing the rich new country come gradually under the control of a few land‐hungry speculators. His first article in the
Overland Monthly (Oct. 1868) anticipated his later thesis, contending that the railroads would bring riches to a few and poverty to many. His first separate publication,
Our Land and Land Policy (1871), a pamphlet, urged that we “charge the expenses of government upon our land,” thus stating the essence of the single‐tax idea. During the depression and labor troubles of 1877 he began writing his great work,
Progress and Poverty (1879), which attributes poverty to rent, and proposes a tax on land as the remedy for social ills. This doctrine, developed in six other books, numerous periodicals, and his own weekly,
The Standard (1886–92), won national prominence for its author, as well as the support of labor in his two unsuccessful New York mayoralty campaigns.
The Irish Land Question (1881) extends his basic tenets to the subject of Irish distress, which he saw at first hand for a year.
Social Problems (1884) applies the principles of
Progress and Poverty to various social maladjustments.
Protection or Free Trade (1886) is a discussion of tariffs and free trade, stating George's belief that poverty would continue under either system, and that a single tax on land would furnish the only solution.
Science of Political Economy (1897) is a general restatement of his principles. George lectured extensively in the U.S. and abroad, and in England influenced the circle of intellectuals who later founded the Fabian Society. In Germany and Austria his theories contributed to the introduction of increment taxes, while in the U.S. they have led to an increasing concern with problems of wealth distribution.
