Henry George was a well-known American political economist in the nineteenth century who influenced politics and eco-political views. He was a brilliant writer who created a number of theories, economic ideologies, and political ideologies. Henry George founded a new philosophical/economic system known as Georgism, which promoted the idea that while an individual owned all he/she created, everything natural, such as land, belonged to all humans and should be shared and possessed equally. He is also noted for his 1879 book ‘Progress and Poverty,’ which is considered a classic. Henry George was a guiding light in politics and economics because he proposed the land value tax, which is a single tax levy on land. He was a powerful politician and a brilliant economist who brought about significant changes such as free trade, Chinese immigration restrictions in the United States to improve employment opportunities, state ownership of natural resources, and state management of natural monopolies. Henry George was a powerful public speaker and writer who advocated for land access and helped to build political bridges between the public and the government.
Childhood and Adolescence
Henry George was born in Philadelphia on September 2, 1839. Richard Samuel Henry George, a staunch Episcopalian and second-generation immigrant from England was his father. He began his career as a dry goods merchant and customhouse clerk before becoming a vestryman at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and beginning to print Sunday school books.
Catharine Pratt George (née Vallance), his father’s second wife, was his mother. He married her several years after his first wife died, with whom he had two children, both of whom died as children.
Henry was the second of 10 children born to his parents. He had five younger sisters named Jane, Catherine, Chloe, Mary, and Rebecca, as well as three younger brothers named Thomas, John, and Morris, in addition to an elder sister named Caroline. Mary and Rebecca were two of them who perished as children.
Henry was raised in a puritanical environment since he was a child. Both the Episcopal Church and the Democratic Party were instilled in him by his parents. Even though he later despised slavery and voted for Republicans, he maintained Episcopalian sympathies throughout his life.
Henry George attended Mrs. Graham’s Private School until he was nine years old when he transferred to Mount Vernon Grammar School. He entered Episcopal Academy a year later, in 1849. He convinced his father to take him out of school because he couldn’t adjust there.
His father employed Henry Y. Lauderbach as a private teacher to educate him at home. At the same time, he was attending lectures at the Franklin Institute and reading voraciously. He was re-enrolled in high school after a length of time. However, it had little effect on him.
His father’s publishing business had closed by that time, and he was back working as a Custom House clerk. Seeing his father struggle financially, young Henry persuaded his father to pull him out of school and put him to work once more.
Early on in your career
Henry George, at fourteen years old, got a job as a store clerk at china and glass importing firm for $2 a week soon after leaving school, and eventually became a marine claim adjuster. But he continued to read and attend lectures at the Franklin Institute.
He became interested in the sea at some point and, with his father’s consent, set out as a foremast lad aboard the Hindoo, a ship heading for Australia and India, in April 1855. More than money, he was drawn to this life by the prospect of adventure at sea.
He witnessed a sailor’s rebellion on the route to Australia, which made an indelible impression on him. When he returned in June 1856, his father secured him work as a typesetter at $2 per week at Philadelphia’s largest publishing business, which he began in September 1856.
The employment aided him in a variety of ways. He not only learned a trade, but he also improved his spelling, which had been in horrible shape up until that point. He also came into contact with other workers, all of them left an indelible mark on him.
After a disagreement with the foreman, Henry George resigned in June 1857. He subsequently went to work for the Argus newspaper before going to Boston on a coal-laden schooner. Following that, he was successful in obtaining a position as a steward on the United States Light House steamer Shubrick for $40 per month.
He said his goodbyes to his loved ones and sailed the ship for Shubrick on December 22, 1857. They arrived in San Francisco on May 27, 1858, after traveling down the Delaware River and passing over the southernmost point of South America.
As a California journalist,
Henry George, like all other sailors, was forced to sign an article committing him to duty until November 1858. However, by the time he arrived in San Francisco, he had had his fill of marine life. Furthermore, he was swept up in the ‘gold fever’ that was sweeping the country.
Between fruitless gold prospecting attempts, Henry George worked as a laborer at a rice mill until eventually becoming a typesetter for a weekly journal. He received the boy’s money because he was still a juvenile. Despite this, he determined to stay with the diary until he reached the age of majority.
On September 2, 1860, he turned eighteen and joined the Eureka Typographical Union, later working as a replacement typesetter for a daily newspaper. Later, as a foreman, he returned to his weekly notebook, earning $30 per week. Unfortunately, the journal was shut down soon after, and he was out of work once more.
He became a partner in the ‘Evening Journal’ sometime in the early 1960s. He attempted unsuccessfully for four years to resurrect the diary. He lost everything he had in the process.
He began working as a typesetter for ‘Alta California’ in 1865, following a period of great struggle, and afterward moved to the newly-founded ‘The Daily Dramatic Chronicle’ (later renamed as San Francisco Times). He eventually began submitting pieces and eventually became a news and editorial writer.
Henry George was named managing editor of the San Francisco Times in the summer of 1867. He was a vocal critic of railroad and mining interests, as well as corrupt politicians, land speculators, and labor contractors, and he published numerous articles on these topics in various newspapers and journals.
‘What the Railroad Will Bring Us’ was one of the important essays he authored during this time. He wrote in this piece, which appeared in the October 1868 issue of ‘Overland Monthly,’ that economic expansion brings poverty to the many and prosperity to the few.
He went to New York on behalf of ‘The Herald’ at the end of 1868. Here, he experienced the same pattern of technology bringing poverty to the people while bringing prosperity to the few.
He also published ‘The Chinese on the Pacific Coast’ while in New York, defending white workers’ hatred toward Chinese immigrants. When he returned to San Francisco, he was greeted like a hero.
He had piqued the interest of Henry H. Haight, the state governor, and a monopoly crusader, at some point. He had been a Republican at the time but had now switched to the Democrat party, becoming Haight’s advisor and relocating to Sacramento. He was afterward appointed editor of the Sacramento Reporter, the party’s spokesman.
In 1871, he returned to San Francisco and co-founded the ‘San Francisco Newspaper Evening Post,’ an independent Democratic daily with two pals. Despite the fact that it failed as an economic endeavor and closed in 1875, it gave him the opportunity to further develop his reformist views.
He also wrote a paper called ‘Our Land and Land Policy, National and State’ in 1871. He originally articulated his view that rent was the fundamental source of poverty in it. Over the next eight years, he would continue to refine his idea.
Due to the economy, he was compelled to give up his work as a journalist sometime after 1873. He first applied for a newly constructed economics chair at the University of California. When that was denied, the then-Democratic Governor nominated him as state inspector of gas meters.
The employment provided him with enough money to not only support his family but also to devote his full attention to writing. ‘Progress and Poverty: An Inquiry into the Causes of Industrial Depressions and of Increased Want with Increased Wealth: The Remedy,’ he published in 1979.
In New York City,
George moved to New York in 1880. He was already a well-known writer at the time, and he spent his time writing and lecturing, eventually becoming acquainted with the nationalist Irish community known as the ‘Irish World.’ He traveled to Ireland in 1881-1882 on their invitation to research land-related issues in the country.
Following his tour to Ireland, he traveled to London, where he met notable figures such as M. Hyndman, Alfred Russel Wallace, John Morley, and Joseph Chamberlain. He also became friends with Helen Taylor, John Stuart Mill’s literary executor, and offered lectures to men like George Bernard Shaw.
He returned to the United Kingdom in 1884, supported by the ‘Radical Liberals,’ and stayed until 1885. This time, he went to 35 cities and gave 75 addresses.
Henry George became politically involved after returning to New York. He ran for Mayor of New York in 1886, at the request of the United Labor Party, and finished second in the election, receiving more votes than Republican nominee Theodore Roosevelt. He continued to write and wrote a book called ‘Protection of Free Trade.’
In 1887, he ran for the position of Secretary of State of New York
but came in third place. He did, however, continue to be involved in local politics. During this time, he also went on a number of lecture tours, first to the United Kingdom in 1888 and then again in 1889.
He traveled to Australia and New Zealand in 1890. When he returned, he had a stroke, which severely limited his mobility. In 1891, he published ‘A Condition of Labor: An Open Letter to the Pope,’ and in 1892, he published ‘A Perplexed Philosopher.’
Personal History and Legacy
Henry George met Annie Corsina Fox, a seventeen-year-old orphaned girl from Sydney living under the supervision of her grandmother, in October 1860, while still suffering in San Francisco. Her guardians did not approve of the match, so they married eloped sometime in late 1861.
Despite their poverty at the start, they enjoyed a joyful marriage. Henry George Jr., the eldest of their four children, went on to become a well-known politician. Richard F. George, their second child, would go on to become a sculptor. They had two daughters after that, Jennie George and Anna Angela George.
Henry George had his first stroke in 1890. His health continued to deteriorate after that. Despite this, he was encouraged to run for Mayor as an Independent Democrat in the 1897 election. The campaign’s stress caused him to have another stroke, which resulted in his death on October 29, 1897.
On October 30, 1897, an estimated 100,000 people attended his memorial service at Grand Central Palace, but an equal number were detained outside by the police due to a lack of room. 2,000 people accompanied his burial procession later that evening.
His economic philosophy, known as ‘Georgism,’ has inspired generations of scholars, many of whom have used it as a foundation for their theories.
Estimated Net worth
Henry George, a political economist from the United States of America, was a pioneer in the field. He is most known for forming the branch and lobbying for the “single tax.” He has a net worth of $5 million dollars.