Introduction

Abstract

Henry George came to maturity at a time when the simplicity and democratic values that had governed the United States were under assault. Slow and placid rhythms of life prevailed, but their future would be brief. Factories were flinging mass-produced goods into an economy accustomed to expecting a hat or a pair of shoes to come to an individual consumer from a local craftsman, or perhaps from a merchant drawing craft products from small shops at some distance. Canals and then rail tracks had begun slicing into the backcountry. Cities were taking on a character Americans might more quickly have expected of ancient times: overcrowded housing, uncollected sewage, the ravages of cholera, and the spread of street crime.

Citation

Wenzer, K.C. (2009), "Introduction", Wenzer, K.C. (Ed.) Henry George, the Transatlantic Irish, and their Times (Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, Vol. 27 Part 2), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. xv-liii. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0743-4154(2009)000027B014