Who is Henry George from Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans and what is their importance?

Henry George was a 19th century political economist. Interested in the "Chinese question", he decided to analyze Chinese immigration and how it affected American capitalism. George grew up in California during the period where Chinese immigration was at its highest. He studied the reasons they immigrated, their part in building the railroads, and the way in which the Chinese had a large population of workers who were willing to work longer hours for lower wages. Because of this, George considered them a threat. He saw that they were not assimilating, as most of the Chinese planned on returning home. His research led him to author the book titled, Progress and Poverty An Inquiry into the Cause of Industrial Depressions and of Increased of Want with Increase of Wealth: The Remedy, which was published in 1879. The book took ten years to write and was cited in the debate for Chinese exclusion.