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Single tax movement leader Joseph Fels, 1910.
Credit: Library of Congress
After Henry George’s death in 1897, leadership of the single tax movement was assumed by Philadelphia soap manufacturer Joseph Fels, who helped found a number of cooperative communities, including the Rose Valley Arts and Crafts Community in Chester County, Pa. In 1916 Fels helped launch single-tax campaigns in a number of states, including California, where the state legislature passed a law that based more than 70 percent of state taxes on land.