Rendezvous with Destiny: A History of Modern American Reform

Summary

Rendezvous with Destiny: A History of Modern American Reform is a sweeping history by Eric F. Goldman, first published in 1952 by Alfred A. Knopf (revised abridged edition by Vintage Books). Goldman traces American reform movements from the post-Civil War era through the New Deal and Fair Deal, beginning with the industrialization and urbanization of the late 1860s. The book's title derives from Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1936 speech (Goldman 1952, p.5).

For Georgism, the most relevant sections cover the rise of Henry George and the single-tax movement in the 1870s–1880s, the relationship between single-taxers and Populists in the 1890s, and the broader progressive movement's intellectual lineage. Goldman treats George as a pivotal figure whose Progress and Poverty (1879) gave "alluring simplicity" to the urban discontented (Goldman 1952, p.46). The book documents how George's 1886 New York mayoral campaign, where he "barely missed winning," represented a high-water mark for single-tax political influence (Goldman 1952, p.47).

Core Findings

Henry George and the Depression of 1873 (Ch. 3, pp. 38–39)

Goldman describes George writing Progress and Poverty in his "rugless, ill-heated room" in San Francisco after the depression of 1873. George's core argument, as summarized by Goldman: the US had been a "wondrous land of opportunity only because of its vast area of public lands," and as the public domain was used up, "the New World was beginning to repeat the Old World's dismal story" of "rigid economic and social stratification" (Goldman 1952, p.39). George argued that the "general intelligence, the general comfort... have sprung from unfenced land" (Goldman 1952, p.39).

The Single-Tax Movement's Pervasive Influence (Ch. 4, pp. 46–47)

Goldman documents the single-tax movement as "having a pervasive effect" on urban reform politics in the 1880s. He describes George's proposal: "a 'single tax' on the increase in the value of land as communities grew up around it. This increase, George argued, was totally unearned; taxing it one hundred per cent would smash concentrated wealth and spread the national wealth around" (Goldman 1952, p.46). The official Knights of Labor organ testified in 1887: "No man has exercised so great an influence upon the labor movement of to-day as Henry George" (Goldman 1952, p.47).

George's 1886 NYC Mayoral Campaign (Ch. 4, p. 47)

In 1886, "single-taxers, socialists, union members, and thousands of citizens who were just plain irritated supported Henry George with such fervor that he barely missed winning the mayorship of New York; a rising young liberal named Theodore Roosevelt ran third" (Goldman 1952, p.47).

Single-Tax vs. Populist Tensions (Ch. 4, pp. 58–59)

Goldman documents significant friction between single-taxers and Populists. George was "opposed on principle to the Populist demand for extensive governmental controls over economic life. He wanted the federal government to take the drastic step of imposing the single tax, but he believed this one move would reopen opportunity without requiring any further governmental interferences" (Goldman 1952, p.59). In 1892, George supported Cleveland and "urged his followers not to vote Populist" (Goldman 1952, p.59).

George "was always close to believing himself a special emissary of God, showed little of the give-and-take necessary for successful political coalition" (Goldman 1952, p.58).

Reform Intellectuals and the "Steel Chain of Ideas" (Ch. 5, pp. 78–79)

Goldman argues that dominant groups "had, quite unconsciously, picked from among available theories the ones that best protected their position and had impressed these ideas on the national mind as Truth" (Goldman 1952, p.78). He describes the conservative "steel chain of ideas" — Ricardian "iron law of wages," Malthusian population theory, Social Darwinism, and "natural rights" to property — that blocked progressive reform, including land reform (Goldman 1952, p.79). This framework directly connects to Georgist critiques of classical economics as serving landed interests.

Rauschenbusch and the Social Gospel (later chapters)

Goldman notes that Walter Rauschenbusch, a leading Social Gospel figure, "began with an emphasis on the single tax and co-operatives" before moving toward "a variety of Christian socialism" (Goldman 1952, [VERIFY page]). This illustrates the single-tax movement's influence beyond economics into religious reform circles.

Policy Recommendations

Goldman's book is a work of history, not advocacy, but it documents the policy positions of the movements it covers:

• Single tax on land values: George's proposal for 100% taxation of unearned land value increments (Goldman 1952, p.46)
• Minimal government intervention: George believed the single tax alone would "reopen opportunity without requiring any further governmental interferences" (Goldman 1952, p.59)
• Anti-free-silver position: George supported Cleveland and opposed the Populist free-silver agenda (Goldman 1952, p.59)

Nuances and Limits

• Goldman wrote from within the liberal tradition; he describes himself as "part of the 'liberal' tradition" (Goldman 1952, p.8), which shapes his treatment of radical movements
• The book is a general reform history, not a Georgist text; George and the single tax appear as one thread among many
• Goldman characterizes George's personality critically ("close to believing himself a special emissary of God"), which may reflect Goldman's liberal reformer perspective rather than George's actual self-conception [VERIFY]
• The abridged Vintage edition may omit material relevant to Georgism present in the original Knopf edition

Key Quotes

"The demoralizations of war — a spirit of gambling adventure, engendered by false [inflationary] systems of public finance; a grasping centralism, absorbing all functions from the local authorities, and assuming to control the industries of individuals by largesses to favored classes from the public treasury — were then, as now, characteristics of the period." — Samuel Tilden, Ch. 3 'Thrust from the Top', p. 26

"The beneficiaries of Congressional grants of the public property... the corporations whose hopes and fears are appealed to by the measures of the government... the rapacious hordes of carpetbaggers who have plundered the impoverished people of the South... have become numerous and powerful beyond any example in our country. For the first time in our national history such classes have become powerful enough to aspire to be in America the ruling classes, as they have been and are in the corrupt societies of the Old World." — Samuel Tilden, Ch. 3 'Thrust from the Top', p. 26

"The usual aristocrat of 1870 had little direct connection with industrial America. His money was inherited and had probably been made in land or in commerce rather than from operations associated closely with the factory system." — Goldman, Ch. 3 'Thrust from the Top', p. 28

"The 'chief evil' of the day was 'the alliance between industrialists and a political class which thinks like industrialists.' Civil-service reform would end the ability of politicians to entrench themselves in power and to sell the perquisites of power to men for whom 'the pursuit of happiness' means the pursuit of wealth." — Charles Bonaparte, quoted by Goldman, Ch. 3, p. 28

"In 1801 Jefferson had found the solution. He restored the rights of the States and the localities. He repressed the meddling of government in the concerns of private business. He enforced, by precept and by example, purity and bitterestedness in official life. The reformatory work of Mr. Jefferson must now be repeated." — Samuel Tilden, Ch. 3 'Thrust from the Top', p. 27

"Reform as an unbusiness, almost antibusiness assertion of aristocracy, reform as the program of a business-minded man like Tilden — the dissidence within the Best People started from different bases and aimed toward different goals, but it joined in a drive against what both groups abhorred as 'Grantism.'" — Goldman, Ch. 3 'Thrust from the Top', p. 29

Bears On

• Henry George — extensive biographical and political context
• Single Tax — the movement's history as documented by Goldman
• Single-Tax Narrative — primary historical source for this narrative
• Land Speculation — George's argument about land monopoly
• The Corruption of Economics — Goldman's "steel chain of ideas" framework
• Community Creates Land Value — George's core thesis as summarized by Goldman

See Also

• Henry George
• Single Tax
• Single-Tax Narrative
• The Corruption of Economics
• Tom L. Johnson

Sources

1. Eric F. Goldman, Rendezvous with Destiny: A History of Modern American Reform (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1952; revised abridged ed., Vintage Books, 1956). — primary source for all claims
2. Henry George, Progress and Poverty (1879) — the work Goldman describes George writing during the depression of 1873.
3. Journal of the Knights of Labor (1887) — quoted by Goldman, p.47, testifying to George's influence.