The Landlord's Game By Elizabeth Magie

"I am thankful that I was taught how to think and not what to think."(“The Landlord’s Game”) This was a quote from Elizabeth Magie, and it is a great representation of how she was so optimistic. It also shows how she tried to believe in what she thought was correct. Could you imagine not having fun board games, such as Monopoly? Monopoly is a market structured game that focuses on purchasing and selling unique products, which was found in the article “Definition of Monopoly”. According to Kate Raworth, “Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism.” Elizabeth Magie was an amazing and influential inventor who had an interesting life, great inventions and accomplishments, and even had her very own idea stolen from her.

“Born in 1866, Magie was an outspoken rebel against the normal and politics of her time.

She was unmarried into her 40s, independent and proud of it, and she made her point with a publically stunt.”(Raworth) Elizabeth Magie was born and raised in Macomb, Illinois.(Adelson) In her later years, she became a game designer, stenographer, short story and poetry writer, comedian, actress, engineer, and newspaper reporter. (Adelson) However, Magie is best known for being an inventor with her creation of The Landlord's Game. “On January of 1904, Elizabeth Magie was granted the US patent for her "The Landlord's Game". Although her game might be, in parts, similar to Monopoly, there are some differences.” (Pilon) This was because Monopoly was her original invention, and it was later stolen from

her.

During the end of the 19th century, Elizabeth Magie created what is known as ¨The Landlord's Game¨. According to Kate Raworth, “Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism.” Elizabeth Magie was known for more than just this amazing game, but she wrote stories as well. ¨Lizzie published a short story titled ¨For the Benefit of the Poor¨ in January 1895 issue of Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, one of the more prominent and popular journals of her time, counting Henry James among its contributions.” (Pilon) ”During the intervening years, she twice contacted Charles Parker of Parker Brothers and offered her game for publication. Parker was put off by the games complexity and its obvious political connotations (Georgist theories had fallen out of favor by then), and politely told her thanks, but no thanks.)” (McKinney) Overall, Elizabeth Magie was a talented inventor, who excelled in many fields.

Although now we know the original inventor of Monopoly, for a long time Elizabeth Magie wasn't credited for ¨The Landlord's Game¨.

According to the article “Stealing Monopoly”, “What seems to have gone unnoticed by all but a handful of legal scholars and pop historians is that Charles Darrow was the point man for an ongoing rip off. You see, he flat out stole the original idea of the game from a woman named Lizzie Magie, who in 1903 set out to give us a concrete lesson in Georgist economic theory.” Charles Darrow was mainly capable of giving himself credit for so long, because during Magie’s inventing years, she consulted with Charles Darrow twice and offered her game for publication, but he declined because he thought that “The Landlord’s Game” was to complex.(“Stealing Monopoly”) Elizabeth Magie was just recently discovered as the inventor of Monopoly, and before most people had never heard of her

before.

In conclusion, Elizabeth Magie is a very well accomplished person who is very talented in many fields. Her invention of “The Landlord’s Game” or more better known as “Monopoly” has had such a large impact on life today. Monopoly gives a great insight on real life economy and how politics work for children. Also, Monopoly has greatly affected the way that other board games have been made. Elizabeth Magie was an amazing and influential inventor who had an interesting life, had great inventions and accomplishments, and even had her very own idea stolen from her.