Land and Liberty in American Civil Society

Abstract

Americans have relied upon freehold land ownership as one of the bases for maintaining individual liberty, adapting different forms of land ownership to that end under different circumstances as the economy, settlement patterns, and general environment have changed through four successive frontier stages of American history. This article identifies the relationship between each frontier stage and prevailing patterns of land ownership as they relate to the maintenance of liberty. These patterns are further delineated by the different political subcultural groupings within the United States, beginning with the distinctive forms of land ownership and organization in New England, the Middle Atlantic states, the South, and the Spanish Southwest. The first three patterns have applied across the American continent, while the fourth has had to find means to survive within the dominant Anglo pattern that invaded the territory covered by the Spanish system. The article notes the relationship between these patterns and federal and state land law and the parallels between those patterns and the biblical approach to land organization and control. It also notes the special importance of land ownership and organization in a polity organized around the principles of territorial democracy.