An American Law of Property

Abstract

This chapter discusses the history of American property law, covering the law of private land, the law of mortgages, succession, and intellectual property. In America, land was at first the basic form of wealth, in the colonies and also in the new land west of the coastal strip. After 1787, the vast stock of public land was both a problem and a great opportunity. The states transferred millions and millions of acres to the national government. The Louisiana Purchase brought millions more into national ownership. Much of this land did not clearly belong to the government—there were state claims, claims of native tribes, and early land grants. Untangling this mess was a serious, and long-lasting problem. Nonetheless, the federal domain, even taking all these conflicting claims into account, was vast.