ABSTRACT
Because human beings are fated to live mostly on the surface of the earth, the pattern of entitlements to use land is a central issue in social organization. As the epigraphs suggest, this issue has been the subject of fierce ideological controversy. Blackstone’s paean to private property comports with the mainstream Anglo-American exaltation of decentralized ownership of land. This vision underlies the Homestead Acts, the Jeffersonian wish for a polity of yeoman farmers, and the American dream of homeownership. Defenders of private ownership of land argue that it promotes individual liberty, political stability, and economic prosperity. Indeed, some economic historians have identified the emergence of freehold land tenure in Western Europe after the Dark Ages as a major source of the great release of energy that ensued there. 3
