ABSTRACT
The watchwords of nineteenth-century liberalism were freedom and liberty. These applied first of all to people-or at least to men-but not to them alone. Property, particularly landed property, also had to be freed from the constraints of the Old Regime. One of the tasks of the liberal revolution was the creation of private property. As it affected the land this protracted liberal revolution had three main points: the abolition of entail, the disentailment of all land held in mortmain and the abolition of the seigneuries. This was achieved by 1840 and for virtually a century the reign of private property was questioned only by those who wanted more. Only under the Second Republic would those in power try to mount a challenge to private property.
