ABSTRACT
Colonial elites in London and America struggled for control over these elements of land use. If land use was something that Americans from all levels of society were equipped to discuss, everyone relied on the knowledge of a surveyor. The business of surveying frontier regions could be a dangerous one. In 1671, a letter to the Lords Proprietors from the Carolina council reinforced their poor impression of the surveyor. The creation of 'plantations' in the American landscape represents a significant intellectual and economic leap in the development of the early colonies. The process of choosing a good plot was more difficult than many anticipated. The form of language used on legal land documents was fixed in Carolina law in the 1695 'Archdale's Law' over quitrents. The settlers themselves refused to see 'plantations' as a communal entity and instead strove for independent land ownership. The Privy Council, the Governor or the local Assembly periodically acted to bring land distribution back.
