Homestead principle
Encyclopedia
The homestead principle in law is the concept that one can gain ownership of a natural thing that currently has no owner by using it or building something out of it. Along with self-ownership
, the right to homestead is one of the foundations of Deontological libertarianism
.
published "A Essay Concerning the true original, extent, and end of Civil Government", commonly known as his "Second Treatise On Government" , in which he supports the homestead principle. From his "Second Treatise":
Murray Rothbard
argues in his work Justice and Property Rights that "All existing property titles may be considered just under the homestead principle, provided
that physically claiming the land (e.g. by fencing it in or prominently staking it out) should be enough to obtain good title:
Self-ownership
Self-ownership is the concept of property in one's own person, expressed as the moral or natural right of a person to be the exclusive controller of his own body and life. According to G...
, the right to homestead is one of the foundations of Deontological libertarianism
Deontological libertarianism
Deontological libertarianism refers to the view that all acts of initiation of force and fraud should be opposed because they are always immoral regardless of the effects of engaging in them...
.
Mixing labor with land
In 1690, John LockeJohn Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
published "A Essay Concerning the true original, extent, and end of Civil Government", commonly known as his "Second Treatise On Government" , in which he supports the homestead principle. From his "Second Treatise":
Murray Rothbard
Murray Rothbard
Murray Newton Rothbard was an American author and economist of the Austrian School who helped define capitalist libertarianism and popularized a form of free-market anarchism he termed "anarcho-capitalism." Rothbard wrote over twenty books and is considered a centrally important figure in the...
argues in his work Justice and Property Rights that "All existing property titles may be considered just under the homestead principle, provided
- (a) that there may never be any property in people;
- (b) that the existing property owner did not himself steal the property; and particularly
- (c) that any identifiable owner (the original victim of theft or his heir) must be accordedContractA contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
his property".
Fencing
Linda and Morris Tannehill argue in The Market for LibertyThe Market for Liberty
The Market for Liberty is an anarcho-capitalist book written by Linda and Morris Tannehill, which according to Karl Hess has become "something of a classic." It was preceded by the self-published Liberty via the Market in 1969. Mary Ruwart credits the Tannehills and their book with winning her over...
that physically claiming the land (e.g. by fencing it in or prominently staking it out) should be enough to obtain good title:
Homesteading laws by governments
In the 19th century, a number of governments formalized the homestead principle by passing laws that would grant property of land plots of certain standardized size to people who would settle on it and "improve" it in certain ways (typically, built their residence and started to farm at least a certain fraction of the land). Typically, such laws would apply to territories recently taken from its indigenous inhabitants, and which the state would want to have populated by farmers. Examples:- United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
: Florida Armed Occupation ActArmed Occupation ActThe Florida Armed Occupation Act of 1842 was passed as an incentive to populate Florida. The Act granted 160 acres of unsettled land south of the line separating townships 9 and 10 South....
(1842), Homestead ActHomestead ActA homestead act is one of three United States federal laws that gave an applicant freehold title to an area called a "homestead" – typically 160 acres of undeveloped federal land west of the Mississippi River....
(1862) - CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
: Dominion Lands ActDominion Lands ActThe Dominion Lands Act was an 1872 Canadian law that aimed to encourage the settlement of Canada's Prairie provinces. It was closely based on the United States Homestead Act, setting conditions in which the western lands could be settled and their natural resources developed...
(1872) - AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
: Crown Lands ActsRobertson Land ActsThe Crown Lands Acts 1861 were introduced by the New South Wales Premier, John Robertson, in 1861 to reform land holdings and in particular to break the squatters' domination of land tenure...
(1861)
See also
- AssartingAssartingAssarting is the act of clearing forested lands for use in agriculture or other purposes. In English law, it was illegal to assart any part of a Royal forest...
- Homestead exemptionHomestead exemptionHomestead exemption is a legal regime designed to protect the value of the homes of residents from property taxes, creditors, and circumstances arising from the death of the homeowner spouse...
- HomesteadingHomesteadingBroadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of simple self-sufficiency.-Current practice:The term may apply to anyone who follows the back-to-the-land movement by adopting a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle. While land is no longer freely available in most areas of the world, homesteading...
- Positive lawPositive lawPositive law is the term generally used to describe man-made laws which bestow specific privileges upon, or remove them from, an individual or group...
- Possession as nine-tenths of the law
- SeasteadingSeasteadingSeasteading is the concept of creating permanent dwellings at sea, called seasteads, outside the territories claimed by the governments of any standing nation....