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One topic that does not get the attention it deserves is land ownership patterns. This is is imprtabt becay=use with the Agricultural Revolution into the 20th century, agriculture was the primary economic activity impacting the vast majority of humans on earth. While the Agricultural Revolution began (about 8000 BC), it took millennia to spread around the world. (The world is a complicated place, but from a very early point we see land ownership becoming concentrated in the hands of elites and the people actually doing the arduous work of farming descending into the status of a landless peasantry. As societies developed, elites for the most part appear to have decided that slavery was not the optimal societal pattern, but a landless peasantry was better suited to maintaining societal order, although not necessarily the system tailored to maximizing productive. We know a good deal about Sumer and Egypt. Nothing is known about Harapa. We are still assessing China. After the first river valley civilizations, the world becomes a much more complicated place. Agricultyure was the primary economic activiry supporting human society since thev Agricultural Revolution. Itb is known that the rural population only sustained a meager existence, one reason for that was technology. But the other reason that needs to be explained is that the great bulk of farmers did not own the land that they farmed., not only in the ancient world but for
modern society as well. And while information is lacking about many ancient civiklizations. We know much more about the more modern era, including feudal, eary modern, industrial, and modern eras.
Civilization began with for river valley civilizations -- Sumer, Egypt, Harapa, and China. Except for Harapa (Indus Valley civilization) we have information on the general pattern of land ownenership in these civilizations. After these first four civilazations, the world becomes a much more complicated place. We see vilizatiins spingin up through out the known world as well as civilzations in the America that were unknown to Europeans. These include both major civilaztion as well as many smaller ones. We have information on some of these socities, but others are basically unknown, especially the smaller ones. We note that many internet write- ups, just ignore the subject. Given that agriculture was the economic base for almost all of these civilzations, e believe that this is a topic that should be addressed. The general pattern was farming being done by a landless peasantry. The basic exception was classical Greece and Rome.
Land onership in Amer-Indian society was limited. The three major Indian civilizations encountered by the Spanish were the Aztecsb and the the Maya in what is now Mexico and Guatemala, and the Inca in Peru and Bolivia. (16th century).
Meso-America produced two of the major Ameri-Indian civilizations the Spanish encountertred. .
The Aztecs could own Land. This was often handled, however, through communities (calpolli) whuch then parceled out small plots to individual families. Farmers could also be resident tenants (mayeque) on large estates owned aistocrats and religious institutions. The Azetecs thanks to volcanic activity in the central highlands benefitted from extremely productive soil. Even today, tyhe most highly popuklated areas of Mexico is gthe colcanic belt accrroos central Mexico.
Most of the Mayan commoners worked the land to produce the food needed by the population. This was a challnge in a society unlike Mexican highlands did not have much fertile land and rainfall was limted. Mayan extended families lived together and worked communal fiels, often for the imprtant corn crop. Induivuidual nuclear families had garden plots, rather like the Soviet system. Inn these family plots, Mayans could grow different kinds of vegetables and fruits. The garden was mostly used to farm crops other thnn corn todffed the family such as squah and beans. These nucvler family garden plots were usually tended by the women. The men looked after the extended family corn crop was tended by the men who also hunted. Unklikw the Aztecs and Inca, the Maya were not a society with a centralized society. This made them the most difficult to conquer.
The Andes were different. Unlike other eraly civilzations, the Inca did not grow out of fertile river valleys--but the high Andes. The Inca for example owned the land -- virtually the only essentially Communist society that ever worked. The Incan populatio was composed mostly of self-sufficient farmers who grew corn, potatoes, squash, as well, as llamas, alpacas and dogs. There was no money so taxes were paid through public labor--the mita. The Inca theoretically owned all the land as well as all means of production. In return, he granting access to land and goods to the populatiion. The Inca also provided providing food and drink for a range of celebratory feasts.
【Morris and von Hagen, pp. 48–58.】
After the conquest, a small number of Spanish and Criollo families owned most of the land and this continued into the 20th century. There were many more smaller Amer-Indian civilizations, both historically and at the time of the conquest.
After the ancient era, we know much more about land ownership. Americans and Europeans tend to think of the Feudal Era as an European pphenonenon. The Feudal Era developed in Asia and the Middle East as wel.
The Feudal Era is often dismissed, but it was veery long period. basically, 1,000 years. And we do know about land ownership. The core of the Eropean Feudal system because agriculture was so important was that the peasantry that worked the land was tied to it, but did not own it. This appears to have been a common trit of all feudal systems, but not all. An Indian reascher reports that, "There is no indication that in ancient India cultivators were
tied to the soil like the European serfs. They enjoyed the freedom to migrate to another state if they were
oppressed. This right is implied in the texts of the early medieval period." 【Gopal】
There is a rough continuity beacuse gun poweder weaonry mean that central authorities could easily reduce the castles of the feudal lords. The buboic plague in Europe also changed the barganing power of the peasantry. All of this of course varied fron cegiion to region and over time. The standard feudal system involved lords and vassals with the lords ownin the kand. There were free some peasant farmers or communal land ownership based on historic right and arrangements acquired duruing the feudal era.
Not only did the American Revloution result in ordinary citizens for the first time choosing their leaders. But is also resulted in the United States basing it economic system on small family farms. For the first time in history since the cassical era, the bulk of the population could actually own the land they worked--the Northwest Ordinance (1787). The American Revolution was influential in launching the French Revolution (1789). The great gift of the French Revolution was land for the peasantry, but that was not a common pattern in Europe. Of course , the American Revolution did not get everything right. The primary failure was slavery which consituted 10-15 percent of the population. But after 10,000 years of ivilation, can you really condemn America for only solving 85-90 percent of society's basic problem. And immediatly after the the creation of the new country, one syateafterbanother began emanicaping slves--in the North. It would take the Civil War yp emancipate southern slaves. But During he Civil War, the dreamlof land oenership was extended beyond that of the Nothwerest Ordiance to the entire West with the Homested Act (1862).
Now fast forward to modern times for which land ownership patterns are known. Even in England dominated by the middle class in the 19th century, most of the rural population was landless and the aristocratic owners were actively busy throwing them off the land.
Notice that all the great revolutions of the 20th century were about land or the land was
a major part of the Revolution. Land was the core of the Mexican Revolution. Notice how important Zapata and Villa were--basically two peasant leaders. Lenin's propaganda was "peace, bread, and land". We do not know a lot about China, but my understanding is that the Chinese peasantry was largely landless although tied to the land.
Landlords of course were primary targets when the Communists seized
power.
Gopal, Lallanji. Quasi maiorial rights in Ancient India," Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Decembr, 1963), pp 296-308. Gopal sites passages from the Mahdbhdrata (XII. 89. 24.) and the the Bibur-ndma>/i> (II, p. 488).
Morris, Craig and Adrianna von Hagen. The Incas (London: Thames & Hudson, 2011).
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