Conceived in Liberty Volume 2 - Ludwig von Mises Institute

manor (the "highland patent") began with a grant by Governor Benjamin
Fletcher in 1697; the grant soon amounted to over 200,000 acres, covering
some of Dutchess County and almost all of Putnam County. The Philipse
manorial system was highly oppressive. Leases lasted only for the life of the
tenant, at which point the land, along with its improvements, reverted to the
manor lord. If any tenant wished to transfer his tenancy to another, he was
forced to pay a one-third alienation fee. In addition, all property of mines
and minerals was reserved for Philipse.
The Van Rensselaer manor of Rensselaerswyck was, of course, the pioneer
manor in the colony, having been the only holdover from the Dutch policy of
creating feudal patroonships. Amassing one million acres and covering most
of Albany County by the turn of the century, Rensselaer leases were even
shorter term than Philipse's, amounting to a thirteen-year term. Rents were
exacted in kind and in service, as in the Middle Ages, as well as in money.
The manorial lord also reserved all rights of milling and mining and timber,
and the tenants were liable for all taxes on the manor. But while the tenants
paid the taxes, the lord, Van Rensselaer, virtually had the right to pick his
own assemblymen by the 1680s. The tenants who voted in this and other
manorial elections had, it should be noted, no such protection from landlord
wrath as the secret ballot.
Livingston manor began with a grant in the 1680s, and was stretched, like
the other grants, through dubious legality from Indian purchases to include
160,000 acres in Columbia County. Robert Livingston, the original grantee,
was fortunate enough to marry the widow of his former employer, the Van
Rensselaer patroon, and later rose to become Speaker of the New York
Assembly and mayor of Albany. Livingston had his own assemblymen from
1715 on. Livingston's rules were slightly more liberal than those of others.
Terms of leases varied, but most ranged from life to the lives of three generations
of tenants. In contrast to the other large manors, some subdivisions were
actually sales of property in fee simple to the farmers. As in the other cases,
tenants were responsible for payment of taxes.
Van Cortlandt manor, which began with 86,000 acres of Westchester
County granted in 1697, was the most liberal of the large manors, especially
after the 1750s. For one thing, the Van Cortlandts were the most willing to
sell their land in fee simple—for a high price, of course, but at least they
were willing. In addition, the lot of the tenant was greatly eased by permitting
transfer of leases with almost no alienation fees. Furthermore, the Van
Cortlandts, allowed their own assemblymen after 1717, permitted their freeholders
on the manor to select an additional representative. Most important,
the process of subdividing the ownership of Van Cortlandt lands was greatly
accelerated by equal division among their heirs. Alone of the large manors,
the Van Cortlandts eschewed the privileges of entail and primogeniture. With
the combined pressure of subdividing inheritance and sales in fee simple, the
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