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Definition: public land from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary

(1789) : land owned by a government; specif : that part of the U.S. public domain subject to sale or disposal under the homestead laws

public land

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
in U.S. history, land owned by the federal government but not reserved for any special purpose, e.g., for a park or a military reservation. Public land is also called land in the public domain. Except in Texas, which made retention of its public lands one of the conditions for joining the Union, there are no state public lands. Seven of the original states ceded their western lands to the federal government when they entered the Union. Additional public land was acquired with the Louisiana Purchase (1803), Florida (1819), Oregon (1846), the Mexican Cession (1848), the Gadsden Purchase (1853), and Alaska (1867). Almost as soon as public land was acquired the federal government began to dispose of it through grants to states, railroad companies, settlers (see Homestead Act , 1862), colleges (see land-grant colleges and universities ), and cash sales. It was charged that large companies frequently acquired extensive holdings by dishonest means, and many of the new owners obtained…
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Full text Article public land

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
in U.S. history, land owned by the federal government but not reserved for any special purpose, e.g., for a park or a military reservation. Public land is also called land in the public domain. Except in Texas, which made retention of its public lands one of the conditions for joining the Union, …
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Full text Article Public Land

From AllSides Red Blue Dictionary
For some, public land is a way to preserve precious natural resources and wilderness in the face of ever-expanding development within a larger economic system otherwise oblivious to the value of these resources. For others, the term "public land" evokes a government intrusion that is hostile to…
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Full text Article PUBLIC LAND POLICY

From The Reader's Companion to American History
The great abundance of land in the area that eventually became the United States was the most important factor in determining national land policies. In 1790 the new nation contained 568,839,040 acres, but as a result of the Louisiana Purchase (1803), the Mexican Cession (1848), and other…
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Full text Article Public Land Policy

From The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Business, Labor, and Economic History
In a country in which private property is a sacred ideal, the federal government has, ironically, always been the nation's largest landowner. Following the lead of European imperialism, the United States through purchase, negotiation, treaty, and war acquired a vast territory from France, Spain, …
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1. Introduction 2. Energy for All? 3. General Phases of Public Land Administration 4. Establishing the Legal Framework 5. Making Legal Exception: Native American Communities 6. History of Energy Development on Public Land 7. Debating Ownership: The Sagebrush Rebellion…
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Full text Article public land

From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary
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Full text Article public land

From Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law
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Full text Article public lands

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Lands belonging to the US federal government that are not otherwise reserved for specific purposes, such as public recreation, conservation, or military use. After 1862, people were able to homestead on designated public lands. Much public land was also granted to the railway companies that opened…
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Full text Article Land Policy

From Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History
Land policy refers to the government's approach to the maintenance and distribution of public lands. The need for public land policy in the United States arose with the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783), which ended the Revolutionary War (1775–83) and transferred to the United States all British…
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(līsĭn'ēӘs), Roman plebeian gens, of which several men were noteworthy. Caius Licinius Calvus Stolo , fl. 375 B.C. , was tribune of the people with Lucius Sextius. Roman historians attributed to him a number of laws, but most of these were probably made at later dates. These laws, the Licinian…
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