Alien Land Law in New York State 1789-1860

The first chapter of this study surveys the origins of the English common law rules of alien landholding and their applications in early New York. The second and third chapters briefly describe the development of the alien land law in New York, both as a colony and a fledgling state. The fourth chapter traces the legislative growth of the alien land law from 1820 to 1860 while the fifth and final chapter examines how the alien land law was treated by the courts during this same period. Since the nature of this study necessitates the use of technical legal terminology, a glossary has been appended.

Digitization of this thesis was made possible by a generous grant from the Jefferson Trust, 2015.