Buffalo Law Review Volume 29 Number 2 Article 2 4-1-1980 The New Property of the Nineteenth Century: The Development of the Modern Concept of Property Kenneth J. Vandevelde Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Kampelman Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/buffalolawreview Part of the Legal History Commons, Legal Theory Commons, and the Property Law and Real Estate Commons Recommended Citation Kenneth J. Vandevelde, The New Property of the Nineteenth Century: The Development of the Modern Concept of Property, 29 Buff. L. Rev. 325 (1980). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/buffalolawreview/vol29/iss2/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Buffalo Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE NEW PROPERTY OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN CONCEPT OF PROPERTY KENNETH J. VANDEVELDE* INTRODUCTION "There is nothing which so generally strikes the imagination and engages the affections of mankind, as the right of property .... " wrote William Blackstone in 1765.1 Two centuries after Blackstone wrote, Charles Reich's highly influential article "The New Property,"2 argued that property is the indispensable founda- tion of the free individual in the modern welfare state.$ While the concept of property has been central to the development of both public4 and private law during the history of the United States, the meaning of the term "property" has changed radically.