Private Land in the United States

In the early days of this country, it was common practice to hunt and fish on private land if it wasn't enclosed by a fence. Americans who were unenslaved, we had the right to roam from the colonial days up until the civil war. In an 18 62 essay entitled walking, henry david thoreau wrote that he feared that one day walking over the surface of god's earth shall be construed to mean trespassing on some gentleman's grounds. Kennel guna says, our concept of private property began to change just a few years later after the end of slavery.