An English legal structure begins to emerge that identifies ownership of land and "property" as existing in the hands of a private person as opposed to being dedicated by the King to a private person. This means that an individual can transfer ownership to another individual, rather than needing to get the King’s approval.

While this begins at the end of the 13th century, there will be back and forth debate around the meaning of private ownership that continues to evolve over the next 200 years. By the 1500s, with the early colonization of the "Americas" and the rapid expansion of the Empire, the right to own property and pass it to descendants (inheritance) will stabilize as a legal principle that is then carried with colonists to Turtle Island.