INTERESTS IN REAL ESTATE The Allodial and Feudal Systems. The
system of property ownership in most of the United States had
its beginning in the pre-colonial days in England. Through the
centuries, the forms of land ownership have evolved through
common law from ownership of land vested in the sovereign
(Feudal System) to the Allodial System, free and full ownership
by individuals of right in land. Technically, no one owns real
estate, only the rights relative to its use. The concept of
private property ownership as the basis for personal liberty is
diminishing as greater emphasis is placed on the needs of
society as a whole. One of the most significant governmental
actions affecting property in Oklahoma was the decision of the
Continental Congress to sell to private owners the rights of
parts of the vast territories acquired as a result of the
Revolutionary War. A committee worked out a plan, largely
attributed to Thomas Jefferson, for locating and selling land.
The Land Ordinance of 1785 established the Rec