To what extent is the private ownership of land a central theme throughout the course of American history?

I would argue that the right to private ownership of land
has been a given throughout US history.  Americans have always assumed they have this
right.  Many things that have happened in US history have been based on this assumption,
but there has not been any need to fight for this
right.

Americans have assumed they had the right to own
land ever since colonial times.  The colonists, for example, were unhappy with the
British for trying to wall off expansion at the Appalachians.  Instead, the colonists
wanted to exercise their rights to private ownership as far as they could
reach.

This desire helped to cause the free soil movement
that contributed to North-South tensions before the Civil War.  The idea that every
American should be able to own a bit of land was a strong motivation for Northerners to
oppose the spread of slavery.

In ways like this, the
assumption that Americans have the right to private property has been basic to American
history.