USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The seigneur had to have a manor house built on the seigneurie and to live in it. He was also responsible for building and maintaining a wheat mill. The habitants, for their part, had to pay the seigneur taxes called “cens” – giving rise to the term “censitaire” applied to them – and rent, in money or farm products.

Detailed explanation-2: -The seigneurs were nobles, merchants or religious congregations, who had been granted a fief by the French crown, with all its associated rights over person and property. The seigneurie, or seigniory, (a large piece of land) was granted by the Governor and the Intendant.

Detailed explanation-3: -Habitants were free individuals; seigneurs simply owned a “bundle of specific and limited rights over productive activity within that territory". The seigneur – habitant relationship was one where both parties were owners of the land who split the attributes of ownership between them.

Detailed explanation-4: -In 17th-and 18th-century New France, habitants were independent landowners who established a homestead. Their status came with certain privileges and obligations. For example, during the colony’s early years, only habitants had the right to small-scale fur trading.