The peasant is who? What is the difference between a state peasant and a serf

The peasant is one of the representatives of the main class of the Russian population in Medieval Russia, whose main occupation was agriculture. In view of the fact that for a long time in Russia most of the inhabitants were these hard workers, this period in the history of our country is of special interest. Formation of the peasantry falls on the fourteenth to fifteenth century. Already in the sixteenth-seventeenth century, massive massacres were realized. A peasant is, above all, a person who has no civil and property rights.

What was the class of the serf population

Since the eleventh century, the era of serfdom began to dominate . The peasant, who was dependent on the landowner, worked primarily on the master, and then on himself. Being in this position, for any violation, a peasant bound by a mutual guarantee could be legally subjected to corporal punishment. The owner's allowance was not allowed to be pledged, sold or given, as it was the property of the landowner. By the middle of the seventeenth century, serfdom already had about half the country's population. It was their work at that time that created the basis for the further development of the state.

State peasants

The remaining unoccupied population engaged in agriculture in the second half of the eighteenth century was decorated by state peasants. They lived on state land and worked off duties in favor of the authorities, and also paid taxes to the treasury. At the same time, the state peasant was considered personally free.

Due to confiscation of church possessions, the government increased the number of state peasants. In addition, their number was replenished due to the flight of serfs from villages, as well as from visitors from other countries.

The difference between state peasants and serfs

It is believed that the crowned peasants from Sweden served as an example for determining the legal rights of state peasants. First of all, they had personal freedom. Unlike serfs, state peasants were allowed to participate in litigation. They were given the right to enter into transactions and own property. The state peasant is a "free rural philistine" who could organize both retail and wholesale trade, and also open a factory or a factory. The serfs did not have this right, because their personal freedom belonged entirely to the landowner. The state peasant is a temporary user of the government's holdings. Despite this, there are cases when they have made transactions as the owner of a land plot.

Problems and difficulties of serfdom

The peasants were unhappy with the unequal position in society. Excessive exploitation by the landowners provoked mass riots and uprisings. The largest peasant uprising was the war, led by Stepan Razin, which lasted from 1670 to 1671. The uprising of the peasants led by Ye.I. Pugacheva, which lasted from 1773 to 1775.

Only towards the end of the eighteenth century the Russian authorities thought about the problem of the existence of serfdom. Legal and property status was not satisfied with the country's most numerous class.

1861 was decisive: Alexander II conducted a serf reform, as a result of which serfdom was abolished, and over twenty million people were finally freed. However, complete liberation was obtained after two years, during which the temporarily obligated peasants worked off duties.