The peasant is one of the representatives of the mainclass of the Russian population in Medieval Russia, the main occupation of which was agriculture. In view of the fact that for a long time in Russia most of the inhabitants were these 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 lacked civil and property rights.
Since the eleventh century, it has becometo dominate the era of serfdom. The peasant, depending 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 of the country's population. It was their work at that time that created the basis for the further development of the state.
The remaining unfinished populationengaged in farming, in the second half of the eighteenth century was decorated by state peasants. They lived on state land and practiced 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 propertiesgovernment increased the number of state peasants. In addition, their number was replenished due to the flight of serfs from the villages, as well as due to visitors from other countries.
It is believed that the crown peasants from Swedenserved as an example for determining the legal rights of state peasants. First of all, they had personal freedom. Unlike the serfs, state peasants were allowed to participate in lawsuits. They were given the right to enter into transactions and own property. The state peasant is a “free rural man in the street” who could organize both retail and wholesale trade, as well as open a factory or factory. The serfs had no such right, since their personal freedom was wholly and completely owned by the landowner. The state peasant is a temporary user of government possessions. Despite this, there are known cases of their transactions as the owner of the land plot.
The peasants were unhappy unequalposition in society. Excessive exploitation by landlords provoked riots and uprisings. The largest peasant uprising was the war, whose leadership was assumed by Stepan Razin, which lasted from 1670 to 1671. The uprising of peasants led by E.I. Pugacheva, which lasted from 1773 to 1775.
Only by the end of the eighteenth century, the Russian authorities thought about the problem of the existence of serfdom. The legal and property status did not suit the most numerous class of the country.
1861 was decisive:Alexander II carried out serf reform, as a result of which serfdom was abolished, and over twenty million people finally got their freedom. However, a complete exemption was obtained after two years, during which the temporarily obliged peasants practiced duties.
