Every man is the manager and disposer of his own property.

Explanation

The owner alone decides how his property is used, managed, and disposed of — no other party may direct its use without his consent.

Where this applies

• A homeowners' association demands that a property owner remove his backyard workshop because it does not match the neighborhood aesthetic, but the owner built it within all zoning laws — no association may dictate how a man uses his own property absent a valid covenant he agreed to.
• A county inspector orders a farmer to stop growing hemp on his own land even though state law permits it, claiming the crop looks unsightly — the farmer alone is the manager and disposer of his property, and appearance is not a lawful basis for interference.
• A neighbor insists that a property owner must cut down a healthy oak tree because it drops leaves in the neighbor's yard — the owner decides what stays and what goes on his own land, not the neighbor.

See also

• 5.1.1 The right of property is that sole and despotic dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in total exclusion of the right of any other individual.
• 5.1.4 It is unjust that freemen should not have the free disposal of their own property.