Editing History of Latvia (section)

====Livonian peasant law, 1804====
After the October 1802 Kauguri rebellion, czarist authorities reacted with the law of February 20, 1804, which was aimed at improving peasant condition in the Livonian Governorate. Peasants no longer were tied to the land owner, but to the land, so they could be sold only together with the land. Peasants were divided in two classes – people of manors and plowmen. Plowmen were divided into farm-owners and free people. Farms from now on could be inherited within the family. Amount and length of socage now was regulated and limited. This law was opposed by the nobles, who in 1809 secured changes in the law which again gave them more power over peasants and socage.<ref name="Zemnieku brīvlaišana">{{Cite web |url=http://www.letonika.lv/groups/default.aspx?cid=31620 |title=Zemnieku brīvlaišana |access-date=April 2, 2016 |archive-date=October 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021224026/https://www.letonika.lv/groups/default.aspx?cid=31620 |url-status=live }}</ref>