Editing History of Latvia (section)

===Further reforms===
After 1832 peasants were allowed freedom of settlement within the governorate, but only in 1848 Courland peasants were allowed to settle in towns and cities, many of which until then had mostly German and Jewish populations.

The provisional Livonian agrarian law of July 9, 1849 which came int force on November 20, 1850, maintained German nobility's property rights, but allowed peasants to rent or buy the land. By 1856 only 23% of farmers were paying land rent, while the rest were still performing socage. In 1860 this law became permanent and allowed increasing number of farmers to purchase their homes. An 1864 law permitted creation of credit unions, and this improved access to capital for farmers wanting to buy their homes from German land-lords. Just before the start of World War I about 99% of houses in Courland were bought and 90% in Livonia.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.letonika.lv/groups/default.aspx?title=M%C4%81ju%20iepirk%C5%A1ana/32379 |title=Māju iepirkšana |access-date=April 2, 2016 |archive-date=May 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507034345/http://www.letonika.lv/groups/default.aspx?title=M%C4%81ju%20iepirk%C5%A1ana/32379 |url-status=live }}</ref> This created a land-owning Latvian farmer class which increased in prosperity and sent its sons to schools of higher education.

In 1870-80s many peasants who were unable or unwilling to purchase their land, used the opportunity to emigrate to Siberia, where land was given for free. By the start of World War I approximately 200,000 Latvian farmers had moved to farming colonies in Siberia.