What is a 'freeman' and a 'husbandman'?

Answer 1

What period of usage (century) and where? In England, husbandman generally referred to a farmer, orchard owner, or someone handling livestock. Freeman generally referred to whether or not an individually had a legal obligation (as in a subject or serf [Eh??]) to a local lord. You may want to consult the full Oxford Enlish Dictionary (something like 20 volumes, though a two-volume reduced text version is available as well) as it contains the evolution or history of use and meaning of each word word use over the centuries. Many local libraries have it, as do most colleges or universities. in early New England a freeman was a member of the church in good standing who had taken a civil oath called a "Freeman's Oath" and was thus allowed to vote and hold public office. A husbandman was the same usage as in England, he was a farmer The Collins Dictionary of the English Language (1980) says a "freeman" is: 1. a person who is not a slave or in bondage 2. a person who enjoys political and civil liberties; citizen 3. a person who enjoys a privilege or franchise, such as the freedom of a city.