The Definition of Business Corporations and the Change of View about Private Property in the Early Republic of America.

In the early republic period of America, some political elites emphasized that the business corporations which was managed by social elites could improve public good. They accumulated private property for the public utilities and defined the business corporations as public institutions. In their eyes, private property not only meant independence, but also had the attributes of politics. However, in the opponents' opinion, private property was the resource of the pursuit of private profit. They refused to endow upon private property political attributes. In the conflict of the views about private property, the change of the view about private property had some impact on the transformation of the definition of business corporations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]