The natural right of a person to own property as a concept can be seen as having roots in Roman law as well as Greek philosophy.[5] The profession of appraisal can be seen as beginning in England during the 1500s as agricultural needs required land clearing and land preparation. Textbooks on the subject of surveying began to be written and the term "surveying" was used in England, while the term "appraising" was more used in North America.