Land ownership or land tenure in colonial America was primarily acquired by settlers through

(a) purchase and the legal transfer of deeds from Native Americans.
(b) the King granting property to favored individuals in feudal-like fashions.
(c) "squatting" or freely settling and cultivating the land to gain private ownership over land.
(d) purchase or otherwise legal transfer of deeds from colonial officials who received their rights
to the land from the king of England.

(d)