This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January 1837.
The Norwegian farm culture (bondekultur) that emerged came to serve as a symbol of nationalistic resistance to the forced union with Sweden.
The significance of this legislation is hailed by a nationalistic historian, Ernst Sars:[2] In 1853, the land registration law superseded the formannsskapsdistrikt by introduction of a new designation, the municipality (Norwegian: herred).
This body selected a quarter of their members as a committee, which together with the local magistrate, established taxes to be levied and improvements to be performed in the district.
Local farm goods and timber sales were all required to pass through merchants at either a lading place or a market town prior to export.