Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
The Land Code of 1858 was another feature of the Tanzimat reforms which revolutionized property and land ownership within the Ottoman Empire. This Land Code entitled farmers, merchants, and peasants who were living on land and farming on land to own properties which were previously under state ownership. The sultan agreed to sign away these properties he owned to these citizens of all classes, wh,o in turn, would have to pay the sultan via newly established property taxation. Ultimately, while the Tanzimat reforms were slow to be enacted, their seeming strides toward progression raised expectations particularly among those within the Armenian community. More and more of the common Armenian population were educating themselves about reforms and laws within the community in which they previously had little to no say in. Similarly, the elites within the Armenian population felt they had a part to play in helping to build a new reformed Ottoman Empire and generally were rather receptive of the Tanzimat reforms initially. The construction of the first Constitution in 1876, during the First Constitutional Era was another seminal moment of reformation during the Tanzimat period, which would ultimately mark the end of this era. While the Tanzimat reforms seemed a success for the Ottoman Empire, the unchecked centralized nature of the sultan's power ultimately would lead to problems of drought and debt for the Ottoman Empire immediately following the end of the Tanzimat reforms.