Colonial land surveying in America was an activity generally performed for the purpose of transfering land ownership from the British Crown to private ownership. Surveyorship was a legitimate and respected trade and could be learned through apprenticeship, with much of its activities originating from land surveying of the British Isles. Successful land surveyors were accurate, precise, and detailed with their surveys. Basic surveying methods used many different kinds of surveying tools, but most popular was a tool called Gunter's Chain, which was in use in the United States for three hundred years. Surveyors and chainmen swore oaths to be fair and accurate when it came to performing the high-stakes task of land surveying. The trade has never waned and continues into the modern day, albeit with up-to-date land surveying technology.