When Thomas Jefferson wrote our Declaration of Independence, one of his largest influences was John Locke, who believed that property (both narrowly and broadly defined) was a Natural Right. He wrote that property precedes government and government cannot “dispose of the estates of the subjects arbitrarily.” Karl Marx disagreed with Locke on this subject.
The following quote from Ron Paul says it better than I can:
In recent weeks I've written about the threat of rising property taxes posed by state and local governments hungry for more and more of your money; and the threat of widespread eminent domain actions posed by a planned North American superhighway running straight through Texas. It's clear that many political and business interests are only too willing to drive people literally out of their homes to make way for the grand schemes of those in power.
This is why every American needs to understand that property rights are the foundation of a free society. Without property rights, all citizens live subject to the whims of government officials. When government can seize your property without your consent, all of your other rights are negated. Our founders would roll over in their graves if they knew that the takings clause in the Fifth Amendment was being used to justify unholy alliances between private developers and tax-hungry local governments.