Colonial America was a time full of hardship and inequality. The idea of ​​who should have rights and how these should be administered was very common throughout the 17th and 18th centuries within the colonies. At the time, the colonies had problems with their own governing laws as their homeland, Great Britain, governed them from nearly 3,000 miles away across the Atlantic Ocean. The colonists themselves felt they should be in power and wanted to create their own government, which eventually led to the American Revolution. At the time, rights were only granted to wealthy, white, landowning males. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, events such as Bacon's Rebellion, the Great Awakening, and the Stono Slave Revolt came to champion the rights of slaves, the largest group in society, who had no rights. Slavery, while it existed in America, was a practice based on the chattel principle. Slaves were treated as human chattels to be exchanged, sold, used, and classified as articles of property to their owner. Because the American slave system was based on this principle, slaves were confined in ways that prevented them from acting or living as human beings. The idea of ​​human ownership gave the master unlimited control over his defenseless slave; slaves were not allowed to marry, acquire or hold property, have rights, have legal protection, be educated, be instructed in religion, possess freedom of speech, have freedom of the press, and could be bought and sold as often as the owner wanted . Many laws were passed in Colonial America to control slaves, including conversion laws to Chr...... middle of paper ......everyone, during Colonial America, only wealthy, white, males Landowners had power of any kind. The rest of society was treated as subservient in all forms, including objects or animals. At that time, it was justified to treat others as slaves in this form. These powerful males maintained control through methods such as harsh, cruel, and unusual punishments. Although death punishments were few, it allowed control to be imposed on slaves because it taught slaves lessons about not rebelling and listening to their owners. Events such as Bacon's Rebellion and the Stono Slave Revolt created worse conditions for slaves and strengthened the power of wealthy whites. With the Great Awakening, slave rights were called into question, but ultimately remained limited as usual. Through these events, colonists were able to decide who should have rights and how to administer them.