I just adore the hypocrisy of the slaves rights. If you were an African that was forced into slavery, you were practically a slave for life, especially under the rulings in the House of Burgesses in Virginia. However, if you were born in the Americas, your freedom was decided by the right of your parents, essentially meaning that if your parents were free (which was highly uncommon) so were you. Its such terrible logic, and typical of easily intimidated Europeans of the time.