Following the sixteen-hundreds, colonists began to expand their meaning of freedom to other aspects of life besides solely religion. Individuals soon began to question laws placed on them by a Parliament overseas and gain an identity for themselves living in America. The period from the year seventeen-hundred to seventeen-fifty, showed a transition from individual pursuits of religious freedom stemming from the previous century to “The Great Awakening,” an event which would change the religious perspective in North America. One of the early accounts of an individual still seeking religious freedom was William Penn. Penn founded Pennsylvania as a place where those whom felt persecuted for their religious beliefs could find safety. Penn, himself,…show more content… Thirty-four years later, John Peter Zenger is charged with “seditious libel,” a crime meaning to “defame government officials” (Voices of Freedom, 74). Zenger then finds himself under trial for having written negatively about the governor of New York and defended by his attorney, Andrew Hamilton. As the case progressed further and further, Hamilton exclaimed trying to explain the results of the trial if Zenger were to be found guilty, “[i]t may, in its consequence, affect every freeman that lives under a British government on the main [land] of America… but every man who prefers freedom to a life of slavery will bless and honor you,” Zenger went on to win the case, securing a monumental win in the fight for freedom of expression (Voices of Freedom, 77). A distinct example of freedom during this time are indentured servants, while willingly using their freedom to trade it away for a chance at a better future, some examples show a contract to which one man signs himself into and the other, what happens when indentured servants try to escape their contracts by running away. An example of a contract a man signed, thus, becoming an indentured servant is that of William…show more content… So while Mathews may have willingly placed himself into servitude, the many who escaped were followed by advertisements detailing rewards such as, “[w]hoever secures the said Servants and Negroe, so that their Masters may have them again, shall have Thirty Pounds Reward,” not only showing some regretted signing themselves into servitude, but that masters wouldn’t willingly let them out of said contract (Voices of Freedom, 68). During this time another major event happened within the colonies, an event known as “The Great Awakening.” A man named Mr. Whitefield preached throughout the colonies and lead droves of people to attend his message, these were moved by a “commitment to a… more emotional and personal Christianity than that offered by existing churches,” showing how far religious freedom had come within the colonies since the time when Anne Hutchington was banished from the Massachussets Bay Colony for giving her opinion on matters of religion (Voices of Freedom,