Slavery has been a problem in many societies throughout history. It is not always due to prejudice or racism, often people of the same ethnicity and nationality enslave each other due to debt or for some other reason. However, in the case of the African slave trade, it was a case without just cause and an extreme manifestation of racism. Slavery in America was a horrible thing. Blacks were subjected to overwork and humiliation by white men. While this wasn't the case in every slave-to-master relationship, owning another person as property when they owe you nothing is still degrading, no matter how you treat that person. African Americans suffered many hardships due to slavery, were freed following the Civil War, fought for their rights in the civil rights movement, and are on both sides of the coin when it comes to racism in America. Slavery began with the Europeans. kidnapping Africans to force them into slavery, but Europeans soon realized that it was too dangerous for them to continue doing so. Europeans established forts and trading posts along the coasts of Africa and made agreements with African tribal leaders. Tribal warlords would take enemy tribes captive and sell them to Europeans as slaves. Although Europeans are responsible for slavery, Africans share the same blame (the slave trade). Ships carrying slaves were filthy, disgusting filthy sources of disease. Many slaves died during the passage from Africa to their destination, and suicides and suicide attempts occurred every day. Suicides became so common that every time someone died by suicide the crew cut off the slave's head to discourage further suicides. This let the others know that if they committed suicide they would return home headless by... means of paper... president and Congress (Samson and Wood 312-317). President John F. Kennedy wrote the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but was assassinated before he could sign it into law. President Johnson, who became president after his assassination, managed to convince Congress to pass the law. Finally, racial discrimination and segregation were legally abolished through the efforts of average Americans, both white and black, (Achievements of the Civil Rights Movement). People are evil, evil and hateful for no reason other than the fact that someone else is simply different from them. There are white people who are unkempt, racist and have respect for other races. They act so ignorantly because they are trapped in old traditions and beliefs and cannot do it. Even today black people are still treated by some as an inferior class of people, but sometimes they behave that way.