The United States of America has experienced serious crises in recognizing the freedom of its citizens. One can point to at least three critical areas. Firstly, some people whose ethnical origin was other than North American were treated as an exotic species and displayed in the so-called human zoos. The other areas involve the legality of slavery and racial segregation, and the exploitative treatment of the indigenous people, American Indians. Despite these major crises related to freedom, the United States of America enjoys a reputation as a country with democratic civil liberties whose extent remains a challenge to foreign observers.