This dynamic and comprehensive text from two nationally renowned scholars has been completely updated and demonstrates the profound influence African American have had on American politics. Through the use of two interrelated themesthe idea of universal freedom and the concept of minority-majority coalitionsthe text demonstrates the profound influence African Americans have had on American government and politics. The authors show how the presence of Africans in the United States affected the founding of the Republic and its political institutions and processes from the colonial era to the present. In the quest for their own freedom in the United States, African Americans have universalized, or expanded, the freedoms for all Americans in numerous coalitions with whitesminority-inspired majority coalitions. This is an accessible text for all students.