Voting rights for African Americans can be viewed as a repeating cycle from disenfranchisement and suppression (1789 to 1867) to enfranchisement and expansion (1867 to 1877) to disenfranchisement and suppression (1877 to 1965) to enfranchisement and expansion (1965 to 2013) and to disenfranchisement and suppression (post 2013). This essay looks at these periods and the factors that led to changes in the cycle of voting rights for African Americans in the United States. 1789

Frenchman Hector St. John de Crevecoeur made the following note about Americans in 1782 “religious indifference is imperceptibly disseminated from one end of the continent to the other. (See Note 1)” Historians find that one in 20 Americans regularly attended church in 1790. According to Church Historian, Robert T. Handy, "No more than 10 percent of Americans in 1800 were members of congregations (see note 2).” It was not until after the Second Great Revival (1790 – 1840) t

The Constitution unambiguously gives Congress, not the President, authority over domestic and foreign commerce and taxes. Tariffs are taxes on commerce that crosses borders. In fact, until 1934 Congress completely dominated tariff policy, just as the Founders wanted. Almost every year from the end of the Civil War to 1934, Congress voted on new tariffs and the President played little to no role in this process. These higher tariffs were both placed on individual products and