Americans became choosier and choosier on the officeholders because they felt that they had more knowledge on public policies then they did in the past and therefore had more of a say. New people who didn't used to be involved openly in politics got involved. Appleby reveals, "members of dissenting religious groups, free thinkers, and the newly prosperous all became participants in the disclosures and disputes that fleet-footed publicity carried to slave quarters, parlors, pioneer cabins, and urban tenements" (36). Appleby shows that Jefferson's beliefs are one of the main reasons for many of the changes in America post-American Revolution. She seems to feel that the whole fact that Jefferson allowed the public to discuss politics openly allowed many new doors to the future. .
Appleby also says that because of the new politics open to the public, it also allowed published printing of politics to the government. She shows that this is one of the most important parts of the Post-Revolution. The printed reports of the political sides that people took gave people enjoyment and got them more involved with the government then they had been in the past. This started a lot of controversies and even allowed women to discuss politics with one another (41). Printing all of the politics was a leeway for more people to publicly learn and discuss politics and Appleby shows that this "transformed the relations between the powerful and authorized and the subordinate and instructed" and "moved policy debates from the closed and obscure to the open and transparent" (41). This linked people together and let people openly criticize the government, which they were not allowed to do before when Britain was ruling them before the American Revolution. .
Appleby discusses the slavery issue after the American Revolution and the issues with anti-slavery a lot in Inheriting the Revolution. The ending of slavery was a huge part of the change for Americans which had both good and bad results.
