DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY
The Jeffersonian Republican party, better known
as the Democratic-Republican Party, is an
ancestor of the modern DEMOCRATIC PARTY. It
evolved in the 1790s during the early days of
GEORGE WASHINGTON’s presidency.Washington
had been unanimously chosen president in 1789
and had a broad base of support. THOMAS JEFFERSON
served as Washington’s SECRETARY OF
STATE, while ALEXANDER HAMILTON served as
secretary of the treasury. Jefferson and his followers
favored states’ rights and a strict interpretation
of the Constitution. They believed that a
powerful central government posed a threat to
individual liberties. They viewed the United
States more as a confederation of sovereign entities
woven together by a common interest.
Hamilton and his followers argued that a strong
central government was essential to the unity of
the new nation. They favored a broad interpretation
of the Constitution, which they saw as a
document that should evolve with the country
as it grew.
Virtually all the leading political figures of
the new country, starting with Washington,
believed that political parties would polarize citizens
and paralyze government. Hamilton and
Jefferson agreed with this notion, but by 1793
the two groups that they represented had broken
off into separate factions. Hamilton’s group
became the Federalists, while Jefferson’s faction
adopted the name “Democratic Republicans.”
One early and divisive difference between
the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans
was how they approached Britain and France.
The Federalists believed that American foreign
policy should favor British interests, while the
Democratic-Republicans wanted to strengthen
ties with the French.The Democratic-Republicans
supported the government that had taken over
France after the revolution of 1789.
On economic matters, the Jeffersonians
differed strongly with the Federalists. The
Democratic-Republicans believed in protecting
the interests of the working classes—merchants,
farmers, and laborers. They believed that an
agrarian economy would best serve these citizens.
They saw the establishment of a national
BANK OF THE UNITED STATES (which Hamilton
strongly favored) as a means of usurping power
that belonged to individual states, and they also
believed that it would be tied too closely to the
rich. The Federalists saw industry and manufacturing
as the best means of domestic growth and
economic self-sufficiency. They favored the existence
of protective tariffs on imports (which had
Congress had adopted in 1789) both as a means
of protecting domestic production and as a
source of revenue.
The ratification in 1795 of Jay’s Treaty
(named after JOHN JAY) sparked anger at the
Federalists from a wide array of citizens. The
British were still in control of fur-trading posts
in the Northwest Territories, and they were accused of encouraging Indians to rise up
against the Americans. British ships were seizing
American ships and impressing American
sailors; they were also prohibiting American
ships from engaging in trade with the West
Indies. Jay, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme
Court, was sent to England as an envoy and
returned with a treaty that gave the British a
deadline for leaving the fur posts. Almost none
of the other issues was addressed. A particularly
unpopular provision of the treaty called for the
U.S. to settle pre-Revolution debts to the British,
totaling $2.6 million.
Jeffersonians, and even many Federalists, felt
that the treaty had been too generous to the
British, although Hamilton saw it as a necessary
action because Britain generated tariff revenues
through its exports. In 1796, JOHN ADAMS (a
Federalist) was elected the nation’s second president
with 71 electoral votes, defeating Jefferson
by three votes. Jefferson became vice president.
Meanwhile, relations with France were deteriorating
rapidly. The notorious “XYZ Affair” in
1796 was typical of what Jeffersonians saw as the
weakness of FEDERALISM. The XYZ AFFAIR
involved an unsuccessful attempt by a French
agent to exact bribes in exchange for France’s
cooperation in negotiating an international
trade treaty. France, angered by the pro-British
Jay’s Treaty, began to interfere with American
ships. An American delegation was sent to
France, and the French demanded a loan to the
French government as well as a $240,000 bribe.
Although American public opinion hardened
against the French, President Adams tried
to repair the situation diplomatically, which
angered many Federalists who thought that
declaring war on France was the best course of
action. This split within the FEDERALIST PARTY
helped to ensure Jefferson’s victory in the 1800
presidential election. Democratic-Republicans
also won a majority of the seats in Congress.
Jefferson’s party dominated American politics
for the next two decades. One reason was
that the Jeffersonians proved themselves to be
willing to adapt to change. An example was the
LOUISIANA PURCHASE of 1803. As a Republican,
Jefferson initially felt that the president did not
have the power to make such a large purchase
(828,000 square miles). He recognized, however,
that the price of $15 million (about three cents
per acre) was a significant bargain, and that the
purchase would double the size of the U.S. and
also eliminate the danger of having an imperialist
French colony on its border. He went against
his partisan instinct and made what he believed
was the right decision for the country.
During the WAR OF 1812, Jefferson’s successor,
JAMES MADISON, battled the British overseas
and the Federalists at home. Many Federalists,
especially in the New England states, felt that the
war would irreparably damage their ability to
trade by sea with Europe. This anti-war stance
proved unpopular, however, since the war ended
in what most Americans perceived as a victory
over Great Britain. Thus the Federalists were
soundly defeated in the 1816 presidential election.
The new president, JAMES MONROE,
presided over a time of relative political calm
during which many Federalists came to support
the Republicans. This period was known as the
“Era of Good Feeling,” and although Monroe
enjoyed wide support during his two terms in
office, various factions were developing within
his own party.
In the election of 1824, JOHN QUINCY
ADAMS was elected president, narrowly defeating
War of 1812 military hero ANDREW
JACKSON. Although both were Democratic-
Republicans, Adams’s political philosophy was
closer to that of the Federalists, and during his
term in office the party split into two main factions.
When Jackson ran for president in 1828,
he ran as a Democrat—and won handily.
Adams’s wing of the party became known as the
National Republicans, many of whom later
formed the WHIG PARTY.
FURTHER READINGS
Bell, Rudolph M., 1973. Party and Faction in American Politics:
The House of Representatives 1789–1801. Westport,
Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Cunningham,Noble E., 1963. The Jeffersonian Republicans in
Power: Party Operations, 1801–1809. Chapel Hill, N.C.:
Univ. of North Carolina Press.
