Democratic-Republican Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Other name |
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| Founders | |
| Founded | May 13, 1792[1] |
| Dissolved | c. 1825 |
| Preceded by | Anti-Administration party |
| Succeeded by | |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Newspaper | National Gazette (1791–1793) |
| Ideology | Jeffersonian democracy[2] |
| Colors | |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Liberalism in the United States |
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 |
The Republican Party, known retroactively as the Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Jeffersonian Republican Party)[a], was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed liberalism, republicanism, individual liberty, equal rights, decentralization, free markets, free trade, and agrarianism. In foreign policy it was hostile to Great Britain and in sympathy with the French Revolution. The party became increasingly dominant after the 1800 elections as the opposing Federalist Party collapsed.
Increasing dominance over American politics led to increasing factional splits within the party. Old Republicans, led by John Taylor of Caroline and John Randolph of Roanoke, believed that the administrations of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe—and the Congresses led by Henry Clay—had in some ways betrayed the republican "Principles of '98" by expanding the size and scope of the national government. The Republicans splintered during the 1824 presidential election. Those calling for a return to the older founding principles of the party were often referred to as "Democratic Republicans" (later Democrats) while those embracing the newer nationalist principles of "The American System" were often referred to as National Republicans (later Whigs).[9][10]
The Republican Party originated in Congress to oppose the nationalist and economically interventionist policies of Alexander Hamilton, who served as Secretary of the Treasury under President George Washington. The Republicans and the opposing Federalist Party each became more cohesive during Washington's second term, partly as a result of the debate over the Jay Treaty. Though he was defeated by Federalist John Adams in the 1796 presidential election, Jefferson and his Republican allies came into power following the 1800 elections. As president, Jefferson presided over a reduction in the national debt and government spending, and completed the Louisiana Purchase with France.
Madison succeeded Jefferson as president in 1809 and led the country during the largely inconclusive War of 1812 with Britain. After the war, Madison and his congressional allies established the Second Bank of the United States and implemented protective tariffs, marking a move away from the party's earlier emphasis on states' rights and a strict construction of the United States Constitution. The Federalists collapsed after 1815, beginning a period known as the Era of Good Feelings. Lacking an effective opposition, the Republicans split into rival groups after the 1824 presidential election: one faction supported President John Quincy Adams, while another faction backed General Andrew Jackson. Jackson's supporters eventually coalesced into the Democratic Party, while supporters of Adams became known as the National Republican Party, which itself later merged into the Whig Party.
Republicans were deeply committed to the principles of republicanism, which they feared were threatened by the aristocratic tendencies of the Federalists. During the 1790s, the party strongly opposed Federalist programs, including the national bank. After the War of 1812, Madison and many other party leaders came to accept the need for a national bank and federally funded infrastructure projects. In foreign affairs, the party advocated western expansion and tended to favor France over Britain, though the party's pro-French stance faded after Napoleon took power. The Democratic-Republicans were strongest in the South and the western frontier, and weakest in New England.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
bill 2047was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Larson, Edward J. (2007). A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign. Simon and Schuster. p. 21. ISBN 9780743293174.
The divisions between Adams and Jefferson were exasperated by the more extreme views expressed by some of their partisans, particularly the High Federalists led by Hamilton on what was becoming known as the political right, and the democratic wing of the Republican Party on the left, associated with New York Governor George Clinton and Pennsylvania legislator Albert Gallatin, among others.
- ^ Ohio History Connection. "Democratic-Republican Party". Ohio History Central. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
Democratic-Republicans favored keeping the U.S. economy based on agriculture and said that the U.S. should serve as the agricultural provider for the rest of the world [...]. Economically, the Democratic-Republicans wanted to remain a predominantly agricultural nation, [...].
- ^ Beasley, James R. (1972). "Emerging Republicanism and the Standing Order: The Appropriation Act Controversy in Connecticut, 1793 to 1795". The William and Mary Quarterly. 29 (4): 604. doi:10.2307/1917394. JSTOR 1917394.
- ^ Adams, Ian (2001). Political Ideology Today (reprinted, revised ed.). Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 32. ISBN 9780719060205.
Ideologically, all US parties are liberal and always have been. Essentially they espouse classical liberalism, that is a form of democratized Whig constitutionalism plus the free market. The point of difference comes with the influence of social liberalism.
- ^ Wood. The American Revolution. p. 100.
- ^ Matthews, Richard K. (1984). The radical politics of Thomas Jefferson: a revisionist view. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. p. 18. ISBN 0-7006-0256-9. OCLC 10605658.
- ^ "Democratic-Republican Party". Encyclopædia Britannica. July 20, 1998. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
The Republicans contended that the Federalists harboured aristocratic attitudes and that their policies placed too much power in the central government and tended to benefit the affluent at the expense of the common man.
- ^ Olsen, Henry (Summer 2010). "Populism, American Style". National Affairs. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
Amid the passion and the anger, Jefferson and Madison's Republican Party — the forerunner of today's Democrats — won the day; the coalition they built then proceeded to win every national election until 1824... The elections of 1828 and 1832 saw the ruling Republicans break into two factions: The minority faction — headed by incumbent president John Quincy Adams — became the National Republicans (and then the Whigs); it drew its support from the mercantile regions of the country, mainly New England and the large cities of the South. Members of the majority faction, meanwhile, renamed themselves the Democrats under the leadership of Andrew Jackson.
- ^ Cobb, Jelani (March 8, 2021). "What is Happening to the Republicans?". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
In the uproar that ensued, the Party split, with each side laying claim to a portion of its name: the smaller faction, led by Adams, became the short-lived National Republicans; the larger, led by Jackson, became the Democratic Party.