Democratic-Republican Party

Democratic-Republican Party

The Democratic-Republican Party was founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed republicanism, political equality, and expansionism. The party became increasingly dominant after the 1800 elections as the opposing Federalist Party collapsed. The Democratic-Republicans later splintered during the 1824 presidential election. One faction eventually coalesced into the modern Democratic Party, while the other faction ultimately formed the core of the Whig Party.

About Democratic-Republican Party in brief

Summary Democratic-Republican PartyThe Democratic-Republican Party was founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed republicanism, political equality, and expansionism. The party became increasingly dominant after the 1800 elections as the opposing Federalist Party collapsed. The Democratic-Republicans later splintered during the 1824 presidential election. One faction eventually coalesced into the modern Democratic Party, while the other faction ultimately formed the core of the Whig Party. 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. In the 1788–89 presidential election, the first such election following the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788, George Washington won the votes of every member of the Electoral College. No formal political parties had formed at the national level in the U.S. prior to 1789; the country had been broadly polarized between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, who opposed ratification. In 1792, Washington effectively ran unopposed for president, but Jefferson and Madison backed New York Governor George Adams’s unsuccessful attempt to unseat Vice President John Adams. Ultimately, Jefferson’s followers became known as Republicans and Hamilton’s followers as Federalists. Partisan tensions escalated as a result of the Whiskey Rebellion and Washington’s denunciation of Hamilton’s economic policies and a subsequent group of Democratic- Republican Societies formed in opposition to Hamilton’s support of France. In1793, after Britain entered the French Revolutionary Wars, several Democratic-GOP Societies split in favor of the French, with Jefferson’s allies continuing to favor it after it continued to favor the French.

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 1824, the Democratic- Republicans split into groups; one faction supported President John Quincy Adams, while other faction backed General Andrew Jackson. The National Republican Party, which itself later merged into theWhig Party, later merged with the Democratic Party to form the modern Republican Party. In the 1800s, Jefferson presided over a reduction in the national debt and government spending, and completed the Louisiana Purchase with France. He was defeated by Federalist John Adams in the 1796 presidential election; he was succeeded by James Madison as president in 1809 and led the country during the largely inconclusive War of1812 with Britain. During the 17 90s, theparty strongly opposed Federalist programs, including the national bank, and supported western expansionist policies, including supporting the First Bank of the US. In 1800, Jefferson was elected president; Madison was elected vice president; he served until 1809; Madison succeeded him in 1811. The party strongly opposed the centralizing policies of Alexander Hamilton, who served as Secretary of the Treasury under President George Washington. Hamilton pursued his programs in the belief that they would foster a prosperous and stable country. Hamilton’s policies engendered an opposition, chiefly concentrated in the Southern United States, that objected to his anglophilia.