Democratic-Republican Party (United States)

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The Democratic-Republican Party or Republican Party, the precursor of the modern-day Democratic Party, was one of two major American political parties in the early history of the United States. Founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, it lasted from 1792 to 1824. The party was originally called the "Republican Party," but historians often use the term Democratic-Republican Party in order to distinguish it from the modern-day Republican Party, with which it has no direct connection.

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History

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Founding 1792

Image:TJeffersonrpeale.jpg

The Democratic-Republican Party evolved from the political factions that opposed Alexander Hamilton's fiscal policies in the early 1790s; these factions are known variously as the Anti-Administration “Party” or the Anti-Federalists. In the mid-1790s, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison organized these factions into a party and helped define its ideology in favor of yeomen farmers, strict construction of the Constitution, and a weaker federal government. They named it the "Republican Party." (The term "Democratic-Republican" was rarely used for the party before 1820.) A related grass roots movement, the Democratic-Republican Societies, which sprang up across the country in 1793–94, were not officially affiliated with the new party, but many local Jeffersonian leaders were also leaders of the societies. According to Federalist Noah Webster (who was compiling his dictionary and paid very close attention to words), the choice of the name "Republican" was "a powerful instrument in the process of making proselytes to the party."

The new party invented many of the campaign techniques that were later adopted by the Federalists and became standard American practice. It was especially effective in building a network of newspapers in major cities to broadcast its statements and editorialize in its favor.

In 1796, the party made its first bid for the Presidency with Jefferson as its presidential candidate and Aaron Burr as its vice presidential candidate. Jefferson came in second in the electoral college and became vice president. He was a consistent and strong opponent of the policies of the Adams administration. Jefferson and Madison, through the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, announced the “Principles of 1798,” which became the hallmark of the party. The most important of these principles were states' rights, opposition to a strong national government, hostility toward federal courts, and opposition to a Navy and a National Bank. The party saw itself as the true champion of republicanism, and its opponents as favoring aristocracy rather than rule by the people.

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Victory, 1800

Political parties in the 1790s did not issue official platforms, but Jefferson issued a major statement in January 1799 that was widely reprinted and circulated. It became the basis of his party's philosophy: [Peterson 1975 p 627]

…In confutation of these and all future calumnies, by way of anticipation, I shall make to you a profession of my political faith; in confidence that you will consider every future imputation on me of a contrary complexion, as bearing on its front the mark of falsehood & calumny. I do then, with sincere zeal, wish an inviolable preservation of our present federal constitution, according to the true sense in which it was adopted by the States, that in which it was advocated by it's friends, & not that which it's enemies apprehended, who therefore became it's enemies; and I am opposed to the monarchising it's features by the forms of it's administration, with a view to conciliate a first transition to a President & Senate for life, & from that to a hereditary tenure of these offices, & thus to worm out the elective principle. I am for preserving to the States the powers not yielded by them to the Union, & to the legislature of the Union it's constitutional share in the division of powers; and I am not for transferring all the powers of the States to the general government, & all those of that government to the Executive branch. I am for a government rigorously frugal & simple, applying all the possible savings of the public revenue to the discharge of the national debt; and not for a multiplication of officers & salaries merely to make partisans, & for increasing, by every device, the public debt, on the principle of it's being a public blessing. I am for relying, for internal defence, on our militia solely, till actual invasion, and for such a naval force only as may protect our coasts and harbors from such depredations as we have experienced; and not for a standing army in time of peace, which may overawe the public sentiment; nor for a navy, which, by it's own expenses and the eternal wars in which it will implicate us, grind us with public burthens, & sink us under them. I am for free commerce with all nations; political connection with none; & little or no diplomatic establishment. And I am not for linking ourselves by new treaties with the quarrels of Europe; entering that field of slaughter to preserve their balance, or joining in the confederacy of kings to war against the principles of liberty. I am for freedom of religion, & against all maneuvres to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another: for freedom of the press, & against all violations of the constitution to silence By force & not by reason the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust, of our citizens against the conduct of their agents. And I am for encouraging the progress of science in all it's branches; and not for raising a hue and cry against the sacred name of philosophy; for awing the human mind by stories of raw-head & bloody bones to a distrust of its own vision, & to repose implicitly on that of others; to go backwards instead of forwards to look for improvement; to believe that government, religion, morality, & every other science were in the highest perfection in ages of the darkest ignorance, and that nothing can ever be devised more perfect than what was established by our forefathers. To these I will add, that I was a sincere well-wisher to the success of the French revolution, and still wish it may end in the establishment of a free & well-ordered republic; but I have not been insensible under the atrocious depredations they have committed on our commerce. Jefferson to Elbridge Gerry Philadelphia, Jan. 26, 1799
transcript and original

Starting with the 1800, in what Jefferson called the “Revolution of 1800”, the Democratic-Republican Party took control of the presidency and both houses of Congress, beginning a quarter century of control of those institutions. The opposition Federalists, suffering from a lack of leadership after the death of Hamilton and the retirement of Adams, slowly declined over the next fifteen years until the Hartford Convention of 1815 utterly destroyed it as a political force. A faction called “Old Republicans” opposed the nationalism that grew popular after 1815, and were stunned when party leaders started a Second Bank of the United States.

In 1804, the party's Congressional caucus for the first time created a sort of national committee, with members from 13 states charged with "promoting the success of the republican nominations." [Cunningham 1978 pp 278-79]. Unlike the Federalists, the party never held a national convention but always relied on its Congressional caucus to select the national ticket. That caucus, however, did not deal with legislative issues, which were handled by the elected Speaker and informal floor leaders. The state legislatures often instructed members of Congress how to vote on specific issues. More exactly, they "instructed" the Senators (who were elected by the legislatures), and "requested" the Representatives (who were elected by the people.) On rare occasions a Senator resigned rather than follow instructions, [Cunningham 1978 288]

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Last years 1816-1824

In western states the Federalists scarcely existed. But that party did put up a fight in the Northeast. Every state had a distinct political geography that shaped party membership. In Pennsylvania, Republicans were weakest around Philadelphia and strongest in Scotch-Irish settlements in the west. In terms of class, they were represented at all levels but were strongest among the poor, the subsistence farmers, mechanics and tradesmen. (Klein p 44). After the victory in the War of 1812, partisanship subsided everywhere--people called it the Era of Good Feeling. Monroe ran unopposed in 1820. The party had always defined itself nationally by the caucus which choose presidential candidates. That caucus was not used after 1816, so the party as a national institution ceased to exist. James Monroe ran under the party's banner in 1820 (without a caucus), and in 1824 there was no party nominee.

In the aftermath of the disputed 1824 election, which went to the House of Representatives, the party split into factions and dissolved. The more nationalistic wing of the old party, which supported President John Quincy Adams and Secretary of State Henry Clay, joined by much of the core of the old Federalist Party (including Daniel Webster), formed the new National Republican Party, which was soon superceded by the Whig Party. The more states-rights oriented party, including supporters of Andrew Jackson and the New York faction led by Martin Van Buren, along with some ex-Federalists, also (and arguably more successfully) claimed the mantle of the old Republican party, calling themselves first Democratic-Republicans, later simply Democrats. This was the beginning of the modern-day Democratic Party. The link between today's Democratic Party and the party founded by Jefferson was a theme emphasized by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s and other Democratic politicans throughout the years.

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Modern claims to Democratic-Republican heritage

Democrats identify with the anti-elitism, distrust of business and banks, and democratic strivings of the early party; the modern Republican Party identifies with Jefferson's commitment to states' rights, his distrust of judges, and his commitment to a limited federal government. Only the Democratic party, however, has a direct connection to the Democratic-Republican Party. The party's official website claims that it was founded in 1792 by Thomas Jefferson.[1] The modern Republican Party lacks such a direct connection, having to trace its descent from the old Republican Party through such intermediaries as the Whigs and the National Republicans. Nevertheless, the coining of the name "Republican Party" in 1854 for the new party was intended to hearken back to the Jeffersonian party and indeed back to the republican spirit that animated the Revolution in 1776, ideals that Abraham Lincoln and many members of the new party sought to revive. [Lewis Gould, Grand Old Party (2003) p 14.]

The Democratic Party is often called "the party of Jefferson"; whereas the Republican Party, is called "the party of Lincoln."

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Democratic-Republican presidents

The following United States Presidents were elected as members of the Democratic-Republican party:

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Candidates

Template:Start U.S. presidential ticket list {{U.S. presidential ticket list row | year=1792 | year_rows=1 | result=lost | pres=(none) | pres_rows=1 | vp=George Clinton | vp_rows=1}} {{U.S. presidential ticket list row | year=1796 | year_rows=1 | result=lost(a) | pres=Thomas Jefferson | pres_rows=3 | vp=Aaron Burr | vp_rows=2 }} {{U.S. presidential ticket list row no pres vp | year=1800 | year_rows=1 | result=won }} {{U.S. presidential ticket list row no pres | year=1804 | year_rows=1 | result=won | vp=George Clinton | vp_rows=2 }} {{U.S. presidential ticket list row no vp | year=1808 | year_rows=1 | result=won | pres=James Madison | pres_rows=2 }} {{U.S. presidential ticket list row no pres | year=1812 | year_rows=1 | result=won | vp=Elbridge Gerry | vp_rows=1 }} {{U.S. presidential ticket list row | year=1816 | year_rows=1 | result=won | pres=James Monroe | pres_rows=2 | vp=Daniel Tompkins | vp_rows=2 }} {{U.S. presidential ticket list row no pres vp | year=1820 | year_rows=1 | result=won }} {{U.S. presidential ticket list row | year=1824 | year_rows=1 | result=lost
won(b)
lost
lost | pres=Andrew Jackson,
John Quincy Adams,
William H. Crawford,
Henry Clay | pres_rows=1 | vp=John C. Calhoun | vp_rows=1 }} Template:End U.S. presidential ticket list

  • (a) Jefferson did not win the Presidency, and Burr did not win the Vice Presidency. However, under the pre-12th Amendment election rules, Jefferson won the Vice Presidency.
  • (b) There was no organized opposition to the Democratic-Republican Party; however, the Party splintered, and four major candidates ran as Democratic-Republicans. Adams won the Presidency and Calhoun the Vice Presidency.
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See also

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Notes

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References

  • Banning, Lance. The Jeffersonian Persuasion: Evolution of a Party Ideology (1980)
  • Beeman, Richard R. The Old Dominion and the New Nation, 1788-1801 (1972)
  • Beard; Charles A. Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy (1915)
  • Brown; Stuart Gerry. The First Republicans: Political Philosophy and Public Policy in the Party of Jefferson and Madison Syracuse University Press. 1954.
  • Channing; Edward. The Jeffersonian System: 1801-1811 (1906).
  • Cunningham, Noble E., Jr. Jeffersonian Republicans: The formation of Party Organization: 1789-1801 (1957)
  • Cunningham, Noble E., Jr., ed. '"The Making of the American Party System 1789 to 1809 (1965) excerpts from primary sources
  • Cunningham, Noble E., Jr. The Jeffersonian Republicans in Power: Party Operations 1801-1809 (1963)
  • Cunningham, Noble E., Jr. The Process of Government Under Jefferson (1978)
  • Elkins, Stanley M. and Eric McKitrick. The Age of Federalism (1995)
  • Gilpatrick, Delbert Harold. Jeffersonian Democracy in North Carolina, 1789-1816 (1931)
  • Goodman, Paul. The Democratic-Republicans of Massachusetts (1964)
  • Humphrey, Carol Sue The Press of the Young Republic, 1783-1833 (1996)
  • Kelley, Robert. The Cultural Pattern in American Politics: The First Century (1979)
  • Philip Shriver Klein; Pennsylvania Politics, 1817-1832: A Game without Rules 1940.
  • Pasley, Jeffrey L. et al eds. Beyond the Founders: New Approaches to the Political History of the Early American Republic (2004)
  • Peterson, Merrill D. The Jefferson Image in the American Mind (1960)
  • Peterson; Merrill D. Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A Biography Oxford University Press (1975)
  • Prince, Carl E. New Jersey’s Jeffersonian Republicans: The Genesis of an Early Party Machine, 1789-1817 (1967)
  • Rutland, Robert A., ed. James Madison and the American Nation, 1751-1836: An Encyclopedia. (1994)
  • Schachner, Nathan. Aaron Burr: A Biography (1961)
  • Sharp, James Roger. American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis (1993)
  • Smelser, Marshall. The Democratic Republic 1801-1815 (1968)
  • Stewart, Donald H. The Opposition Press of the Federalist Era (1968)
  • Tinkcom, Harry M. The Republicans and Federalists in Pennsylvania, 1790–1801 (1950)
  • Watkins, William. Reclaiming the American Revolution: The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions and Their Legacy (2004)
  • Wiltse, Charles Maurice. The Jeffersonian Tradition in American Democracy (1935)
  • Wilentz, Sean. The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln (2005)
  • Young, Alfred F. The Democratic Republicans of New York: The Origins, 1763–1797 (1967)
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External links

Template:USPartyde:Demokratisch-Republikanische Partei fr:Parti démocrate-républicain (États-Unis) he:המפלגה הדמוקרטית-רפובליקנית no:Det demokratisk-republikanske parti pt:Partido Democrata-Republicano (EUA) sq:Partia Demokratike-Republikane

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