Democratic-Republican Party

From dKosopedia

The Democratic-Republican party was the first United States political party, which emerged early in the history of the United States and later evolved into the modern Democratic Party. Although General and later President George Washington warned about the "evils" of political parties, it was bound to happen due to the opposite ideas between people like Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.

In addition, some refer to the party as the Jeffersonian Republicans since Thomas Jefferson belonged to the party and had a major influence on its ideology; it is also referred to as simply the Republican Party, not to be confused with the modern Republican Party. Indeed, the name Democratic-Republican did not come into use until the time of Andrew Jackson. Previously, the party was always known as the Republican party. The anachronistic use of Democratic-Republican for pre-Jacksonian politicians is merely for the sake of convenience, to prevent confusion with the modern Republican party, and does not reflect the actual usage of the time. Additionally, this party should not be confused with Jeffersonian democracy, a term used to indicate the period when the government was run by aristocratic learned men, as opposed to the period of Jacksonian democracy where the common man ran the government.

The origins of this party lie in the Anti-Federalist Party, the group that opposed the adoption of the United States Constitution and insisted on the Bill of Rights. After the Federalist presidency of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson became the first Democratic-Republican President.

For a brief period, the Democratic-Republican Party was the sole dominant party in U.S. politics. At its apex, James Monroe ran virtually unopposed in the 1820 presidential election. This period was known as the Era of Good Feeling. Shortly afterward, the party would split into two factions: the Jacksonian Democrats, led by Andrew Jackson (which later evolved into the Democratic Party); and the National Republicans, led by John Quincy Adams (which later evolved into the Whig Party).

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

1. Thomas Jefferson (1801 - 1809)
2. James Madison (1809 - 1817)
3. James Monroe (1817-1825)
4. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)

Candidates

• Thomas Jefferson/Aaron Burr - 1796 (lost, though Jefferson was elected vice-president.)
• Thomas Jefferson/Aaron Burr - 1800 (won)
• Thomas Jefferson/George Clinton - 1804 (won)
• James Madison/George Clinton - 1808 (won)
• James Madison/Elbridge Gerry - 1812 (won)
• James Monroe/Daniel Tompkins - 1816 (won)
• James Monroe/Daniel Tompkins - 1820 (won)
• John Q. Adams/John Calhoun - 1824 (won)