Democratic-Republican Party

Democratic-Republican Party, one of the two political parties founded during the first decades of the United States. It emerged in the 1790s in opposition to the dominant Federalist Party. Initially called the Republican Party and later the Democratic-Republic Party, in about 1830 the name became the Democratic Party. It was formed in the wake of the resignation of Thomas Jefferson as secretary of state in President George Washington's cabinet, in 1793. Jefferson opposed federalist policies favoring the commerce and industry of New England and the Middle Atlantic area. The party came to power in 1800 when Jefferson was elected president, and held the presidency through the administrations of Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. With the emergence of Andrew Jackson, new alignments came into being, and the party evolved into the forerunner of the current Democratic Party.