Title: Democratic-Republican Party - Members and History
Headings: History of the Democratic-Republican Party
History of the Democratic-Republican Party
The Jeffersonian Republicans and the Original Republican Party
Founding of the Democratic-Republican Party
Prominent Members of the Democratic-Republican Party
End of the Democratic-Republican Party

Content: Founding of the Democratic-Republican Party
Jefferson and Madison founded the party in opposition to the Federalist Party, which was led by John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and John Marshall, who fought for a strong federal government and supporting policies that favored the wealthy. The primary difference between the Democratic-Republican Party and the Federalists was Jefferson's belief in the authority of local and state governments. "Jefferson's party stood for rural agricultural interests urban commercial interests represented by Hamilton and the Federalists," wrote Dinesh D'Souza in Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party . The Democratic-Republican Party was initially just a "loosely aligned group that shared their opposition to the programs introduced in the 1790s," wrote University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato. " Many of these programs, proposed by Alexander Hamilton, favored merchants, speculators, and the rich." Federalists including Hamilton favored the creation of a national bank and the power to impose taxes. Farmers in the western United States strongly opposed taxation because they worried about not being able to pay and having their land being bought up by "eastern interests," Sabato wrote. Jefferson and Hamilton also clashed over the creation of a national bank; Jefferson did not believe the Constitution permitted such a move, while Hamilton believed the document was open to interpretation on the matter.