<P> The Democratic - Republican Party was an American political party formed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in 1791 -- 93 to oppose the centralizing policies of the new Federalist Party run by Alexander Hamilton , who was secretary of the treasury and chief architect of George Washington 's administration . The new party controlled the presidency and Congress , as well as most states , from 1801 to 1825 , during the First Party System . It began in 1791 as one faction in Congress , and included many politicians who had been opposed to the new constitution . They called themselves Republicans after their ideology , Republicanism . They distrusted the Federalist commitment to republicanism . The party splintered in 1824 into the Jacksonian movement ( which became the Democratic Party in 1828 ) and the short - lived National Republican Party ( later succeeded by the Whig Party ) . </P>
<P> The Democratic - Republican Party was an American political party formed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in 1791 -- 93 to oppose the centralizing policies of the new Federalist Party run by Alexander Hamilton , who was secretary of the treasury and chief architect of George Washington 's administration . The new party controlled the presidency and Congress , as well as most states , from 1801 to 1825 , during the First Party System . It began in 1791 as one faction in Congress , and included many politicians who had been opposed to the new constitution . They called themselves Republicans after their ideology , Republicanism . They distrusted the Federalist commitment to republicanism . The party splintered in 1824 into the Jacksonian movement ( which became the Democratic Party in 1828 ) and the short - lived National Republican Party ( later succeeded by the Whig Party ) . </P>
when did the democratic and republican party start
when did the democratic and republican party start
1791 -- 93
1791 -- 93