Jeffersonian Democracy

Jeffersonian Democracy
"What did I miss?"
Basic Information
Aliases	Jeffersonianism Democratic-Republican Party Anti-Federalism Jeffersonian Republican
Alignments	RightUnity Democratic
Ideological Influences
Influenced by	Agrarianism Classical Liberalism Constitutionalism Presidentialism Republicanism
Influenced	American Conservatism Jacksonian Democracy Individualist Anarchism
Ideological Information
Foundation	Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) James Madison (1751-1836)

Jeffersonian Democracy is an economically right political movement that was dominant in the United States in the early 19th century. He is dedicated to the ideals of Thomas Jefferson, its prominent advocate that the movement was named for. He is opposed to the corruption of elitists and merchants, valuing planters and farmers as the true backbone of the republic.

It primarily combines elements of Classical Liberalism, Republicanism, and Agrarianism.

History

In the early years of the United States, the Democratic-Republican Party originated in the early 1790s as an opposition to the Federalist Party of Alexander Hamilton. As the country grew, the two parties became more organized, and tension between them grew stronger. The party gained political dominance in the elections of 1800 as Jefferson was elected president and it became the majority in Congress. During his presidency, Jefferson managed to reduce the national debt and government spending, reversing many Federalist policies. One of his most notable achievements is the acquisition of Louisiana from France.

After his presidency, Jefferson had many successors for decades, including James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams. The Federalists collapsed after 1815 due to the dominance of their opposition, bringing upon the Era of Good Feelings, a time characterized by a lack of partisan disputes. During the 1824 election, the party inevitably split up into two factions: one that supported incumbent President Adams, and the other that supported General Andrew Jackson. Backers of Jackson became the Democratic Party, and those who followed Adams eventually became the Whig Party.

The Democratic Party became a dominant political power before being overtaken by the Republican Party and their opposition of slavery in the Civil War. Despite not being directly related to the party, Republicans borrowed Jefferson’s ideals of liberty and equality. Today, traces of Jeffersonian democracy can be found often in American Libertarianism and Right-Wing Populism.

How to Draw

Symbol of Jeffersonian Democracy

1. Draw a ball,
2. Fill the ball with white (#FFFFFF),
3. Add a wavy diagonal red line down the middle,
4. Add two blue wavy lines parallel to the first,
5. Draw a yellow star under the right eye,
6. Draw the eyes and you're done!
7. (Optional) The star can be depicted as an eyepatch over the right eye.

Relationships

Friends

• Agrarianism - Farming is a great way to stimulate the economy.
• Republicanism - Down with the monarchy, up with representative democracy!
• File:Enlightnenment.png Enlightenment - Without this movement, I wouldn’t know how to break away from Britain...
• Classical Liberalism - John Locke was pretty great, wasn't he?
• Distributism - Everyone should own a farm.

Mixed

• Laicism- I'm gonna write down this book called the jefferson bible since we need a sense of morality.
• Federalism - While they support representative democracy, they don't give the states enough rights.
• Jacobinism - Down with the monarchy! But please chill it with the killing of civilians...
• Aristocracy - What we need is to get the naturally talented people into positions of power and form a true and natural aristocracy. What we don't need is an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth without either virtue or talents.

Enemies

• Monarchism - I didn’t write the Declaration of Independence so I could create another monarchy.
• Christian Theocracy - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof! Besides, I’m a deist...
• Hamiltonianism - I get no satisfaction witnessing his fits of passion. The way he primps and preens and dresses like the pits of fashion.
• Hydrarchy - Never forget the Barbary wars!

Further Information

Texts

Thomas Jefferson

• Declaration of Independence
• A Summary View of the Rights of British America
• Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms
• The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth
• The Natural Aristocracy
• A Treatise on Political Economy by Destutt de Tracy (translation by Jefferson)

Other Authors

• The Anti-Federalist Papers by a variety of authors
• Jefferson by Albert Jay Nock
• 1776 by David McCullough

Wikipedia

• Thomas Jefferson
• Jeffersonian democracy
• Democratic-Republican Party
• First Party System
• Ward republic