Democratic-Republican Societies were local political organizations formed in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1793-94 to promote
republicanismRepublicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of Republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context. The sometimes contrary definitions are all covered in...
and
democracyDemocracy is a system of government in which either the actual governing is carried out by the people governed , or the power to do so is granted by them...
and to fight aristocratic tendencies. Historians use the term "Democratic-Republican" to describe the societies, but the societies, besides the name "Democratic-Republican," called themselves by many names, including "Democratic," "Republican," "True Republican," "Constitutional," "United Freeman," "Patriotic," "Political," "Franklin," and "Madisonian."
The Germans of Philadelphia began the first society in April, 1793, inspired by
Peter MuhlenbergJohn Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg was a clergyman, a soldier and a politician of the Colonial, Revolutionary, and Post-Revolutionary eras in Pennsylvania....
.
Democratic-Republican Societies were local political organizations formed in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1793-94 to promote
republicanismRepublicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of Republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context. The sometimes contrary definitions are all covered in...
and
democracyDemocracy is a system of government in which either the actual governing is carried out by the people governed , or the power to do so is granted by them...
and to fight aristocratic tendencies. Historians use the term "Democratic-Republican" to describe the societies, but the societies, besides the name "Democratic-Republican," called themselves by many names, including "Democratic," "Republican," "True Republican," "Constitutional," "United Freeman," "Patriotic," "Political," "Franklin," and "Madisonian."
The Germans of Philadelphia began the first society in April, 1793, inspired by
Peter MuhlenbergJohn Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg was a clergyman, a soldier and a politician of the Colonial, Revolutionary, and Post-Revolutionary eras in Pennsylvania....
. Philadelphia was then the national capital and soon an English-speaking society was formed in the city by
David RittenhouseDavid Rittenhouse was a renowned American astronomer, inventor, clockmaker, mathematician, surveyor, scientific instrument craftsman, and public official...
, Charles Biddle (a prominent Quaker merchant), Dr.
George LoganGeorge Logan was an American physician, farmer, legislator and politician from Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. He served in the Pennsylvania state legislature and represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate. He was a founder of the Democratic-Republican Societies in 1793...
and
Alexander J. DallasAlexander James Dallas was an American statesman who served as the U.S. Treasury Secretary under President James Madison....
. Its charter was widely copied. At least 35 societies sprang up by 1795, located in most important American cities. Many leaders soon became active in Jefferson's
Democratic-Republican PartyThe Democratic-Republican Party was founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison around 1792. Supporters usually identified themselves as Republicans, but sometimes as Democrats. The term "Democratic Republican" was also used by contemporaries, but mostly by the party's opponents...
. As foreign affairs became more and more the dominant issues, they opposed the British and rallied behind Jefferson, proclaiming their friendship with France.
Activities
The societies usually met once a month, or more often during election season. Applicants for membership had to have five members attest to their "firm and steadfast friend of EQUAL RIGHTS OF MAN" and a couple members could blackball an applicant. "Apostasy from Republican principles" was ground for expulsion. Officers were rotated regularly--in one case every month.
The societies politicked in local elections officially or quietly. They often joined parades and celebrations of July Fourth, and were credited in 1794 with having made that day "more universally celebrated" than it had been. They also celebrated July 14--French Bastille Day. Some societies engaged in direct action to help France in her war with Britain, such as equipping French privateers.
Endless discussions and rounds of resolutions fill the minute books; most common were general addresses and resolutions critical of the Washington administration. In western states they agitated against the British for holding the frontier posts and against the Spanish for closing the Mississippi River; in the East, they denounced Britain for "piracy" against American shipping. In the Carolinas the demanded a uniform currency and demanded adequate representation for the growing backcountry. The societies strongly protested the excise tax on whiskey. They denounced John Jay as special envoy to London and vehemently repudiated the treaty he brought back. They complained about secret sessions of Congress and the state legislatures, demanding that public officials abandon the use of "dark, intricate, antiquated formalities" and "obsolete phraseology" that only lawyers and classical scholars could understand.
Doctrines
The societies preached equal justice and a general diffusion of knowledge as essential "pillars supporting the sacred temple of liberty." A primary purpose of the societies was to disseminate political information, as they believed ignorance was the greatest threat to democracy. They worked closely with republican newspaper editors, generating a heavy flow of letters, editorials and essays.
"To support and perpetuate the EQUAL RIGHTS OF MAN" was the New York society's "great object," and toward that end they would "constantly express our sentiments." The "Equal Rights of Man" meant to them the right to freedom of speech, press, and assembly; the right to criticize governmental representatives and to demand of them an explanation of their public acts; and the right to publish their reactions in a free press.
The memberships often included dissenting teachers and theologians striving to create a more progressive, humanitarian, and enlightened society. Their ideas were also influenced by classical and modern republicanism, particularly the works of Aristotle and Machiavelli, and by the 'Common Sense' philosophy of the Scottish Enlightenment. This philosophy led the societies to oppose many of the Federalist party policies. The societies advocated both a system of publicly funded and locally controlled education for all classes and a broadening of the franchise. Standing to Jefferson's ideological left, however, they advocated a much more democratic political agenda, including attempts to create a permanent organization of popular dissent directed against the federal government and an educational philosophy based on a dialectical and democratic approach to learning.
Pennsylvania Frontier and Whiskey Rebellion
Most societies were urban but three formed on Pennsylvania's western frontier, the Democratic Republican Society of the County of Washington, the Society of United Freemen of Mingo Creek, and the Republican Society at the Mouth of the Yougiogheny. Members dreamed of a yeoman farmer empire and thought that western farmers were exploited by wealthy easterners, particularly merchants and land speculators. They did not base their appeals on the idea that the governing classes should protect the poor; rather they demanded justice and were careful not to address those who possessed wealth and power with deference. They viewed whiskey tax collector John Neville, a reasonably wealthy man, as an agent of their eastern enemies. James McFarland, chairman of the Society of United Freemen, was killed while demanding that Neville resign. The Democratic Republican societies played a central role in the
Whiskey RebellionThe Whiskey Rebellion, less commonly known as the Whiskey Insurrection, was a popular uprising that had its beginnings in 1791 and culminated in an insurrection in 1794 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Monongahela Valley. During George Washington's presidency, the government decided to tax...
.
Decline
The Federalists opposed them, saying they had been started by
Citizen GenêtEdmond-Charles Genêt , also known as Citizen Genêt, was a French ambassador to the United States during the French Revolution.-Early life:Genêt was born in Versailles in 1763...
as a tool of the revolutionary government in Paris. Members responded by claiming they were inspired by the
Sons of LibertyThe Sons of Liberty was a secret organization of American patriots which originated in the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolution. British authorities and their supporters, known as Loyalists, considered the Sons of Liberty as seditious rebels, referring to them as "Sons of Violence" and...
, the Whig Clubs and other republican groups of the 1770s.
President Washington denounced them vehemently in late 1794, following his successful quelling of the
Whiskey RebellionThe Whiskey Rebellion, less commonly known as the Whiskey Insurrection, was a popular uprising that had its beginnings in 1791 and culminated in an insurrection in 1794 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Monongahela Valley. During George Washington's presidency, the government decided to tax...
. Washington complained that the Democratic-Republican societies in western Pennsylvania had helped instigate the revolt and thus were enemies of the new government and nation. By 1796, most of the groups had disbanded.
As educational organizations they had some impact. They believed that a republican nation required citizens to act together to deal with social problems at the grass roots. The mobilized citizenry was essential to defeat aristocracy (which they identified with
Alexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton was the first United States Secretary of the Treasury, a Founding Father, economist, and political philosopher...
). In opposing rule by the few they helped define what rule by the many might be like. The believed in the free play of intelligence, and insisted upon their rights to freedom of speech, press, and assembly.