The Tragic Error of Jeffersonian Populism

In the home of the brave / Jefferson turning over in his grave

In 1790’s America, a vociferous political opposition to the majority Federalist Party took shape. The new party would eradicate the Federalists during the first decades of the 19th Century and then morph, amid some internal struggle, into the Democratic Party.

What to call the opposition party of the 1790’s has always been a problem, because its members …