Editing Democratic-Republican Party (section)

=== Slavery ===
From the foundation of the party, slavery divided the Democratic-Republicans. Many Southern Democratic-Republicans, especially from the Deep South, defended the institution. Jefferson and many other Democratic-Republicans from Virginia held an ambivalent view on slavery; Jefferson believed it was an immoral institution, but he opposed the immediate emancipation of all slaves on social and economic grounds. Instead, he favored gradual phasing out of the institution.{{sfnp|Wilentz|2005|pp=136–137}} Meanwhile, Northern Democratic-Republicans often took stronger anti-slavery positions than their Federalist counterparts, supporting measures like the abolition of slavery in Washington. In 1807, with President Jefferson's support, Congress [[Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves|outlawed]] the [[Atlantic slave trade|international slave trade]], doing so at the earliest possible date allowed by the Constitution.{{sfnp|Wilentz|2005|pp=218–221}}

After the War of 1812, Southerners increasingly came to view slavery as a beneficial institution rather than an unfortunate economic necessity, further polarizing the party over the issue.{{sfnp|Wilentz|2005|pp=218–221}} Anti-slavery Northern Democratic-Republicans held that slavery was incompatible with the equality and individual rights promised by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. They further held that slavery had been permitted under the Constitution only as a local and impermanent exception, and thus, slavery should not be allowed to spread outside of the original thirteen states. The anti-slavery positions developed by Northern Democratic-Republicans would influence later anti-slavery parties, including the [[Free Soil Party]] and the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].{{sfnp|Wilentz|2005|pp=225–227}} Some Democratic-Republicans from the border states, including [[Henry Clay]], continued to adhere to the Jeffersonian view of slavery as a necessary evil; many of these leaders joined the [[American Colonization Society]], which proposed the voluntary recolonization of Africa as part of a broader plan for the gradual emancipation of slaves.{{sfnp|Wilentz|2005|pp=228–229}}