Editing Democratic-Republican Party (section)

== Base of support ==
[[File:First Party System.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|Presidential election results from 1796 to 1824. Darker shades of green indicate that the state generally supported the Democratic-Republicans, and darker shades of brown indicate that the state generally supported the Federalists.]]

Madison and Jefferson formed the Democratic-Republican Party from a combination of former Anti-Federalists and supporters of the Constitution who were dissatisfied with the Washington administration's policies.{{sfnp|Reichley|2000|pp=36–37}} Nationwide, Democratic-Republicans were strongest in the South, and many of party's leaders were wealthy Southern slaveowners. The Democratic-Republicans also attracted middle class Northerners, such as artisans, farmers, and lower-level merchants, who were eager to challenge the power of the local elite.{{sfnp|Wood|2009|pp=166–168}} Every state had a distinct political geography that shaped party membership; in Pennsylvania, the Republicans were weakest around [[Philadelphia]] and strongest in [[Scots-Irish American|Scots-Irish]] settlements in the west.<ref>Klein, 44.</ref> The Federalists had broad support in New England, but in other places they relied on wealthy merchants and landowners.{{sfnp|Wood|2009|pp=168–171}} After 1800, the Federalists collapsed in the South and West, though the party remained competitive in New England and in some [[Mid-Atlantic (United States)|Mid-Atlantic]] states.{{sfnp|Reichley|2000|p=54}}