The Democratic-Republican Societies were radical political organizations in the United States which, inspired by the French Revolution, promoted republicanism and democracy and fought against aristocratic tendencies in the nascent country. The first society was founded in Philadelphia in 1793, and these societies, owing much to the model of the Jacobin Club, preached equal justice, the dissemination of political information to combat ignorance, freedoms of speech, press, and the assembly. Most of its members were former "Anti-Federalists" who had opposed the US Constitution, and it also included dissenting teachers and theologians who sought to create a more progressive, humanitarian, and enlightened society. While most societies were urban, three formed on Pennsylvania's western frontier and helped to trigger the Whiskey Rebellion, incurring the anger of President George Washington, who blamed secret societies for the rebellions. After the failure Whiskey Rebellion, the "Citizen Genet affair", and the start of the Quasi-War in 1796, most of the Democratic-Republican Societies disbanded.
Gallery[]
