Unlike modern class warfare liberals, the Jeffersonians did not advocate redistribution of wealth. Madison denounced "a rage for paper money, for an abolition of debts, for an equal division of property" as examples of "improper or wicked" ideas.<ref>"[http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm The Federalist No. 10]"</ref> However, they did share certain traits with modern liberals, including a conflicted attitude toward the military. As president, Jefferson insisted that he was a man of peace and did not need the navy built under his predecessor, [[John Adams]]. Yet one of his first acts in office was to put that navy to work attacking the Barbary pirates. By the time of the [[War of 1812]], the Jeffersonians had thoroughly demilitarized the country. Yet they eagerly waged war on Britain, a state with a powerful military, particularly at this time when its resources were fully mobilized to fight Napoleon. Another trait the Jeffersonians shared with modern liberals is that they were united less by ideology than by the conviction that their opponents were evil. To the Jeffersonians, Hamilton's [[Federalists]] were "monarchists" and "elitists." The fetish for a minimal federal government, once presented as a central ideology, was dropped in 1816. The "nationalist" policies adopted at this time were often the same as the policies the party had condemned when the Federalists advocated them.
In Jefferson's time, the party was known nationally as the Republicans. In several states, it was also called '''the Democrats'''.<ref>In Washington Irving's short story "[http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/RipVan.shtml Rip Van Winkle]" (1819), Rip is asked if he is "Federal or Democrat." N.B.: Not "Democratic Republican," which was not a contemporary usage.</ref> The party had numerous factions, including the Quids and Malcontents in Pennsylvania, as well as the "Old Republicans" in the South.<ref>Wood, Gordon S. ''Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815'' (Oxford History of the United States Book 4) (p. 313). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition. p. 313.</ref> The "War Hawks" of the West pushed for war against Britain in 1812. The two best-known factions were the Democrats and the Nationalists. The term "Democratic Republican" was occasionally used to refer to the Democratic (later Jacksonian) faction. The modern [[Republican Party]], founded in 1854, was named after Jefferson's party. To distinguish the these two parties, modern writers sometimes use the term '''Democratic-Republican Party''' to refer to Jefferson's party, confusing a faction with the party as a whole.
==History==