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==Party name==
The party never had an official name; members usually called themselves Republicans. Federalist opponents often called them "Democrats" or "Jacobins" as an insult. Thus in 1798 former President George Washington wrote, "you could as soon scrub the blackamore white, as to change the principles of a profest Democrat; and that he will leave nothing unattempted to overturn the Government of this Country."<ref>Washington to James McHenry, Sept 30, 1798 at [http://www.pbs.org/georgewashington/collection/post_pres_1798sep30.html]</ref>
The party never had an official name; members usually called themselves Republicans. Federalist opponents often called them "Democrats" or "Jacobins" as an insult. The first official name came with the first national Democratic convention in 1832 which used "Republican Party." One of the first references of the establishment of the "republican party" is in Thomas Jefferson's letter to [[George Washington]] in 1792.<ref>{{cite web | title = Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, May 23, 1792 | url = http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28tj060237%29%29| accessdate = 2006-10-04 }}</ref> By 1794 Jefferson and Madison routinely used the term "republican" and the "Republican party". <ref>{{cite web | title = James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, March 2, 1794 | url = http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mjm&fileName=05/mjm05.db&recNum=591 | accessdate = 2006-10-14}} "I see by a paper of last evening that even in New York a meeting of the people has taken place, at the instance of the Republican party, and that a committee is appointed for the like purpose." See also: Smith, 832.</ref> After 1800, a few local branches began using "Democratic Republican" to describe themselves.<ref>Some "Democratic Republican" examples: [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page025.db&recNum=1138 1802], [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/rbpebib:@OR%28@field%28AUTHOR+@3%28Independent+Republican+Citizens,+Philadelphia+County++%29%29+@field%28OTHER+@3%28Independent+Republican+Citizens,+Philadelphia+County++%29%29%29 1803], [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/rbpebib:@OR%28@field%28TITLE+@od1%28To+the+Democratic+Republican+electors,+of+the+State+of+Pennsylvania++Fellow+Citizens++The+choice+of+electors+of+the+President+and+Vice-President,+is+to+be+made+on+Friday,+the+2d+of+November+++++Benjamin+Franklin+Bache++%5B1804+++%29%29+@field%28ALTTITLE+@od1%28To+the+Democratic+Republican+electors,+of+the+State+of+Pennsylvania++Fellow+Citizens++The+choice+of+electors+of+the+President+and+Vice-President,+is+to+be+made+on+Friday,+the+2d+of+November+++++Benjamin+Franklin+Bache++%5B1804+++%29%29%29 1804], [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(sj003543)) 1804], [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/rbpebib:@OR%28@field%28AUTHOR+@3%28Democratic+Republican+corresponding+committee++Newcastle+County++Delaware++%29%29+@field%28OTHER+@3%28Democratic+Republican+corresponding+committee++Newcastle+County++Delaware++%29%29%29 1805], [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page036.db&recNum=1114 1806], [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page037.db&recNum=643 1807], [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page041.db&recNum=667 1808], [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page043.db&recNum=1023 1809]</ref> In 1811, [[Hezekiah Niles]] used "Democratic Republican" routinely in the ''Niles' Register''{{cn}};<ref>See citations in ''DAE'', sub DR. Note: Insufficient cite</ref> As Gammon shows, in 1824 "the one party name in existence was "Republican." Indeed the party had been mostly so styled since 1812, as is shown by Jefferson's letters and by ''Niles' Register.'' The term "National Republican" was first applied to the Adams-Clay faction in New York during the latter stages of the campaign of 1824. In New York state politics the name "Democratic" was revived in 1824. In 1818 there had been a split in the New York Republican party, with [[DeWitt Clinton]] leading one faction and [[Martin Van Buren]] the other. The latter faction was dubbed by its enemies the "Bucktails," and about the same time began to refer to itself as the "Democratic" party. The term "Republican," however, was still used to indicate both "Bucktails" and Clintonians.<ref>Gammon, 155-156.</ref>
Nationally, a new terminology had not yet crystallized by 1830. In the 1828 election, both Adams and Jackson still thought of themselves as "Republicans," but ran under the names of their factions. Adams thought of himself as a "National Republican" while Jackson's supporters called themselves "Jackson Men" or "Jacksonians."
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