The party was formed by an alliance of the more conservative Episcopalians with the Democratic-Republicans, along with a number of former Federalists and other religious dissenters, specifically Baptists, Methodists, Unitarians, and Universalists.
Partiet hade sin grund i en allians mellan de mer konservativa episkopalerna med Demokrat-Republikanerna, tillsammans med ett antal tidigare medlemmar av Federalisterna och andra religiösa dissidenter, särskilt baptister, metodister, unitarier och universalister.