Note: This was the first time political parties appeared in the United States.

Before the question of establishing a federal government, or not, arose, all candidatures had been personal.

After some time both terms got more and more confused, and sometimes used together as "Democratic Republicans" which later historians have adopted (with a hyphen) to describe the party from the beginning, to avoid confusion with both the later established and still existing Democratic and Republican parties.

The 1st United States Congress had convened at Federal Hall in New York City on March 4, 1789, without any members from the State of New York, and without a quorum in either Senate or House.

In April 1790, all six representatives ran for re-election: Floyd, Hathorn and Van Rensselaer (all Dem.-Rep.) were defeated; Laurance, Benson and Silvester (all Fed.)