[Mogger]

Has anyone figured out just when was the beginning of the USA incorrectly being referred to as a "democracy"?

I have found it as early as the mid 1800s.

Curious who started it too.

[aspasia]

The USA grew up contemporaneously with the French Revolution. also devoted to democracy. It was in the air. Aristotle and Plato already foresaw the dangers.

[Nero Germanicus]

The second political party to be formed (by Jefferson and Madison) after the Federalist Party was the Democratic-Republican Party in the election of 1800.
The Democratic-Republicans grew out of the anti-federalist faction at the constitutional convention. They were also called just “The Republicans.”
Two historical eras of early American politics were labeled the eras of “Jeffersonian Democracy” and “Jacksonian Democracy.”
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/jeffersonian-democracy
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/jacksonian-democracy