What did most Americans favor a republic or democracy and why?

The idea of a complete democracy scared the framers. They feared that the majority would have complete control over every aspect of the government making things very one sided. The idea of a small republic was also somewhat nerve wrecking because after leaving such tyrannic rule they didn't think trusting government with every decision was a good idea either--elected or not! The key was to find a happy medium where the aspects of direct voter input from democracy and constituency from republic were both thrown into the equation.