—This is a guest post by Mark Dimunation, the former chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
The term for the political tactic of manipulating boundaries of electoral districts for unfair political advantage derives its name from a prominent 19th-century political figure — and from a mythological salamander.
The term, originally written as “Gerry-mander,” first was used on March 26, 1812, in the Boston Gazette — a reaction to the redrawing of Massachusetts state senate election districts under Gov. Elbridge Gerry.
Though the redistricting was done at the behest of his Democratic-Republican Party, it was Gerry who signed the bill in 1812. As a result, he received the dubious honor of attribution, along with its negative connotations.
Gerry, in fact, found the proposal “highly disagreeable.” He lost the next election, but the redistricting was a success: His party retained control of the legislature.
One of the remapped, contorted districts in the Boston area was said to resemble the shape of a mythological salamander. The newly drawn state senate district in Essex County was lampooned in cartoons as a strange winged dragon, clutching at the region.
The person who coined the term gerrymander never has been identified. The artist who drew the political cartoon, however, was Elkanah Tisdale, a Boston-based artist and engraver who had the skills to cut the blocks for the original cartoon.
Gerry was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a two-term member of the House of Representatives, governor of Massachusetts and U.S. vice president under James Madison. His name, however, was forever negatively linked to this form of political powerbroking by the cartoon shown above, which often appeared with the term gerrymander.
The Library’s Rare Book and Special Collections Division holds the original print of the image, and the Geography and Map Division holds Tisdale’s original woodblocks — preserving the origins of a political practice that continues over two centuries later.
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Comments (25)
…and now you know …the rest of the story !
I remember that segment/show!
Thanks … nice detail
The European Reading Room has Gerry’s name on one of its stained glass ceiling panels.
Those who wish to pay their respects to Eldridge Gerry will find his grave at Congressional Cemetery, 1801 E Street SE, D, marked by a memorial sculpted by John Frazee. Gerry is the only signer of the Declaration of Independence buried at the cemetery or buried in the nation’s capital.
It would have added to the understanding of the facts and the human condition to be self serving if the when (date) and how (law) that provided for representation using the 10 year census began. We are trying to end gerrymandering in PA to eliminate the partisan grip on the processes of governance for self serving rather than serving interests; which both parties do. It is ironic to read that Gerry’s party was listed as Democratic-Republican.
Now I know where “mander” comes from (“salamander”) but is “Gerry” pronounced with a hard “G” or soft? Beyond correct pronunciation, I’d rather see the word relegated to historical interest rather than active vocabulary.
I believe this “gerry” is pronounced the same as “Jerry,” or at least it is here in D.C.!
Love the quick history lesson. I won’t soon forget that Mr. Gerry was a VP. Thanks!
This was good information! I had some off information and I understand now. 62 years old and never really understood all of this. It’s never too late to learn though!!
And today gerry pandering has become a powerful tool to gain/retain political control in government with little or no involvement or concern for we the people who created government and who first, as citizens of the U.S.
don’t want or deserve a process which negatively impacts the purpose to redistricting for population changes in favor of political power and control-a primary concern of our founding fathers.
Gov. Gerry pronounced his name with a hard G, so the word ought not be pronounced “jerrymandering,” but rather “garymandering.” Someone else has probably already pointed this out.
What is a Democratic-Republican Party in 1812? The Republican party wasn’t even founded until 1854!!!
Hi,
The Democratic-Republican party was one of the first opposition parties after the formation of the United States. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe were all elected president as Democratic-Republicans. It evolved into the current Democratic Party.
Cheers,
Neely
To respond to Pam Baetan’s comment on August 6th, the pronunciation of his name was with a hard “G” as in the beginning of “Get”, so is closer to pronunciation of the name “Gary” than “Jerry”. Although the general pronunciation of Gerrymander has changed to being a soft “G” as in “Jerry”, to this day around Marblehead, MA (his birthplace) his name and Gerrymander are still pronounced with the hard “G” sound (phonetically “GHERR-ee-man-der-ing”)
Thanks for the help it helped me in my project i’m doing about Elbridge Gerry
Good luck!
thank you for the help I was doing a project and this helped me a lot.
Interesting tracing the current political to the first political parties to emerge. Neely Tucker equates the Democratic- Republicans Party as the fore-bearers to the current Democratic Party. The Democrats complains bitterly about Gerrymandering (hard G or soft g, is not important) by today’s Republican Party, but practice Gerrymandering very well!
The Democratic-Republicans were led by Thomas Jefferson, who with Andrew Jackson were considered the founders of the current Democratic Party. However, they have been canceled by the Democratic Party since they owned slaves (200 years ago). No longer do Democrats celebrate Jefferson – Jackson Day.
My conclusion, why can’t both parties (or all three parties, if you include Socialists) agree that Gerrymandering needs to stop and support a Constitutional Amendment to eliminate the practice nationally for all federal, state and local elections. Let the people select their representatives not the representatives selecting their voters.
I reside in a majority Caucasian Congressional District but my Congressman is African American and maybe the next Governor of Florida, Guess who?
Didn’t gerrymander officially originate in Norway
To respond to Erling, No I don’t think so, but I did read that it did supposedly start before the official name.
Basically, it seems to me that gerrymandering is blatantly illegal and should never have been tolerated in the democracy that prides itself on integrity as well as freedom. Gerrymandering is nothing more and nothing less than simply e.g. “stacking the courts.”
Instead of the voter, choosing the politician, the politician chooses the voter. This illicit process that began in 1812 has been around for more than two centuries. Surely it can and should be legally and successfully challenged! Why the delay?
Why can’t we “return” all American states’ congressional lines to a thoughtful and obvious reboot, pretty much equaling rectangles across this great land?
Now, right now, we need it to stop the systemic cheating, corruption and decay of our failing, flailing almost-dead democracy.
I’m both enraged and terrified for America.
Interesting????
How is the party in power having the ability to draw districts to practically insure they stay in power anything other than fascism?