After the American Revolution Massachusetts had adopted a progressive constitution but also invented the gerrymander – still controversial today.
“Again, Behold and Shudder at the exhibition of the terrible Dragon. Brought forth to swallow and devour Your Liberties and equal Rights.”
Salem Gazette on “Gerrymandering,” 1813
”Gerrymandering
In 1812, Governor Elbridge Gerry approved a map of state senate districts designed to benefit his “Democratic Republican” party.
- Harvard Art Museums
This resulted in an oddly shaped district that separated nearby towns. A cartoonist parodied the district in the form of a salamander. Elbridge Gerry was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Governor of Massachusetts, and Vice President of the United States. Today he is best known, if at all, for the “Gerrymander.”
Salem Gazette April 2, 1813.
Smithsonian Institution
Massachusetts congressional districts after the federal Apportionment Act of 1842.
The act mandated single member congressional districts nationwide. (This had already been the practice in Massachusetts). Some states had been electing members of congress at-large.
Library of Congress
All the Way to the Supreme Court
In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the issue of gerrymandering is a “political question” to be decided by elected officials, not federal courts (Rucho v. Common Cause). Gerrymandering on the basis of race remains illegal under the Voting Rights Act, though states have a duty to draw districts in a way that allows concentrated and politically cohesive minority groups the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.
Then and Now
Gerrymandering has become a national
issue for advocates of electoral reform.
Legislative districts are redrawn after the
federal census, every ten years. In many
states, the majority party in the legislature
controls the process. Nationally, both
parties have drawn lines favorable to their
candidates. Many argue that the lack of
competitive districts contributes to political
polarization.
A protest against gerrymandering before the Supreme Court building.
- Wikimedia Commons
A protest against gerrymandering before the Supreme Court building.
Wikimedia Commons