Editing Gerrymandering (section)

==Etymology==

[[File:The Gerry-Mander Edit.png|thumb|250px|Printed in March 1812, this political cartoon was made in reaction to the newly drawn state senate election district of [[Essex County, Massachusetts|South Essex]] created by the Massachusetts legislature to favor the [[Democratic-Republican Party]]. The caricature satirizes the bizarre shape of the district as a dragon-like "monster", and Federalist newspaper editors and others at the time likened it to a [[Cultural depictions of salamanders|salamander]].]]

The word ''gerrymander'' (originally written ''Gerry-mander''; a [[portmanteau]] of the name ''Gerry'' and the animal ''[[salamander]]'') was used for the first time in the ''Boston Gazette''{{efn|Printed from 1803 to 1816; not to be confused with the original ''[[Boston Gazette]]'' (1719–1798).}} on 26 March 1812 in [[Boston, Massachusetts]], United States. This word was created in reaction to a redrawing of [[Massachusetts Senate]] election districts<!---and not US congressional districts--> under Governor [[Elbridge Gerry]], later [[Vice President of the United States]]. Gerry, who personally disapproved of the practice, signed a bill that redistricted [[Massachusetts]] for the benefit of the [[Democratic-Republican Party]]. When mapped, one of the contorted districts in the Boston area was said to resemble a mythological [[Cultural depictions of salamanders|salamander]].<ref name="Griffith 1907 72–73">{{cite book|last=Griffith|first=Elmer|title=The Rise and Development of the Gerrymander |url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=6o2HAAAAMAAJ |page=73 }} |pages=72–73|location=Chicago |publisher=Scott, Foresman and Co |year=1907 |oclc=45790508}}</ref> Appearing with the term, and helping spread and sustain its popularity, was a [[political cartoon]] depicting a strange animal with claws, wings, and a dragon-like head that supposedly resembled the oddly shaped district.

The cartoon was most likely drawn by [[Elkanah Tisdale]], an early-19th-century painter, designer, and engraver who lived in Boston at the time.<ref> No evidence has been found that famous American portrait painter [[Gilbert Stuart]] had any involvement with either the design, drawing, or naming of the cartoon or with the coining of the term. Detailed biographies and academic journal articles about Stuart make no reference to gerrymandering. The myth of Stuart's association with the original gerrymander has been reproduced and spread without verification or sources, from one reference book and Internet site to another. Modern scholars of Stuart agree that no proof has been found to credit him with the term or cartoon, and that he tended not to be involved with such issues. {{cite journal |first=Kenneth C. |last=Martis |title=The Original Gerrymander |journal=Political Geography |volume=27 |issue=4 |year=2008 |pages=833–839 |doi=10.1016/j.polgeo.2008.09.003 }}</ref> Tisdale had the engraving skills to cut the woodblocks to print the original cartoon.<ref>{{cite journal |last=O'Brien |first=D. C. |title=Elkanah Tisdale: Designer, Engraver and Miniature Painter |journal=Connecticut Historical Bulletin |volume=49 |issue=2 |year=1984 |pages=83–96 }}</ref> These woodblocks survive and are preserved in the [[Library of Congress]].<ref>Library of Congress. Original woodblocks for printing "Gerrymander" political cartoon. Geography and Map Reading Room. LCCN Permalink: http://lccn.loc.gov/2003620165.</ref> The creator of the term ''gerrymander'', however, may never be definitively established. Historians widely believe that the [[Federalist Party|Federalist]] newspaper editors [[Nathan Hale (journalist)|Nathan Hale]] and Benjamin and John Russell coined the term, but no definitive evidence shows who created or uttered the word for the first time.<ref name="Martis">{{cite journal |last=Martis |first=Kenneth C. |title=The Original Gerrymander |journal=[[Political Geography (journal)|Political Geography]] |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=833–839 |year=2008 |doi=10.1016/j.polgeo.2008.09.003 }}</ref>

The redistricting was a notable success for Gerry's Democratic-Republican Party. In the [[1812 United States elections|1812 election]], both the [[Massachusetts House of Representatives|Massachusetts House]] and [[Governor of Massachusetts|governorship]] were comfortably won by [[Federalist Party|Federalists]], losing Gerry his job, but the redistricted state senate remained firmly in Democratic-Republican hands.<ref name="Griffith 1907 72–73" />

The word ''gerrymander'' was reprinted numerous times in Federalist newspapers in Massachusetts, [[New England]], and nationwide for the rest of 1812.<ref>The word ''gerrymander'' was used again in two Boston-area papers the next day. The first usage outside of the immediate Boston area appeared in the ''[[Newburyport Herald]]'' (Massachusetts) on 31 March, and the first use outside of Massachusetts came in the ''Concord Gazette'' (New Hampshire) on 14 April 1812.

The first use outside of New England was published in the ''New York Gazette and General Advertiser'' on 19 May. What may be the first use of the term to describe the [[redistricting]] in another state (Maryland) occurred in the ''Federal Republican'' (Georgetown, DC)<!-- Georgetown was technically distinct from the city of Washington until 1871. --> on 12 October 1812. All in all, at least 80 citations of the word are known from March through December 1812 in American newspapers. {{cite journal |first=Kenneth C. |last=Martis |title=The Original Gerrymander |journal=Political Geography |volume=27 |issue=4 |year=2008 |pages=833–839 |doi=10.1016/j.polgeo.2008.09.003 }}</ref> This suggests an organized activity by the Federalists to disparage Gerry in particular and the growing Democratic-Republican Party in general. ''Gerrymandering'' soon began to be used to describe cases of district shape-manipulation for partisan gain in other states. According to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]],'' the word's acceptance was marked by its publication in a dictionary (1848) and in an encyclopedia (1868).<ref>Simpson, J. A., Weiner, E. S. C.  "Gerrymander",  ''Oxford English Dictionary.''  New York: Oxford University Press.</ref> Since the eponymous ''Gerry'' is pronounced with a [[hard g]] {{IPA|/ɡ/}} as in ''get'', the word ''gerrymander'' was originally pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|g|ɛr|i|m|æ|n|d|ər}}, but pronunciation as {{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|ɛr|i|m|æ|n|d|ər}}, with a soft g {{IPA|/dʒ/}} as in ''gentle,'' has become dominant. Residents of [[Marblehead, Massachusetts]], Gerry's hometown, continue to use the original pronunciation.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stevens |first1=Chris |title=Supreme Court rules on Marblehead 'gerrymandering' letter |url=https://marblehead.wickedlocal.com/news/20180725/supreme-court-rules-on-marblehead-gerrymandering-letter |website=Wicked Local |access-date=26 January 2021 |archive-date=2 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202084936/https://marblehead.wickedlocal.com/news/20180725/supreme-court-rules-on-marblehead-gerrymandering-letter }}</ref>

From time to time, other names have been suffixed with ''-{{zwj}}mander'' to tie a particular effort to a particular politician or group. Examples are the 1852 "[[Andrew Johnson#Congressman (1843–1853)|Henry-mandering]]", "Jerrymander" (referring to California Governor [[Jerry Brown]]),<ref>[[Thomas B. Hofeller]], "[http://www.politico.com/pdf/PPM116_rnc_hofeller_memo_051010.pdf The Looming Redistricting Reform; How will the Republican Party Fare?]", ''Politico'', 2011.</ref> "Perrymander" (a reference to Texas Governor [[Rick Perry]]),<ref>{{cite magazine |author=David Wasserman |date=19 August 2011 |title='Perrymander': Redistricting Map That Rick Perry Signed Has Texas Hispanics Up in Arms |url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/-perrymander-redistricting-map-that-rick-perry-signed-has-texas-hispanics-up-in-arms-20110819 |magazine=National Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509195817/http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/-perrymander-redistricting-map-that-rick-perry-signed-has-texas-hispanics-up-in-arms-20110819 |archive-date=9 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Mark Gersh |date=21 September 2011 |title=Redistricting Journal: Showdown in Texas—reasons and implications for the House, and Hispanic vote |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/redistricting-journal-showdown-in-texas-reasons-and-implications-for-the-house-and-hispanic-vote/ |work=CBS News |access-date=14 May 2012 |archive-date=22 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110922195655/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20109665-503544.html |url-status=live }}</ref> "[[Tullymander]]" (after the Irish politician [[James Tully (Irish politician)|James Tully]]),<ref>{{cite book
|last1=Donald Harman
|first1=Akenson
|author-link1=Donald Akenson
|chapter=Chapter 12: Kildare Street to Fleet Street
|title=Conor
|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VDollk5D4ZsC&q=tullymander&pg=PA431
|volume=1
|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP
|date=1994
|page=431
|isbn=978-0-7735-1256-6
|access-date=15 November 2016
|via=Google Books
|url-access=registration
|url=https://archive.org/details/conorbiographyof00aken_0
}}</ref> and "[[Bjelkemander]]" (referencing Australian politician [[Joh Bjelke-Petersen]]).