1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,480 Speaker 1: Hey everybody. Before we get started, we have a couple 2 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:08,080 Speaker 1: of live shows to announce. First April, we will be 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:12,120 Speaker 1: at Universal Fan Con in Baltimore, Maryland. Our exact schedule 4 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: for that show is still in the works, but this 5 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:16,800 Speaker 1: will include a live show, and our listeners can get 6 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,760 Speaker 1: discounted tickets using the offer code History. And for all 7 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:22,439 Speaker 1: the folks who have asked us to do a show 8 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:25,120 Speaker 1: in the Boston area, of which there have been many, 9 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: we are finally on the way with the show in 10 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: Quincy at Adams National Historical Park on Sunday, July eight 11 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: at two pm. That one is an outdoor show. It 12 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:37,919 Speaker 1: will happen rain or shine. And we also have more 13 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,920 Speaker 1: appearances that will be announcing soon, as well as more 14 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: details about both of these shows, and we will put 15 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: that all at our website also at miss in history 16 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: dot com. Welcome to Steph you missed in history class 17 00:00:50,880 --> 00:01:00,120 Speaker 1: from how Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to 18 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'll fry so 19 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: l Bridge Gerry not really a household name unless you 20 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: start talking about jerrymandering, which at this point is a 21 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: household word and is named after him. So just in 22 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: case you're not familiar, jerrymandering is the drawing of political 23 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,279 Speaker 1: districts to give particular advantage or disadvantage to a party 24 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: or a group. And back when we talked about the 25 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: Wilmington's Que earlier this year, we got a number of 26 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: angry letters about how we should have specifically said that 27 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: both major parties in the United States jerrymander, even though 28 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 1: we talked about both major parties doing that in the episode. 29 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: A lot of those letters also suggested that we should 30 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: do a podcast on the history of jerrymandering to remedy 31 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: our obvious ignorance on that subject. But the funny thing was, 32 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: at that point it had been lingering on my short 33 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: list for a really long time, based on having already 34 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: educated myself. So it's not April of eighteen. Just last 35 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: month the U. S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in 36 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: a gerrymandering case, and they had heard arguments in a 37 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: previous case the previous October, and then the North Carolina 38 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:14,920 Speaker 1: case that we mentioned in that Wilmington Que episode was 39 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 1: put on hold pending decisions and all that, so it 40 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:19,519 Speaker 1: seemed like a good time to actually move this thing 41 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: that's been on my short list for more than a 42 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,359 Speaker 1: year up to the top. We are not going to 43 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 1: get into the details of the cases that the Supreme 44 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 1: Court is examining right now. Uh, there is a ton 45 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:35,920 Speaker 1: of very good, reliable, nonpartisan coverage that is very easy 46 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: to find if you google something like jerrymandering Scotus or 47 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,920 Speaker 1: jerrymandering Supreme Court. Today's show is more about the history 48 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: of congressional districts and who this l Bridge Gary person 49 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: was and how he became associated with a district that 50 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: was so convoluted that the whole practice of drawing skewed 51 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: political districts is now named after him. So in the US, 52 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: the word jerrymandering can apply to any political district, but 53 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: it's most often used to describe state and federal legislative districts. 54 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: The various states have their own particulars, but for the 55 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: most part, state legislative districts follow the same basic principles 56 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: that the congressional districts do, but with different numbers. The 57 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: United States has four hundred thirty five congressional districts, which 58 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 1: are distributed among the states based on their population, and 59 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: that population count comes from the census, which has been 60 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 1: conducted every ten years since se The census is something 61 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: that Congress is empowered to conduct in Article one, Section 62 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: two of the Constitution, so it's right there in the 63 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: nation's founding document. The census is used for a lot 64 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: of other things as well, but it's primary purpose is 65 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: connected to creating congressional districts, and the idea that the 66 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: districts will be allocated to the states based on their 67 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 1: population is also in the Constitution, also in Article one, 68 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: section two, which is amended in Section two of the 69 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: four teenth Amendment, quote, Representatives shall be apportioned among the 70 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole 71 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. 72 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,720 Speaker 1: The Indians not taxed part is connected to the idea 73 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: of tribal sovereignty, and at the time, tribal persons who 74 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: were not paying any taxes were not being counted. We'll 75 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: get to that a little bit more later. All the 76 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: congressional districts across all the states are supposed to have 77 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,599 Speaker 1: roughly the same number of people, and although that basic 78 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:37,599 Speaker 1: idea has been part of the process from the very beginning, 79 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: it wasn't until the Apportionment Act of eighteen forty two, 80 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 1: that the law really spelled out that every state should 81 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: be divided into congressional districts, with a single representative elected 82 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: from each one. The congressional districts themselves are divided and 83 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: distributed through a process called apportionment, which is governed by 84 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: federal law. The exact method of a portion mint has 85 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: changed several times over the centuries, and all those methods 86 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: are actually pretty tricky to explain in the course of 87 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,360 Speaker 1: an audio podcast, so we will put it this way. 88 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: It is a math exercise intended to ensure equal representation nationwide. 89 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,600 Speaker 1: The current system of apportionment goes back to nineteen forty, 90 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,280 Speaker 1: at which point it was also decided that there were 91 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 1: no longer any Indians, not text to be factored into 92 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 1: the equation. The number of congressional districts corresponds to the 93 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: number of seats in the House of Representatives, so the 94 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: nation started out with sixty five seats in seventy seven, 95 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,279 Speaker 1: which increased to a hundred and five after the first 96 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: census was conducted, apart from a temporary increase between when 97 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 1: Alaska and Hawaii became states and they each got one representative, 98 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: and then when the next census was held, which point 99 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 1: it dropped back down. The number has been fixed at 100 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: four hundred thirty five since Arizona and New Mexico became 101 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: states in nineteen twelve. The District of Columba, Puerto Rico, 102 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:05,280 Speaker 1: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US 103 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: Virgin Islands are each represented by a non voting member 104 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: of the House, which is separate from the four hundred 105 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: thirty five voting members. That limit of four hundred thirty 106 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: five congressional districts means that apportionment is a zero sum game. 107 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: There are four hundred and thirty five districts to go 108 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: around among fifty states, and each district nationwide is supposed 109 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: to have about the same number of people, So the 110 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: census reveals that a state's population has increased enough that 111 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: it requires another district to keep things balanced out. Another 112 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,679 Speaker 1: state whose population has decreased has to lose a district 113 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 1: to make up for it. Since each district is supposed 114 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,360 Speaker 1: to have about the same number of people, it's not 115 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: really possible to just add or subtract one in a 116 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 1: state without redrawing the entire map, and the states have 117 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:58,360 Speaker 1: their own laws about exactly how such redistricting should happen, 118 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: and some states an independent voting commission draws the lines, 119 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,040 Speaker 1: or the legislature draws the lines but is forbidden by 120 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: law from doing so in a way that favors their 121 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: own party. But in a lot of states, redistricting is 122 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: handled just like any other piece of legislation, with a 123 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: vote in the legislature and an approval or a veto 124 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 1: by the governor. That means whichever party has the majority 125 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: in the state government has the potential to put more 126 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: influence on the way that the map is drawn. Throughout 127 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: all these decades of adjustments to how many districts there 128 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: are and how they're apportioned, legislators have tried a number 129 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: of other tactics to influence the outcome as well. One 130 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: notorious example is the three fifths Compromise, which is an 131 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: Article one, section two of the Constitution. Along with the 132 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 1: census and the idea of apportionment. This was an appeasement 133 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 1: to the slave states, who wanted their enslaved population to 134 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: be counted in the census so they could get more 135 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: representation in Congress, but not to be counted in a 136 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: way that would affect taxation. So the compromise was to 137 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: count three fifths of the enslaved people in each state, 138 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: which gave the Southern states more seats in the House 139 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 1: during the apportionment process. That is why the fourteenth Amendment 140 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: specifies the whole number of persons in each state. The 141 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 1: idea of the three fifths compromise actually goes back to 142 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: before the drafting of the Constitution, and the practice of 143 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: gerrymandering goes back almost as far too, before the word 144 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: was even coined. The first recognized example comes from sight, 145 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:35,080 Speaker 1: which was the year after the Constitution was ratified. Patrick 146 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: Henry was governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia that year, 147 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: and when Virginia was drawing its congressional map, he convinced 148 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:44,360 Speaker 1: the state legislature to draw one of its districts in 149 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 1: such a way that would force James Madison to run 150 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 1: against James Monroe. His hope was that Monroe, who was 151 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: his political ally, would defeat Madison in the congressional race, 152 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: but that didn't work out. Madison was the winner. There's 153 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: a paper in the journal Early American Studies that argues 154 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: that these districts were fairly drawn, but people at the 155 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: time and in the decades since then have been positive 156 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: that Patrick Henry was doing this on purpose. James Madison, 157 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 1: the winner of that election, would later become the fourth 158 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 1: President of the United States, and during his second term 159 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:21,560 Speaker 1: in office, to bring this back around to the subject 160 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 1: of the show, his vice president was Elbridge Gary. And 161 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:27,680 Speaker 1: we're going to talk more about Elbridge Gary, who is, 162 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: of course the first statesman we all think of after 163 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: we first paused for a little sponsor break. Elbridge Gary 164 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts, on July sevente four. His father, Thomas, 165 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,360 Speaker 1: had emigrated to the colony from England in seventeen thirty, 166 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:52,440 Speaker 1: and he'd become a prominent figure in the marble Head community. 167 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 1: The family was also well off, but as devout members 168 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: of First Congressional Church, they weren't particularly showy about their wealth. 169 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:04,200 Speaker 1: L Bridge was one of eleven siblings, although six of 170 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: them died while still in childhood. Gary went to Harvard College, 171 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: where he earned a master's degree, and in his master's 172 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 1: thesis he argued that the colonies should resist the British 173 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: government after the implementation of the Stamp Act. He returned 174 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: to Marblehead after he graduated in seventeen sixty five, where 175 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:24,200 Speaker 1: he joined his father's merchant business and became active in 176 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 1: the growing movement for independence from Britain. This included serving 177 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: on a committee to enforce a ban on the sale 178 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:35,280 Speaker 1: and consumption of tea. In seventeen seventy two, Gary was 179 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 1: elected to the colony's legislature, the General Court of Massachusetts, 180 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,840 Speaker 1: and May of seventeen seventy four, after the Boston Tea Party, 181 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,599 Speaker 1: the British Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts, which were a 182 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: collection of laws meant to both punish Massachusetts and to 183 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,520 Speaker 1: try to bring the colony back in line. One of 184 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:56,320 Speaker 1: these was the Massachusetts Government Act, which abolished the colony's 185 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 1: charter and replaced most of its elected members of the 186 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: government with people pointed by the Crown. When this happened, 187 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: the General Court reorganized itself as a provisional government called 188 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 1: the Provisional Congress, and Elbridge Gary was part of it. 189 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: In seventeen seventy six, Gary signed the Declaration of Independence, 190 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: and then he was elected to the Second Continental Congress, 191 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: where he served until seventeen seventy nine. I did find 192 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: one report that his term really lasted until seventeen eighty, 193 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: but after a dispute about how much to pay suppliers, 194 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,439 Speaker 1: of which Gary was one, he walked out of congress 195 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: in discussed and didn't come back. That seems a little 196 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 1: incongruous with the reputation that he developed for himself of 197 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 1: being very dedicated. Afterward, Uh, there was this one source 198 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: that I found that made that claim, and then all 199 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 1: the other sources were echoing back to that one. And 200 00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: I didn't find a mention of it in a biography 201 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: that was written during his lifetime. So maybe that would 202 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: have happened. I guarantee if anybody ever makes a movie 203 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 1: of his life, that will be included. Yeah. In his 204 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,079 Speaker 1: work in the government Elbridge, Gary developed a reputation as 205 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 1: being highly dedicated and efficient. He was also obstinate and cantankerous, 206 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:11,880 Speaker 1: and not afraid to stand by an unpopular opinion. He 207 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: wasn't nearly as eloquent a speaker as a lot of 208 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: the more famous founders, but he spoke tirelessly on subjects 209 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: that he thought were important. One of the things that 210 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:25,079 Speaker 1: was really important to Gary was independence from Britain. He 211 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 1: was relentless in his efforts to convince colonies that were 212 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:31,000 Speaker 1: on the fence about it that independence really was and 213 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: their best interests. John Adams described it this way, quote, 214 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:38,720 Speaker 1: if every man here was a Gary, the liberties of 215 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:42,320 Speaker 1: America would be safe against the gates of Earth and Hell. 216 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 1: In seventeen eighty three, after the end of the Revolutionary War, 217 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: Gary was elected once again to the nation's governing body, 218 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:53,720 Speaker 1: which was now the Congress of the Confederation. He served 219 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:57,199 Speaker 1: until seventeen eighty five. In seventeen eighty seven, he was 220 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: elected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. This was 221 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 1: the convention that was established to craft a replacement for 222 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 1: the Articles of Confederation, which had formed the basis for 223 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 1: the United States government after the Revolutionary War. Elbridge Gary 224 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,439 Speaker 1: was also one of the signers of the Articles of Confederation. 225 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: Elbridge Gary had a lot of extremely strong opinions about 226 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,839 Speaker 1: how the government that the Constitutional Convention was creating should work. 227 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:25,959 Speaker 1: He wasn't so much behind the all men are created 228 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 1: equal language from the Declaration of Independence. He thought that 229 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 1: humanity had a natural elite and that those elite persons 230 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: should lead the nation. He also thought that the new 231 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: government should take the best elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and 232 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: democracy and create a strong central government that also delegated 233 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:47,880 Speaker 1: significant power to the states, but he wanted limits on 234 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:51,319 Speaker 1: the central government that would prevent it from descending into tyranny, 235 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,439 Speaker 1: and he wasn't in favor of having a standing army 236 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: because of its potential tyrannical uses. He also became one 237 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: of the most vocal supporters of the Greek Compromise. The 238 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:06,199 Speaker 1: Constitutional Convention was considering two plans for the federal legislature. 239 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: One was called the Virginia or Large State plan, which 240 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,960 Speaker 1: involved a bi cameral legislature, with the state's representatives to 241 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: both houses being determined by their population. The other was 242 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: the New Jersey or Small State plan, in which the 243 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 1: government would have only one house and each state would 244 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 1: have the same number of representatives. Neither side was willing 245 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: to budge, and the Constitutional Convention came to a complete deadlock. 246 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: The Connecticut Compromise or Great Compromise was a combination of 247 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 1: the two proposed plans b cameral legislature, in which one 248 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 1: house had the same number of representatives for each state 249 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: and the other house had a number of representatives based 250 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:48,960 Speaker 1: on the state's population. This is what we have today. 251 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,520 Speaker 1: So this plan is most often associated with Oliver Ellsworth 252 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: and Roger Sherman, who largely proposed it, but l Bridge 253 00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 1: Gary was the chair of the committee that was respons 254 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,720 Speaker 1: well for coming up with a compromise, and he was 255 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 1: one of its most strident and vocal advocates. He called 256 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 1: for compromise again and again during this process, and he 257 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 1: pointed out that if the Constitutional Convention did not reach 258 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: a successful end, quote, we shall not only disappoint America, 259 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:22,040 Speaker 1: but the rest of the world. Gary's work with the 260 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:26,480 Speaker 1: Constitutional Convention went way beyond the Great Compromise. He also 261 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:30,240 Speaker 1: advocated for checks and balances, including Congress being able to 262 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: overrule a presidential veto. He called for provisions for impeaching 263 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,760 Speaker 1: the president, saying quote, a good magistrate will not fear them, 264 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 1: and a bad one ought to be kept in fear 265 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: of them. He opposed direct elections because he thought it 266 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,440 Speaker 1: too easy for the voting population to be misled, but 267 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 1: when proposals were raised to have Congress elected president, he 268 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:52,840 Speaker 1: argued that would make the president too dependent upon the 269 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: will of Congress. He suggested having state governors elect the 270 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,960 Speaker 1: president instead, but in the end albret To Gary wasn't 271 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: happy with the constitution. That the that the convention created 272 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 1: and he refused to sign it. He thought there weren't 273 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: enough protections of individual liberties, and he proposed the addition 274 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: of a Bill of rights. And the Constitution today does 275 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: have a Bill of Rights, but that didn't come along 276 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 1: until after it was ratified. Even though Gary was highly 277 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: critical of the Constitution as it was drafted, once it 278 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 1: was sent for ratification, he toned down his criticism. He 279 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: still had his objections, but he thought if the States 280 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: didn't ratify the Constitution, the nation would either fall apart 281 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: or dissolve into a civil war. Ratifying the Constitution and 282 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: amending it later was the lesser of two evils, so 283 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:46,200 Speaker 1: during and after the ratification process he kept advocating for 284 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,120 Speaker 1: amendments and a Bill of rights. The Bill of Rights 285 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: was proposed by James Madison before the First United States 286 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: Congress on June eighth nine. Gary's work with the government 287 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:01,120 Speaker 1: didn't stop there. He ran for governor of Massachusetts in 288 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty eight and was defeated, and then he served 289 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:06,199 Speaker 1: in the House of Representatives from seventeen eighty nine to 290 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,439 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety three. In the middle of all that, he 291 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,400 Speaker 1: married Anne Thompson in seventeen eighty six, and they would 292 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:14,960 Speaker 1: go on to have ten children together, at the rate 293 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:19,280 Speaker 1: of almost one a year. He eventually became disillusioned with 294 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:23,440 Speaker 1: Congress after trying to work through extremely partisan bickering over 295 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:27,399 Speaker 1: Alexander Hamilton's proposal to assume state debt and establish a 296 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,720 Speaker 1: national bank. Gary retired at the end of his second 297 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,680 Speaker 1: term in the House and went back to Massachusetts, where 298 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:37,439 Speaker 1: he lived in Cambridge with his ever growing family. He 299 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:40,640 Speaker 1: didn't stay out of politics completely for very long, though. 300 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: In seventeen ninety six he was a presidential elector in 301 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: support of John Adams, and the following year Adams appointed 302 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:50,399 Speaker 1: him as an envoy to France. His mission there was 303 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 1: not very successful though. This all took place after the 304 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:57,280 Speaker 1: United States and Great Britain signed the j Treaty, and 305 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: the j Treaty resolved some issues between those two nations, 306 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,560 Speaker 1: but France thought it was in violation of earlier treaties 307 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: between the United States and France. So Gary and the 308 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:09,879 Speaker 1: rest of the delegation were then part of the x 309 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:12,960 Speaker 1: y Z affair, which could maybe be its own episode. 310 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:16,639 Speaker 1: One day, the French foreign minister demanded a bribe before 311 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:20,199 Speaker 1: negotiations could begin, and then the American delegation refused to 312 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:24,639 Speaker 1: pay that bribe. This all blossomed into an undeclared naval 313 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: war that lasted until eighteen o one. Back home, Gary 314 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 1: was in and out of politics before being elected governor 315 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:35,640 Speaker 1: of Massachusetts in eighteen ten. It was during his term 316 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 1: as governor that the term gerrymander was coined, which we're 317 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: going to get right back to in a moment. After 318 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: the Gerrymander, he ran for re election and lost in 319 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 1: eighteen twelve, But that same year, James Madison tapped him 320 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: to be his presidential running mate, hoping to win the 321 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:55,640 Speaker 1: Massachusetts vote. Madison lost Massachusetts, but he won the presidency, 322 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: and Gary served as Vice president with the same cantanker 323 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 1: as diligence as he did the rest of his career. 324 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:06,600 Speaker 1: Gary died in office on November fourteen, while on his 325 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:10,520 Speaker 1: way to the Senate. He's buried at Congressional Cemetery, and 326 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:14,040 Speaker 1: the monument over his grave bears a quote from him quote, 327 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: it is the duty of every man, though he may 328 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:19,840 Speaker 1: have but one day to live, to devote that day 329 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:23,440 Speaker 1: to the good of his country, which makes it kind 330 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:26,160 Speaker 1: of sad that his legacy today is a practice that's 331 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,360 Speaker 1: frequently criticized as being to the detriment of the country 332 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 1: and its democratic process, and we're going to talk about 333 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: that after we have a quick sponsor break. L Bridge 334 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,920 Speaker 1: Gary signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. 335 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:50,159 Speaker 1: He was an unflagging presence at the Constitutional Convention. He 336 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:53,040 Speaker 1: shared the committee that came up with a great compromise 337 00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: and was one of its most vocal supporters at a 338 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:58,719 Speaker 1: time with the Constitutional Convention was at risk of a 339 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,920 Speaker 1: total collapse. During his inaugural address when he was elected 340 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 1: governor of Massachusetts, he called for an end to partisan 341 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 1: in fighting and for the political parties to work together. 342 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:14,880 Speaker 1: But today his legacy boils down to one word, gerrymander, 343 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: something that goes directly against the democratic ideals he championed 344 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:22,600 Speaker 1: during his legislative career. The map that led to the 345 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:27,000 Speaker 1: term was drawn from Massachusetts state senate districts. Before eighteen twelve, 346 00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: the Commonwealth of Massachusetts had senate districts that followed county 347 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: boundary lines, but that year Democratic Republicans and the state 348 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 1: legislature redrew the map to give themselves an advantage by 349 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: packing the federalist vote into only a few districts. This 350 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:46,640 Speaker 1: new map was filled with bizarre shapes that the federalists 351 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:51,719 Speaker 1: described as quote, carvings and manglings. The district that Governor 352 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:55,040 Speaker 1: Gary lived in was shaped roughly like a lower case 353 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: are tilted backward. Gary wasn't fully in support of these 354 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: car mangled districts. In the words of contemporary biographer James T. Austin, quote, 355 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 1: to the governor, the project of this law was exceedingly disagreeable. 356 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,960 Speaker 1: He urged his friends strong arguments against its policy as 357 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,440 Speaker 1: well as its effects. After it had passed both houses, 358 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:19,879 Speaker 1: he hesitated to give it his signature and meditated to 359 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 1: return it to the legislature with his objections to its 360 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:27,440 Speaker 1: becoming law. But being satisfied that it conformed to the Constitution, 361 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:31,560 Speaker 1: he doubted whether, against precedents to the contrary, the private 362 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:34,320 Speaker 1: opinion of a governor on a mere question of propriety 363 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:38,479 Speaker 1: or policy would justify the interposition of his negative and 364 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: he accordingly permitted it to pass. So that basically boils 365 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: down to, well, it's not unconstitutional, but that was really 366 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 1: only part of it. When he approved these districts on 367 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:55,640 Speaker 1: February eleventh, eighteen twelve, Gary, who had long resisted joining 368 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,199 Speaker 1: a political party, but was now a Democratic Republican was 369 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 1: highly concerned about what the Federalist Party was doing. He 370 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,480 Speaker 1: thought that Federalist criticism of President James Madison's foreign policy 371 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:10,919 Speaker 1: bordered on trees andus. He also feared that the Federalist 372 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,520 Speaker 1: Party was becoming too close to Great Britain, and he 373 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:17,880 Speaker 1: worried that Federalists secretly wanted to roll back American independence 374 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: and returned to the British Empire. It is extremely likely 375 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: that all of this influenced his decision. Page two of 376 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:31,000 Speaker 1: the Boston Gazette on March twelve included a satirical picture 377 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 1: of Gary's district. The district's southern end, at the bottom 378 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: of the R ended in talents. In the northeast corner 379 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 1: had a dragon lake head two wings sprouted just below 380 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:44,359 Speaker 1: the eastward bend at the top of the R, and 381 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,120 Speaker 1: this picture ran under the heading the Gary Mander, followed 382 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,640 Speaker 1: by a scathing article that began quote The horrid monster, 383 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:55,480 Speaker 1: of which this drawing is a correct representation, appeared in 384 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:59,920 Speaker 1: the County of Essex during the last session of the Legislature. 385 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 1: Are a couple of different versions about who exactly coined 386 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: the term Garymander. The common theme in all of them 387 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: is that somebody pointed out that this long bent district 388 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 1: looked like a salamander, and then somebody else responded with 389 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: something along the lines of no, no, no, It's a 390 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: gary Mander. And one version of this story it happened 391 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:23,160 Speaker 1: over dinner, with illustrator el Cana Tisdale drawing a snaky 392 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 1: looking version of the map and poet Richard Alsop being 393 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:29,359 Speaker 1: the one to say no, a gary Mander. And another 394 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: version it started with Boston Gazette editor Benjamin Russell hanging 395 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: a map of the district over his desk and artist 396 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,200 Speaker 1: Gilbert Stewart seeing it there and adding on the wings, 397 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:41,879 Speaker 1: head and talents, and then Russell was the one to 398 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,919 Speaker 1: say that it was a gary Mander. And this garymandered 399 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: map had exactly the effect that the people who drew 400 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:52,920 Speaker 1: it wanted. In the election that followed, Democratic Republicans earned 401 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:56,760 Speaker 1: twenty nine seats while the Federalists earned eleven, But in 402 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:01,280 Speaker 1: terms of the number of votes, Democratic Republicans got fifty thousand, 403 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:05,640 Speaker 1: one hundred sixty four votes while Federalists got fifty one thousand, 404 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:09,879 Speaker 1: seven hundred sixty six. So while the Federalists got the 405 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,120 Speaker 1: majority of the votes. Those votes earned them well under 406 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:17,680 Speaker 1: half as many seats in the Senate. As gary Mander 407 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:21,639 Speaker 1: became part of the political lex con its pronunciation gradually 408 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,400 Speaker 1: shifted to gerrymander the way that we say it today, 409 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:27,880 Speaker 1: and it was included in Webster's Dictionary in eighteen sixty four. 410 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,399 Speaker 1: Apart from that political cartoon of the the Gary Mander, 411 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 1: opponents of the Massachusetts redistricting during Elbridge Gary's term as 412 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:41,040 Speaker 1: governor said it quote inflicted a grievous wound on the Constitution, 413 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:46,880 Speaker 1: and partisan gerrymandering has been similarly criticized throughout American history. 414 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,120 Speaker 1: When the Virginia Legislature created the map to force Madison 415 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 1: to run against Monroe, newspapers reported that it was violating 416 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,280 Speaker 1: the rights of the people to choose their representation in 417 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:59,720 Speaker 1: the government. President James Garfield, while he was serving in 418 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:04,040 Speaker 1: the House of Representatives, said that jerrymandering was indefensible, no 419 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:08,800 Speaker 1: matter a person's politics, and this criticism continues until today, 420 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: although there are definitely cases when politicians are more critical 421 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:16,520 Speaker 1: of the other parties partisan gerrymandering than of their own. 422 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:22,639 Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan called jerrymandering a national scandal, and Barack Obama said, quote, 423 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,400 Speaker 1: We've got to end the practice of drawing our congressional 424 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:28,639 Speaker 1: districts so that politicians can pick their voters and not 425 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:32,199 Speaker 1: the other way around. Let a bipartisan group do it. 426 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 1: But there have also been attempts to use jerrymandering in 427 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:40,359 Speaker 1: a positive way. After the Voting Rights Act of ninety five, 428 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 1: a number of states created one or more congressional districts 429 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,120 Speaker 1: that were meant to guarantee at least one black representative 430 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: from that state. Sometimes the creation of these majority minority 431 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:56,359 Speaker 1: districts was called things like benevolent or affirmative jerrymandering. States 432 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 1: that had a history of discriminating against black voters had 433 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,160 Speaker 1: to have their voting laws pre cleared at the federal 434 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 1: level before they could be implemented, and there were cases 435 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 1: where states were ordered to redraw their maps to add 436 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:13,440 Speaker 1: majority minority districts. But this is a contentious issue. Since 437 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:17,879 Speaker 1: these districts concentrate minority voting power into one place, it 438 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 1: dilutes that power and the rest of the state. And 439 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,159 Speaker 1: there have also been cases in which lawmakers used the 440 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:28,640 Speaker 1: creation of majority minority districts as a smoke screen deliberately 441 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:31,959 Speaker 1: packing the district to give themselves an advantage in the 442 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:37,120 Speaker 1: rest of the state. So today, intentionally created majority minority 443 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 1: districts are usually only going to be found constitutional when 444 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: they really are absolutely necessary and not a cover for 445 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: partisan jerrymandering. The Supreme Court has made it clear that 446 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:52,760 Speaker 1: racist jerrymandering to prevent minorities from having an equal political 447 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:56,400 Speaker 1: voice is unconstitutional, and it has also issued a number 448 00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:00,359 Speaker 1: of decisions related to apportionment and other aspects of redistricting, 449 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:04,360 Speaker 1: but it hasn't taken a clear stance on partisan jerrymandering 450 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 1: before this point, which could change with the cases currently 451 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:13,000 Speaker 1: on the docket. Ideally, political districts reflect the people living 452 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:16,159 Speaker 1: in the districts, so there will always be districts that 453 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:20,280 Speaker 1: reliably vote for one party or another, and the general 454 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:23,680 Speaker 1: consensus up to this point has been that some degree 455 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:27,040 Speaker 1: of partisan influence on how the districts are drawn is 456 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:32,040 Speaker 1: probably constitutional and to be expected. But what the Supreme 457 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:35,480 Speaker 1: Court is looking at right now is mainly partisan jerrymandering 458 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 1: that followed the census, which is being described am using 459 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:43,159 Speaker 1: this as a quote as extreme. According to the authors 460 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:47,600 Speaker 1: of the book Jerrymandering in America, from Cambridge University Press. 461 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:52,680 Speaker 1: Partisan bias roughly tripled in district maps in versus two thousand. 462 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:56,440 Speaker 1: Also in two was an election that saw huge Republican 463 00:27:56,520 --> 00:28:00,280 Speaker 1: gains in state legislatures and governorships, which means at this 464 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 1: point gerrymandered districts are skewing Republican about three to four 465 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,400 Speaker 1: times as often as they're skewing Democratic. Like we said 466 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:09,720 Speaker 1: at the top of the show, in most states, whichever 467 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: party is in control of the state legislature has the 468 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:16,320 Speaker 1: most poll in how the map is drawn. Yeah, we 469 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,400 Speaker 1: got a lot of parties have always been doing this 470 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 1: after the Wilmington que episode, but like the parties haven't 471 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,840 Speaker 1: necessarily been doing this to the extreme or scale that 472 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:29,200 Speaker 1: they are right now, which is how this is again 473 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:33,800 Speaker 1: in front of the Supreme Court. Yeah, I have a 474 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:36,760 Speaker 1: little bit of listener mail, Tracy, Tracy Holli, I would 475 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 1: like to thank you for providing the listener mail today 476 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:43,160 Speaker 1: because I could not for reasons. We had a little, 477 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: a little email problem on our end. So I because 478 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 1: I have lots of physical mail that I get, I 479 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,320 Speaker 1: get to pick our our listener mail for the day. 480 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 1: And this is from our listener Roger who works at 481 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,080 Speaker 1: the United States Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards 482 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 1: in Technology, UH, which I think is okay because he's 483 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:06,480 Speaker 1: telling us about an event that happened there. I'm already 484 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 1: I'm already excited by It's pretty cool when you get 485 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: a package from that entity. In my book. We did, 486 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:15,440 Speaker 1: and I was really excited. But this is from back 487 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 1: in February, so it's just taking a little while for 488 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:20,840 Speaker 1: it to get to air. Uh, he writes, Dear Holly 489 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: and Tracy, The Colloquium Committee selected Bill Berry as one 490 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,440 Speaker 1: of this year's twelve speakers as an asside for our listeners. 491 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 1: They may remember that Bill Berry was a guest on 492 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,000 Speaker 1: our show when he came to talk about Hugh Dryden. 493 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:36,320 Speaker 1: He is uh NASA's head of History. I think he's 494 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:40,280 Speaker 1: his title is Chief Historian UM. And he said. It 495 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:42,760 Speaker 1: was an excellent and well attended session and the Q 496 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: and A lasted a good twenty minutes. Following the seminar, 497 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:48,160 Speaker 1: we had a nice luncheon in the executive dining room 498 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:51,560 Speaker 1: and one of our Nobel laureates joined us. Afterwards. Our 499 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 1: historian displayed several Dryden related artifacts, including the model Empire 500 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 1: state building that Dryden used to study airflow around that structure. 501 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 1: A reconstructed bat and photos from the historical collection, uh, 502 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,120 Speaker 1: and clothes. You'll find one of the posters announcing the colloquium. 503 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: The seminar will soon be posted on our YouTube channel 504 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:11,640 Speaker 1: and I will send the link. Um. This was so 505 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:13,480 Speaker 1: cool and I love getting the poster for it, and 506 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: it made me so happy because I really love speaking 507 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:19,640 Speaker 1: with Bill Berry. Uh. He's incredibly sweet and really just 508 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:24,280 Speaker 1: magnanimous and so happy to share his vast knowledge with people. 509 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:26,600 Speaker 1: So I'm glad that he got to speak to more 510 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 1: people and that they enjoyed it because he's lovely to 511 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 1: talk to you and super fun. You can just throw 512 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:33,760 Speaker 1: any question at him and he will construct a really 513 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: thoughtful answer. Hooray, thank you, Holly, My pleasure. So you 514 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 1: if you would like to write to us about this 515 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 1: or any other podcast, we're going to resolve our email 516 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:45,959 Speaker 1: issues and that would be a great way to do it. 517 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 1: You could do that a history podcast at how stuffworks 518 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:53,080 Speaker 1: dot com. We're also on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram 519 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:56,560 Speaker 1: and Pinterest at the user name missed in History, and 520 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: we also have a website which is missed in History 521 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:01,239 Speaker 1: dot com. Or you will find an archive of all 522 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: the episodes we have ever done. You will find show 523 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:06,320 Speaker 1: notes for all the episodes that Holly and I have 524 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:09,920 Speaker 1: worked on together. And you can also find our podcast 525 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:14,280 Speaker 1: and subscribe to it in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and 526 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:21,920 Speaker 1: wherever else you get podcasts. For more on this and 527 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:33,040 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com