1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: The Day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi, I'm Eves, and Welcome to This Day 3 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: in History Class, a show that uncovers history one day 4 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: at a time. Today it's March. The day was March twelve. 5 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: On page two of the day's issue of the Boston Gazette, 6 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: there was a drawing by illustrator Elkina Tisdale with the 7 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: headline the Gary Mander. The drawing was a satirical picture 8 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: of the district that Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gary lived in. 9 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: Gary was a Democratic Republican, and his party, which controlled 10 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:51,480 Speaker 1: the legislature, had recently redrawn Massachusetts Senate districts in their 11 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: favor to restrict the Federalists vote to a few districts. 12 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: After Gary signed the redistricting bill to create the mis 13 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: shapen districts in eight twelve, Federalists viewed the new carved 14 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: up map as an extension of his partisanship. Federalists criticized 15 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: the bill, calling the districts carvings and manglings. Drawing congressional 16 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:17,320 Speaker 1: district boundaries for political gain had been done before, and 17 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,759 Speaker 1: Gary did a lot of other notable stuff in his lifetime, 18 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 1: like being Vice president but his legacy lives on in 19 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:28,759 Speaker 1: his name's relation to jerry mandering. Gary got his start 20 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,679 Speaker 1: in politics relatively early. In seventeen seventy two, he was 21 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: elected to the General Court of Massachusetts. In seventeen seventy five, 22 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,680 Speaker 1: he was elected to the Continental Congress, where he urged 23 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: the other delegates to declare independence from Britain, and the 24 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: next year Gary signed the Declaration of Independence and was 25 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: elected to the Second Continental Congress. From seventeen eighty three 26 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: to seventeen eighty five, he served in the Congress of 27 00:01:55,720 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: the Confederation. He served in the House of Representatives from 28 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty nine to seventeen ninety three. Gary was Governor 29 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: of Massachusetts from eighteen ten to eighteen twelve, and after 30 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,639 Speaker 1: he lost reelection to the governorship, he became vice president 31 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: to President James Madison. Over the years, Gary had some 32 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,640 Speaker 1: bold opinions that he stood firmly by. He believed the 33 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: elite should lead the country. He opposed British rule, and 34 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,679 Speaker 1: he called for an end to partisanship among Democratic Republicans 35 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: and federalists. He supported the Great Compromise, an agreement that 36 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,640 Speaker 1: states reached on congressional representation, and he believed that the 37 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: Constitution the Constitutional Convention had drafted was not sufficient and 38 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 1: needed amendments in a Bill of rights, and he fought 39 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: for checks and balances in government. But the part of 40 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: Gary's career that he's most associated with is not his 41 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: role in the founding of the nation or the creation 42 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: of the Constitution, but for his role in signing a 43 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: redistricting bill in Massachusetts. During his short stint as governor, 44 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: Gary had come to think that the Federalists wanted to 45 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: restore the monarchy and that their opposition to President Medicine's 46 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: foreign policy was basically treasonists, and he did start taking 47 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,359 Speaker 1: actions that aligned with those feelings, like when he replaced 48 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: Federalists in state government jobs with Democratic Republicans. Apportionment, or 49 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,240 Speaker 1: the way legislative seats are distributed among districts, is supposed 50 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: to provide for equal representation across the board, so when 51 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: the Democratic Republicans read drew districts not to follow county 52 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: boundaries but to bring more power to their party, Federalists 53 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: cried partisanship and pointed to Gary's gunti Federalists dance. Gary 54 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: didn't really support the redistricting either, but it didn't seem 55 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: to violate the Constitution. This adherence to the Constitution and 56 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: his worry about the Federalist closeness to Britain likely swayed 57 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: him to approve the new Frankenstein's Monster districts on February eleven, 58 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: eighteen twelve. There's debate over where the term gary Mander 59 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: truly originated. Gary's district was long and slender, and someone 60 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: could have said it looked like a salamander, while someone 61 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: else retorted it was a Gary Mander rather. Another version 62 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: of the origin story says painter Gilbert Stewart drew the 63 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: wings and head on the district on a visit to 64 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 1: a newspaper office. Either way, the drawing that showed up 65 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: in the Boston Gazette on March was accompanied by an 66 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: article that began The horrid Monster, of which this drawing 67 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,840 Speaker 1: is a correct representation, appeared in the County of Essex 68 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: during the last session of the legislature. Somehow or another, 69 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: the Gary Mander was born, and the Democratic Republicans got 70 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: a larger state Senate majority in the eighteen twelve election, 71 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: though the Federalists got over a thousand more votes. Gary 72 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: died in eighteen fourteen, but the word gary mander caught on, 73 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:58,839 Speaker 1: eventually morphing to gerry mander. Today, the word gerry mandering 74 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,679 Speaker 1: has a negative connotation in and the practice is typically 75 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: viewed as a shady tactic in the US. I'm Eve 76 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 1: step Coote and hopefully you know a little more about 77 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,920 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like to 78 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,159 Speaker 1: learn more about Gary and gerrymandering, listen to the stuff 79 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: you missed in history class episode called Albert Gary's Monstrous Styalamander. 80 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 1: If there are any upcoming days in history that you'd 81 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: really like me to cover on the show, give us 82 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 1: a shout on social media at t D I h 83 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: C podcast. Thanks for joining me on this trip through time. 84 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: See you here in the exact same spot tomorrow. For 85 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart 86 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 87 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: favorite shows.