A TedEd by Christina Greer
Gerrymandering is a word that comes up often during election cycles. But what exactly is it? The term first appeared in Massachusetts in 1812. Then-governor Elbridge Gerry wanted to supported a bill that would allow redrawing of district lines so that his part, the Democratic-Republicans, would have an advantage. People said that his newly drawn districts looked like a salamander. A newspaper took that and added his surname to get the word gerrymander. The process of dividing up and redrawing districts to give your political party an advantage. There are two types. Packing and cracking a district. Packing is redrawing the lines so that the supporters of the opposition are crammed into just a few districts. Cracking is splitting the supporters into your districts so that they are immersed. And so, Elbridge Gerry’s salamander has completed changed political redistricting.
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