Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signs salamander-shaped district map that creates gerrymandering

Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signs a state senate redistricting bill that redraws Essex County into a bizarrely elongated district designed to concentrate Federalist voters and protect Democratic-Republican incumbents. The Boston Gazette publishes a political cartoon depicting the district as a salamander and coins the portmanteau "Gerrymander." The practice, which involves concentrating opposing voters (packing) or spreading them thin across many districts (cracking), is now named after the governor who institutionalized it in Massachusetts.