Field Notes on the Republic

Gerrymander, the 1812 Salamander District

Gerrymander, the 1812 Salamander District

Michael Fowler

Elbridge Gerry signed the Declaration and served as Vice President, and almost none of that is what his name means today. To gerrymander is to rig the map. The story...

Gerrymander, the 1812 Salamander District

Michael Fowler

Elbridge Gerry signed the Declaration and served as Vice President, and almost none of that is what his name means today. To gerrymander is to rig the map. The story...

The Tennessee Vote That Finished the Nineteenth Amendment

The Tennessee Vote That Finished the Nineteenth...

Michael Fowler

On August 18, 1920, a 24-year-old Tennessee legislator wearing a red rose, the color of a vote against, walked in with a letter from his mother in his pocket. Harry...

The Tennessee Vote That Finished the Nineteenth...

Michael Fowler

On August 18, 1920, a 24-year-old Tennessee legislator wearing a red rose, the color of a vote against, walked in with a letter from his mother in his pocket. Harry...

How Americans Came to Vote in Secret

How Americans Came to Vote in Secret

Michael Fowler

Picture an American election in the mid-nineteenth century: no booth, no curtain, often a party-printed ballot handed over in full view of a watching crowd. The private ballot is not...

How Americans Came to Vote in Secret

Michael Fowler

Picture an American election in the mid-nineteenth century: no booth, no curtain, often a party-printed ballot handed over in full view of a watching crowd. The private ballot is not...