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 of the 1812 salamander district is a compact lesson in one of the quieter ways a vote can be drained of its power, long before anyone reaches the ballot box.

Field Notes on the Republic was written and read by Michael Fowler. It was produced for Quorum (Supply Co.), an American civic purveyor. Music is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," performed by the U.S. Military Academy Band, West Point.