Changes: Magical Congress of the United States of America (Reynoman)

Revision as of 02:23, 27 July 2020

"MACUSA was modelled on the Wizards’ Council of Great Britain, which predated the Ministry of Magic. Representatives from magical communities all over North America were elected to MACUSA to create laws that both policed & protected American wizardkind."

— Description^[[src]]

The Magical Congress of the United States of America (shortened MACUSA), is the magical body in charge of governing the wizarding community of the United States of America. It is led by the President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America. Unlike the No-Maj United States Congress, which is divided into a House of Representatives & a United States Senate, the MACUSA is unicameral. The MACUSA is located within the Woolworth Building in downtown New York City & has hundreds of stories.

Functions

The MACUSA performs many of the same functions as other wizarding governing bodies in other countries such as the Ministries of Magic or Councils of Magic.

MACUSA was modeled on the Wizards’ Council of Great Britain, which predated the Ministry of Magic. Representatives from magical communities all over North America were elected to MACUSA to create laws that both policed & protected American wizardkind.

In MACUSA’s early years, its primary aim was to rid the continent of Scourers, corrupt wizards who had hunted their fellow magical beings for personal gain. MACUSA’s second great law enforcement challenge was the number of wizarding criminals who had fled to America from Europe & beyond, precisely because of the lack of organized law enforcement such as existed in their own countries.

Headquarters

Main article: [Congress of the United States of America Headquarters]

History

Early years

"Unlike most Western countries, there was no cooperation between the No-Maj government & MACUSA."

— MACUSA's strict rule regarding No-Maj relations^[[src]]

The Magical Congress of the United States of America was established in 1693 with the introduction of the International Statute of Secrecy, as a direct result of the Salem Witch Trials. Thus this means that MACUSA pre-dates the No-Maj formation of the United States of America by around a century. One of the representatives was Josiah Jackson, who became the first President of MACUSA. Josiah was thought to be strong enough to deal with the troubles caused by the Salem Witch Trials.

The first task of the North American wizarding legislature was to put on trial the Scourers, an unscrupulous & brutal band of wizarding bounty hunters & racketeers, executing those convicted of murder, wizard-trafficking, & torture. Josiah Jackson's main priority when he became President was to create & train Aurors. There were only a select few to start with, with only two of them surviving to old age. They won the enduring respect of the magical community in North America, which was extended to their descendants.

MACUSA has had to move its location at least five times since its inception. Originally, MACUSA had no definite meeting place & moved around so it would not be detected by No-Majs.

Due to the fact that America had a very hostile relationship between magical & non-magical people, there was no cooperation between MACUSA & the No-Maj government.

Eventually, MACUSA created an enchanted edifice in the Appalachian Mountains as its headquarters. However, they had to change it as it was in an inconvenient location.

In 1760, MACUSA relocated to Williamsburg in Virginia where then-President Thornton Harkaway lived. Harkaway bred Crups, which possess great aggression towards non-magical people. When the crups attacked local No-Majs, it led to a great breach of the Statute of Secrecy & Harkaway had to step down due to disgrace.

MACUSA then relocated to Baltimore, where President Able Fleming lived. However, when the Revolutionary War began, MACUSA decided to move to what would become Washington, decades before the No-Maj Congress even built the city.

In 1777, then-President Elizabeth McGilliguddy presided over the infamous Country or Kind? debate. It was an extraordinary meeting which led to the expansion of the Great Meeting Chamber. They discussed whether to support their community or their country & whether to fight for liberation from the British Muggles. They also debated whether it was really their fight. The argument did not go well & it led to a fight. Pro-interventionists argued that by intervening, they could save lives, while anti-interventionists believed that they would reveal their community by intervening & place it in danger. They sought the advice of the Ministry of Magic to find out whether they intended to intervene on their side & they replied with only a four-word letter — "Sitting this one out". McGilliguddy replied with an even shorter message stating — "Mind you do".

Ultimately, they did not intervene, but they did attempt to protect their No-Maj neighbors unofficially & celebrated Independence Day.

Due to the indiscretions of the dim-witted witch Dorcus Twelvetrees, the then-President Emily Rappaport created Rappaport's Law, which would enforce strict segregation between the No-Maj & wizarding communities. Henceforth, wizards were no longer allowed to befriend or marry No-Majs, & penalties of such fraternization were harsh. Communication was also limited to that necessary to perform daily activities. During this time, MACUSA worked strictly independent of itself from the No-Maj government to decrease the possibility of exposure.

Under Rappaport's Law, MACUSA continued to avoid communication with the No-Maj community for many years, & MACUSA also continued to impose severe penalties on those who disobeyed the International Statute of Secrecy.

After the Great Sasquatch Rebellion of 1892, MACUSA was forced to relocate its headquarters for the fifth time in its history & moved from Washington to New York City at the Woolworth Building where it remained throughout the 1920s. The rebellion was blamed on Irene Kneedander, Head of the Body for the Protection of Magical Species, as Kneedander had taken to attacking a Sasquatch that had done something wrong which led to their decision to rebel. It had led to great Obliviations in Washington.

They needed a new headquarters, & over the course of several years, wizards infiltrated the construction team of a new building in New York. By the time the Woolworth Building was completed, it could both house No-Majs & — if activated by the correct spells — transform into a space for wizards. The only outer mark of their new secret location was the owl carved over the entrance.

Recent history

"Magical beasts are terrorising No-Majs. When No-Majs are afraid, they attack. Contain this or it will mean war."

— 1920s America was a hostile period^[[src]]

Some time at the end of the 19th century, legislation was introduced which would require all American wizards & witches to have a permit allowing them to carry a wand. This was a measure that was intended to keep tabs on all magical activity & identify the perpetrators by their wands, thus making the concealment of magic easier. Rappaport’s Law was still in operation in the 1920s & several offices in MACUSA had no counterpart in the Ministry of Magic.

Unlike the No-Maj community, which had a strict Prohibition law against alcohol for many years, MACUSA allowed the wizarding community to consume alcohol, though many criticized this policy, pointing out that it made witches & wizards rather conspicuous around sober No-Majs. However, the then President Seraphina Picquery stated that being a wizard or witch in America was already hard enough. At one point she famously told her Chief of Staff that the "Gigglewater was non-negotiable." Newt Scamander also visited MACUSA during the 1920s.

It is known that House-elves worked at MACUSA during the 1920s. One such House-elf was cleaning wands. A significant difference between the wizarding governments of the United States & the UK of this time was the penalty for a serious crime. Whereas British witches & wizards were sent to Azkaban, the worst criminals in America were executed.

In the 1920s, the President of MACUSA was Seraphina Picquery from Savannah. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement was headed by Percival Graves, a well-respected descendant of one of the original twelve American Aurors. It was during this period that the MACUSA closely monitored the terrorism committed by the Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald &his followers in Europe, also cooperating in the international search for him. It is also known that during this time Grindelwald's ideals influenced MACUSA workers.

By 1926, Gellert Grindelwald had infiltrated the MACUSA by assuming the identity of Director of Magical Security & Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Percival Graves at a time when the MACUSA's Major Investigation Department was attempting to discover the identity of an unknown magical force causing severe devastation throughout the city. He used this high-ranking position to manipulate a No-Maj boy Credence Barebone into revealing the identity of the unknown magical force.

In December of 1926, British Magizoologist Newt Scamander was detained by former MACUSA Auror Tina Goldstein when he inadvertently caused a series of breaches of the International Statute of Secrecy related to his case of magical creatures. The severest breach occurred when Scamander accidentally swapped cases with No-Maj Jacob Kowalski at a bank in New York City, leading to various creatures escaping. The three then set about attempting to recover the escaped magical beasts without reporting the incident to wizarding authorities.

Whilst this was occurring, the unknown magical force killed a No-Maj Senator in front of guests at a fundraising dinner. As a result, the International Confederation of Wizards, already concerned with the rising levels of MACUSA's Magical Exposure Threat Level Measurer, sent a delegation to MACUSA Headquarters to hold an emergency meeting. It was at this meeting that Newt Scamander, Tina Goldstein, & Jacob Kowalski were falsely believed to have been responsible for the Senator's death & were arrested. Grindelwald, in his capacity as Director of Magical Security, sought to have them executed after Scamander & Tina discovered a hint over his true identity. Scamander, Goldstein, & Kowalski ultimately escaped the MACUSA becoming fugitives.

After Scamander, Tina & Queenie Goldstein, & Jacob Kowalski were able to recover all of the escaped magical beasts, Grindelwald discovered that the identity of the magical force was indeed Barebone while simultaneously revealing that the boy was an Obscurial. Grindelwald then attempted to persuade Barebone to join his cause after callously rejecting him which provoked Barebone into transforming once more into his Obscurus form & caused him to go on a rampage across the city. The rampage resulted in Credence Barebone seemingly destroyed at the hands of MACUSA Aurors, Gellert Grindelwald revealed & arrested by MACUSA, Goldstein & Scamander pardoned & thanked for their role in helping unmask Grindelwald, & the en masse obliviation of the thousands of New York City No-Maj residents & the MACUSA engaging in a major clean-up operation to repair the property damage caused.

On 30 May 1927, the MACUSA, working with the International Confederation of Wizards, attempted to extradite maximum-security prisoner Gellert Grindelwald via the use of a flying high-security carriage from New York to Europe. Several MACUSA Aurors escorted the carriage on a broomstick, while additional Aurors along with the ICW's Head of Incarceration Rudolph Spielman guarded inside. The attempt was ultimately sabotaged by MACUSA worker-turned Grindelwald Acolyte, Abernathy, whom in fact managed to switch places with Grindelwald before the extradition. Grindelwald subsequently attacked the transport in the skies of New York, assuming control of the carriage by killing the Aurors & injuring Spielman, whom he threw off the carriage into the New York Bay, escaping with Abernathy into the night.

Present time

The current President of MACUSA & thus the leader of American wizarding society is President Samuel G. Quahog.

Following the kidnapping of Hans the Augurey by American fans celebrating the American team's success in the quarter-finals of the 2014 Quidditch World Cup against Liechtenstein, several terse letters were exchanged between President Quahog & Otto Obermeier, Minister for Magic of Liechtenstein. Luckily, Hans was returned the following day, 9 June 2014, & the relationship between the two countries seemed not to have been too damaged.

Law enforcement

The first dozen volunteers to train as Aurors in the US have a special place in the United States’ wizarding history, in part due to their sacrifice. Their descendants have been given particular respect ever since. Of these twelve, only two survived into old age: Charity Wilkinson, who would become MACUSA’s third President, & Theodard Fontaine, whose direct descendant Agilbert is the present-day Headmaster of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. Another vital part of the Law Enforcement Offices is the U.S. Auror Divisions, which conduct Auror as well as police work.

Also of note are Gondulphus Graves, ancestor to Percival Graves, whose family remains influential in American wizarding politics & Abraham Potter, who genealogists would discover centuries later was distantly related to the famous Harry Potter.

As with most other magical governing bodies, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is the largest department in MACUSA.

Government structure

The Magical Congress of the United States of America is a large body of government & thereby has many different positions & departments located with the congress.

MACUSA President

The President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America is the leader of the wizarding world in the United States & the highest-ranking member of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, which they preside over. Josiah Jackson became the first President of MACUSA. Josiah was thought to be strong enough to deal with the troubles caused by the Salem Witch Trials.

Departments

MACUSA has several departments in all, each dealing with different aspects of the wizarding world. It has a Department of Magical Law Enforcement, just as the British Ministry of Magic does. It is also the largest department & all others more or less answer to it. Some of the departments include:

The Body for Protection of Magical Species.
The Department of Aurors.
The Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
The Department of No-Maj Misinformation.
The Department of Unidentifiable Magical Objects.
The Department for Confiscated Items.
The Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-Maj Obliviation.
The MACUSA Surveillance Wizarding Resources Department.
The Magical Cleaning Department.
The Major Investigation Department.
The Office for Magic Relations and Education.
The Wizarding Resources Department.

Most of the departments listed have either something to do with magical law or No-Maj relations, as MACUSA spent a large number of its resources toward keeping the American Wizarding community hidden from No-Majes.

Personnel

Presidents

Main article: President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America

#	Wizard(s)	Time period	Notes
1	Josiah Jackson	1693 - 1701	First-person to use the title of President of MACUSA. A warlike wizard, his immediate priority as President was to recruit & train Aurors.
2	Elizabeth H. Sinclair	1701 - 1709	The MACUSA's first President
3	Charity Wilkinson	1709 - 1717	Served as one of the original twelve American Aurors before becoming MACUSA's third President.
4	Elisha C. Leeper	1717 - 1725
5	Clement C. Baird	1725 - 1733
6	John K. Leveret	1733 - 1741
7	Annette E. Sterling	1741 - 1749
8	Robin O. Baird	1749 - 1757	The younger brother of the fifth President
9	Thornton Harkaway	1757 - 1763	Relocated MACUSA to his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia in 1760. A flamboyant man, he bred Crups among many other interests. Left his office in disgrace following a breach of the Statute of Secrecy when his pack of Crups savaged several local No-Majs.
10	Elizabeth P. Everglade	1763 - 1771
11	Able Fleming	1771 - 1774	Relocated MACUSA to his hometown of Baltimore, but MACUSA later moved to Washington due to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War & the arrival of the No-Maj Congress.
12	Elizabeth McGilliguddy	1774 - 1779	Presided over the infamous 'Country or Kind?' debate of 1777 in Washington over magical involvement in the Revolutionary War.
13	Christopher G. Irwin	1779 - 1787
14	Esther McPherson	1787 - 1790
15	Emily Rappaport	1790 - 1798	Following a major breach of the Statute of Secrecy, enacted Rappaport's Law in 1790, creating total segregation between wizard & No-Maj communities in the United States.
16	Alice C. McFadden	1798 - 1806
17	Abimael Purdy	1806 - 1814
18	Frances O. Walsh	1814 - 1822
19	Samantha T. Griffin	1822 - 1830
20	Danika B. Butler	1830 - 1838
21	Charles S. Burton	1838 - 1846
22	Lewis C. Slumber	1846 - 1854
23	Avery O. Collins	1854 - 1862
24	Jonathan C. Powell	1862 - 1870	First President to be born in the 19th century
25	LeRoy W. Mann	1870 - 1878
26	Daniel M. Mitten	1878 - 1886
27	Alexandra C. Wood	1886 - 1894
28	Leigh D. Snakebark	1894 - 1902
29	Jesse M. Locks	1902 - 1910
30	Mell W. Coil	1910 - 1918
31	Jordan H. Harvey	1918 - 1920
32	Seraphina Picquery	1920 - 1928	Allowed wizarding consumption of alcohol during her mandate. Dealt with a massive threat to the Statute of Secrecy when some beasts escaped from the suitcase of British Magizoologist Newt Scamander.
33	Jessica P. Morgan	1928 - 1936
34	Skyler S. Walter	1936 - 1944
35	Andrew H. Dickerson	1944 - 1952
36	Jordan L. Knotts	1952 - 1960	First President to be born in the 20th century
37	Jodie P. Barker	1960 - 1968	Took part in the repeal of Rappaport's Law
38	Brynn C. Young	1968 - 1976	Passed the Auror Age Reduction Act, enabling graduates from Ilvermorny to join MACUSA at a young age.
39	Haiden F. Willis	1976 - 1984
40	Noel P. Pineneedle	1984 - 1992
41	Kale R. Marsh	1992 - 2000
42	Robin P. Chambers	2000 - 2005
43	Joe G. Howard	2005 - 2008
44	Elinor B. Buttons	2008 - 2014
45	Samuel G. Quahog	2014 -	Oversaw the kidnapping & return of Liechtenstein Quidditch mascot Hans by high-spirited American fans following their historic triumph in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Quidditch World Cup.

Aurors

Main article: [[1]]

Wizard(s)	Time period		Notes
Theodard Fontaine	c. 1693	One of the original twelve. He was one of only two who survived to see old age.
Wilhelm Fischer	c. 1693	One of the original twelve
Gondulphus Graves
Robert Grimsditch
Mary Jauncey
Carlos Lopez
Mungo MacDuff
Cormac O'Brien
Abraham Potter
Berthilde Roche
Helmut Weiss
Charity Wilkinson		One of the original twelve. She was one of only two who survived to see old age. She also became the 3rd President of MACUSA.
Percival Graves	20th century	1920s	The Director during the early 20th century. Status unknown due to his identity being stolen by Gellert Grindlewald, who impersonated him for some time.

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