Magical Congress of the United States of America

Magical Congress of the United States of America
Organisation information
Founded	1693
Leader(s)	President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America Samuel G. Quahog (in 2014)
Headquarters	Appalachian Mountains (formerly) Williamsburg, Virginia (formerly) Baltimore, Maryland (formerly) Washington (formerly) Woolworth Building, New York, NY
Intentions	Govern the magical community of the United States of America
Affiliation	International Confederation of Wizards Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"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 and protected American wizardkind."

— Description

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 and a Senate, the MACUSA is unicameral. The MACUSA is located within the Woolworth Building in downtown New York City and 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 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 and 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 and beyond, precisely because of the lack of organised law enforcement such as existed in their own countries.

History

Early years

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

— MACUSA's strict rule regarding Muggle relations

The Scourers during the height of their influence

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 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 original twelve Aurors of MACUSA

The first task of the North American wizarding legislature was to put on trial the Scourers, a unscrupulous and brutal band of wizarding bounty hunters and racketeers, executing those convicted of murder, wizard-trafficking, and torture. Josiah Jackson's main priority when he became President was to create and 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 and moved around so it would not be detected by No-Majs.

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

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

MACUSA headquarters in the 1920s

In 1760, MACUSA relocated to Williamsburg in Virginia where then President Thornton Harkaway lived. Harkaway bred Crups, which possess a great aggression towards non-magical people. When the crups attacked local No-Majs, it led to a great breach of the Statute of Secrecy and 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 and whether to fight for liberation from the British Muggles. They also debated whether it was really their fight. The argument did not go well and 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 and place it in danger. They sought the advice of the Ministry of Magic to find out whether they intended to intervene on their side and 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 neighbours unofficially and celebrated Independence Day.

Salem Memorial

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 and wizarding communities. Henceforth, wizards were no longer allowed to befriend or marry No-Majs, and penalties of such fraternisation 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, and 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, and 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. 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, and 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 and — 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

Sometime at the end of the 19th century, legislation was introduced which would require all American wizards and 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 and identify the perpetrators by their wands, thus making the concealment of magic easier. Rappaport’s Law was still in operation in the 1920s and several offices in MACUSA had no counterpart in the Ministry of Magic.

MACUSA's entry way in 1926

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 criticised this policy, pointing out that it made witches and 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.

Tina Goldstein and Newt Scamander standing in the MACUSA lobby

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 and the UK of this time was the penalty for a serious crime. Whereas British witches and 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 and 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 and 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 occuring, 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, and Jacob Kowalski were falsely believed to have been responsible for the Senator's death and were arrested. Grindelwald, in his capacity as Director of Magical Security, sought to have them executed after Scamander and Tina discovered a hint over his true identity. Scamander, Goldstein, and Kowalski ultimately escaped the MACUSA becoming fugitives.

After Scamander, Tina and Queenie Goldstein, and Jacob Kowalski were able to recover all of the escaped magical beasts, Grindelwald discovered that the identity of the magical force was indeed Barebone 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 and 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 and arrested by MACUSA, Goldstein and Scamander pardoned and thanked for their role in helping unmask Grindelwald, and the en masse obliviation of the thousands of New York City No-Maj residents and 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 use of a flying high-security carriage from New York to Europe. Several MACUSA Aurors escorted the carriage on 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 and 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 and thus 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 and Otto Obermeier, Minister for Magic of Liechtenstein. Luckily, Hans was returned the following day, 9 June 2014, and the relationship between the two countries seemed not to have been too damaged.

Law enforcement

MACUSA - Always Stay Vigilant

The first dozen volunteers to train as Aurors in the US have a special place in 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, and Theodard Fontaine, whose direct descendant Agilbert is the present day Headmaster of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Another vital part of the Law Enforcement Offices are 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 and 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 and thereby has many different positions and 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 and 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 Ministry of Magic does. It is also the largest department and 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 amount of its resources toward keeping the American Wizarding community hidden from No-Majes.

Personnel

Presidents 

Wizard(s)	Time period	Notes
Josiah Jackson	c. 1693	1st President
Charity Wilkinson		3rd President
Thornton Harkaway	1760	Relocated MACUSA to his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia in 1760
Able Fleming	1770s	Relocated MACUSA to his hometown of Baltimore
Elizabeth McGilliguddy	c. 1777	Presided over the infamous 'Country or Kind?' debate of 1777
Emily Rappaport	c. 1790	15th President
Seraphina Picquery	1920-1928	Dealt with massive threat to the Statute of Secrecy
Samuel G. Quahog	2014	Oversaw the kidnapping and return of Liechtenstein Quidditch mascot Hans

Aurors

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		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	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.
Porpentina Goldstein		An Auror until her dismissal for magically assaulting a No-Maj, Mary Lou Barebone, in front of witnesses because she was beating her son. Reinstated in 1926, after helping to arrest Gellert Grindelwald.
M. L. Minus	20th century	Auror Commissioner
E. A. Limus		Chief Auror, Federal Identity Commissioner
M. P. Carneirus		Captain of Aurors
Achilles Tolliver

Other personnel

Wizard(s)	Time period	Notes
Aristotle Twelvetrees	1700s	Keeper of Treasure and Dragots
Irene Kneedander	1800s	Head of the Body for Protection of Magical Species
Chief of Staff		Likely a rough equivalent of the No-Maj post of White House Chief of Staff.
Queenie Goldstein	1920s	Desk job in Wand Permit Office
Abernathy		MACUSA employee
Red		Goblin bellboy
Bernadette		Executioner
Executioner (I)
Executioner (II)
Sam		Obliviator
Albert Perschky		Apparition Examiner
Paloma Proudfoot		Surveillor of Activity
Magali Crowe
F. Wakefield		MACUSA employees
J. Ward
L. O'Sullivan
Y. Blishen
Ruby
Beryl

Gallery

MACUSA MINA.jpg

MACUSA logo as seen on Magic in North America

MACUSA SDCC16.png

MACUSA Seal

Behind the scenes

• In Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, MACUSA is incorrectly referred to as the "American Ministry of Magic". One possible explanation is that it was so called in the subtitles at the beginning of the movie for the convenience and benefit of the audience, as to make it absolutely clear for those who either did not watch the first movie or had not done so in a while that MACUSA were the American equivalent to the British Ministry of Magic, which appeared in the next scene.
• Yusuf Kama referred to MACUSA as a Ministry when he asked Tina Goldstein under what conditions the "European and American Ministries" would spare Credence, although this could be boiled down to Kama's ignorance about the structure of the wizarding governing body in America, as opposed to being an alternative name.
• The MACUSA's emblem greatly resembles the observe side of the Great Seal of the United States, which is also used as the coat of arms of the United States of America, albeit with many differences.
  • Only the bald eagle proper, the stars, and the escutcheon remains; while the other elements from the No-Maj counterpart (the crest, the talons, the thirteen-leaved olive branch, the thirteen arrows, and the scroll with motto) are absent (perhaps to differentiate themselves from the No-Majs, e.g. Rappaport's Law).
    • In contrast to its No-Maj counterpart, the bald eagle dominates the entire emblem as a blue silhouette (with variations in shading), and its head and beak faces towards the viewer's right (the No-Maj counterpart faces towards the viewer's left).
    • Beneath the bald eagle's outstretched wings are three tongues of flame on each side, perhaps symbolising the Salem Witch Trials; the MACUSA was established as a direct result of the aftermath, and is therefore used as a tool in rationale for its foundation and legitimization.
    • The escutcheon (in the eagle's breast, which seems to blend in with the eagle) is much larger than its No-Maj counterpart (perhaps in proportion to the size of the bald eagle), with its bottom reaching to halfway of the border. Its chief (like its No-Maj counterpart) is also blue (therefore violating the heraldic rule of tincture of "no colour on colour" since the eagle's breast is also blue of the "azure" shade), but unlike its No-Maj counterpart, contains thirty white stars (in five irregular rows). The colouring of its paleways (the stripes; also thirteen pieces) are in reverse of its No-Maj counterpart (outermost sides in white), resembling the vertical display of the flag of the United States.
    • The bald eagle's head has twenty-nine radiating lines up to its wings in the background, termed in heraldry as "glory". But unlike its No-Maj counterpart (above the eagle's head is a crest of thirteen white stars arranged in a six-pointed star pattern, on a blue field within a yellow glory breaking through a cloud proper), the "glory" ends up to the borders of the eagle's outstretched wings, and within the space are eighteen randomly positioned stars (which is similar to the early committee designs for the No-Majs' counterpart seal, described as a "constellation"; it was in 1782 when the first die was made that the six-pointed star pattern (after English heraldry) was adopted for the No-Maj seal).
  • The emblem contains altogether forty-eight stars, symbolising the number of states of America by the 1920's.
    • The 48th state, Arizona, was admitted in 14 February 1912. Alaska & Hawaii were both to be admitted in 1959 (7 months apart).
    • This comes as problematic in the case of the emblem's history.
      • As MACUSA was established in 1693 and prior to the 1776 establishment of the No-Maj government "America" only consisted of the Thirteen Colonies (which later became the first states upon the No-Maj declaration of independence and made official upon the ratification of the 1787 No-Maj Constitution), it would become improbable if the emblem was made as it is with forty-eight stars.
      • It is likely the emblem was made as an emulation of the obverse of the Great Seal, for in 15 September 1789, the No-Maj Congress ordered and declared it to be the seal of the United States (after seven years in No-Maj usage after the final design and the casting of the first die of the seal).
    • Most likely the MACUSA emblem is similar with the Seal of the President of the United States (which uses a variation of the obverse of the Great Seal), since it has the similar concept of having stars conforming to the current states admitted to the Union (having in its current design fifty stars surrounding the shield and crest).
      • As the MACUSA functions as all three branches of government (like its European counterparts) and its leader is the "President", it is more likely this was the intention.
      • Three known older seals exist whose provenances match with the number of stars conforming to the number of states admitted in the Union.
      • The present design of the No-Majs' presidential seal dates to 25 October 1945, when Truman issued Executive Order 9646 which defined & specified the seal's design, and had 48 stars (like that of MACUSA's, only twenty years into the future from the FBWTFT timeline). The design changed with Alaska and Hawaii's admission into the union under Eisenhower (with corresponding Executive Orders), with the last change in 1960, from which the current seal is used.
• It seems probable that the MACUSA has a judicial branch to adjudicate on violations of Wizard law, and an organisation like the Wizengamot which is akin to the Supreme Court used by the No-Maj.
• A Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-Maj Obliviation exists and seemingly operates under the jurisdiction of MACUSA. (F.B.C.V.N.O.) appears to deal with wizarding/No-Maj law enforcement at a federal level.
• Similar to how the No-Maj US government is split into three separate branches to prevent any one branch from gaining all the power, the Wizard government may have followed a related system of "checks and balances".
• Conversely, with its unicameral legislative body, MACUSA may have centralised government powers as a means of preventing and controlling any breaches of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.
• It's possible that each state in the US has it's own state wizarding government, emulating the No-Maj Federal set-up, especially given how many departments of the MACUSA have the word "federal" in them, implying a federalized structure of government.
• It is possible that wizarding newspaper The New York Ghost may have relations with MACUSA as the British Ministry of Magic has ties to The Daily Prophet.
• The acronym "MACUSA" is commonly pronounced "Mah-cooz-ah".
• The worst criminals apprehended by MACUSA are executed rather then incarcerated.
  • This is a reflection of how the United States still utilise the death penalty for many of their most dangerous offenders who don't get granted clemency via the defence of criminal actions being due to insanity. The State Government of Texas has sentenced to death and executed over 430 individuals to date, the largest number of any other State in the nation.
• In The Crimes of Grindelwald, MACUSA is also referred to as the American Ministry of Magic.

Appearances

• Pottermore (First mentioned)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (mentioned in 2017 edition)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay (First appearance)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• LEGO Dimensions
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Mentioned only)

Notes and references

Magical Congress of the United States of America