JK Rowling is getting some slack online.
People are usually full of praise for the Harry Potter author but this time they’re picking at something she has written.
As part of her website, Pottermore, she wrote an essay into the origins of the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) which gives some background for the upcoming spin-off film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
In it she wrote:
“The Magical Congress of the United States of America, known to American witches and wizards by the abbreviation MACUSA (commonly pronounced as: Mah – cooz – ah) was created in 1693, following the introduction of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.”
This is all fine until later in the essay when she says:
“MACUSA relocated to Baltimore, where President Able Fleming had his home, but the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, followed by the arrival of the No-Maj Congress in the city, made MACUSA understandably nervous and they departed for Washington.
“It was in Washington that President Elizabeth McGilliguddy presided over the infamous ‘Country or Kind?’ debate of 1777. Thousands of witches and wizards from all over America descended upon MACUSA to attend this extraordinary meeting, for which the Great Meeting Chamber had to be magically enlarged.
“The issue for discussion was: did the magical community owe their highest allegiance to the country in which they had made their homes, or to the global underground wizarding community? Were they morally obliged to join American No-Majs in their fight for liberation from the British Muggles? Or was this, simply put, not their fight?”
Notice what was wrong?
JK writes about the ‘Country or Kind’ debate taking place in Washington in 1777, but historians have pointed out that Washington wasn’t founded until 1790.
.@jk_rowling I’m confused about something re: MACUSA. How did they move to Washington before Washington existed?
— Chad Walters (@ChadWaIters) October 7, 2016
.@pottermore @jk_rowling Washington didn’t exist in 1777. It was a swamp then. https://t.co/TpKH6VSGsB pic.twitter.com/2G8Rm6EOT4
— (((Alizaaahh!??))) (@AlizaTweets) October 6, 2016
It’s incredible how little JK Rowling knows about American history. MACUSA moved to Washington before the capital even existed?
— Ardeth Bay (@VictorKong82) October 6, 2016
.@jk_rowling Washington DC didn’t exist before 1790. How did the 1777 MACUSA ‘Country or Kind’ meeting happen in non-existent No-Maj city?
— Chris Halloran (@HalloCS) October 6, 2016
One person did point out that she could have been speaking about it in the present tense.
I talked 2 some1 that made a good point. @jk_rowling @pottermore said “Washington” as its referred to us. We call it Washington
— Ali Doppke (@alphabetocean) October 7, 2016
