Database errors

Question

HI: I have the following database errors ID= 603= #of errors 569

Error  ID=633 and  Error ID 663-129. Just wondering why when we are

sourcing for for the correct location of birth and death the information is not

given with the right time period of location. I have a list of each state with the

date of admission ex MA.  Feb 6, 1788 Crown Colony of Massachusetts

Bay??  Would this be correct to enter. Plus It will take a very long time to correct all of these errors.

...Marie

Comments

So where do I find the correct information for each state for these database errors...Marie

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For the original 13 states, the date is 4 July 1776.  For the other 37 which entered the Union by an act of Congress, the dates will certainly be as you already have them.

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Update the help page Space:DBE_633 if you have better sources/dates...

Answer 1

Marie, there have been a number of big discussions around this issue.

That is the date Massachusetts ratified the US Constitution.  It is not the date it joined the Union.  The United States had been in existence since it declared its independence on 4 July 1776.

Massachusetts was absolutely not a Crown Colony in 1788.

 

Comments

Correct G2G for 6x3 errors is here.

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/373496/automatically-prepared-correction-for-6x3-errors

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In that thread, one of the first members to reply claimed that "Crown Colony of Massachusetts" was correct until 1788, but no one else agreed.

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The colonies hated and feared each other more than they hated the British.  They'd never have signed anything in 1776 if they'd thought they were creating the United States.

The irony is, they had more independence under the British than they ever had under the Federal constitution.

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And yet they did.  I don’t know that they hated and feared each other more than the British, but they certainly valued their independence (this did not make them independent).  The argument of states’ rights vs the power of the federal government continues until today.  The irony is that most of the powers of the federal government and the strong central government that we have today, derives almost entirely from the Supreme Court interpretation of the interstate commerce clause in a way which had to of been completely unforeseen by the founding fathers.

None of this changes the fact that the original thirteen states came together to form a single government with the power to declare and wage war, negotiate treaties, raise taxes, raise armies, pass laws, settle border disputes, etc.  The Continental Congress was replaced with the Confederation Congress which was the governing body of the United States from 1781 to 1789.  When it was clear that the Articles of Confederation wasn’t working, the 13 states agreed to re-write a new Constitution (which only required 9 of 13 states to ratify it for it to become law).  And here we are.