Fr. Garaventa
U.S. History
11 March 2013
The Anti-Masonic Party and Freemasonry in the U.S.A.
The Anti-Mason Party was a formed in opposition to Presidential candidate Andrew Jackson and the Freemasons that ultimately helped Jackson win the election. Freemasonry, a fraternal organization that arose from obscure origins in the early 1600s, took root in Colonial America and influenced many of the United States’ great leaders. Our country was founded by great men who did what was considered wrong in order to do what they knew was right. Many of our great founding fathers were Freemasons, along with Presidents ranging from George Washington to Franklin Roosevelt. However, there was opposition to the Freemasons. The Anti-Masonic Party was founded to overthrow the Freemasons from power.
What do Freemasons believe in? How has Freemasonry shaped the greatest country in the world, the United States of America?
Freemasonry began in medieval Europe. The oldest known record of Freemasons is a poem known as the “Regius Manuscript.” This poem has been dated to approximately 1390. The poem starts out with a history of the “Craft” of Freemasonry. It describes Euclid, the Greek “Father of Geometry”, as the inventor of geometry. The poem traced the spread of the art of geometry all the way to England. Following the section about geometry are fifteen articles that address moral behavior and how to work. For example, it reads “(d)o not harbour thieves, do not take bribes, attend church regularly, teach apprentices properly.” Following that section, there are fifteen points for craftsmen which are very similar.
The Masons built lodges, some of which were built as early as the late 1500′s. It is believed that there was one in Scotland at that time. A Masonic lodge is a place where meetings would be held. Masonic lodges can be named after a historical figure, a famous Freemason, or the town location. Each lodge name is followed by a number; for example, the Ancient Landmarks Lodge #319 or the Washington Lodge #13. The number is issued by a Grand Lodge that governs over the smaller lodges. The smaller the number that follows the name, the older the lodge is.
Freemasons use signs, grips, tokens and words to gain admission to a lodge or meeting. Signs, grips, and passwords that are taught to the Masons under initiation rituals used since the eighteenth century. Each lodge may change and create its own rituals that prove one is in fact a Freemason.
Each lodge room is decorated and detailed after aspects of King Solomon’s Temple. Freemasonry uses symbolism to teach its members. A very large amount of the symbolism used is based on the accounts of Solomon’s Temple. King Solomon’s Temple was built in the 10th century B.C. on a hill called Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. The Temple was built as a place to worship God and also to store the sacred Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant contains tablets of the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God. When Freemasonry evolved into a more philosophical organization in the 1700s, the Freemasons began to use the symbolism of King Solomon’s Temple as a tool to teach moral and spiritual ideas.
The Grand Lodge of England was the first Masonic Grand Lodge and was founded on June 24th, 1717. Multiple English Lodges joined the new Grand Lodge. The Grand Lodge of England made changes to the ritual as a result of disclosures in the press. Many lodges did not want to make the changes, so they formed a rival Grand Lodge on June 17th, 1751. This rival Grand Lodge was named the “Most Ancient and Honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons According to the Old Institutions.” It was more widely known as the “Ancient Grand Lodge of England.” The two Grand Lodges, the “Moderns” and the “Ancients”, competed for supremacy. Ultimately, they nevertheless united on November 25th, 1813, and formed the United Grand Lodge of England.
Freemasonry was brought to the British Colonies in North America in the 1730s. The Ancients and Moderns chartered new Mason Lodges in America. The oldest known American lodges were located in Pennsylvania. A Grand Lodge was founded in each individual State after the Revolutionary War. Many Masons wanted George Washington to be the first Grand Master, but the idea died out and it never happened.
Many important people of the early United States of America were Freemasons, such as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Franklin Roosevelt, Gerald Ford and several others. Joseph Montfort, the Grand Master of the United States of America, was a Colonal of Colonial Troops and the North Carolina Treasurer. He was a member of the Royal White Hart Lodge built in 1769 at Halifax, North Carolina (which this author visited last month). Joseph Montfort was the highest Mason official ever reigning on the North American continent. His grave in Halifax reads, “The First – The Last – The Only – Grand Master of America.”
There is no official religion in Freemasonry and Masons are not obligated to follow any specific religion. Regular Masons are required to declare a belief in a supreme being; however, they do not have to expand on their intepretation of who or what the supreme being is. In the Masonic ritual, the supreme being is referred to as the Great Architect of the Universe. This shows the use of architectural symbolism within Freemasonry, mostly derived from King Solomon’s Temple. Most Masons are Christians and believe in God and the Holy Bible. Freemasons believe mankind will be saved by science and not by God or any religious beliefs. The higher degree a Freemason is, the more secretive the order is. It is not publicly known what is revealed to high-ranking Masons concerning God and religion.
Each and every Freemason swears to keep the “Secrets of Freemasonry”, and to act in accordance with Masonic tradition and law. These obligations of a Mason are sworn on the Volume of the Sacred Law and in the presence of the supreme being.
If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest (Benjamin Franklin).
This quote by Benjamin Franklin, a Freemason, exemplifies the importance of knowledge in Freemasonry. Winston Churchill wrote “If you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it.” Churchill says that people should share their knowledge for the benefit of the greater good. This is an example of the morals of Freemasons. Benjamin Franklin also stated,
Masonic labor is purely a labor of love. He who seeks to draw Masonic wages in gold and silver will be disappointed. The wages of a Mason are earned and paid in their dealings with one another; sympathy that begets sympathy, kindness begets kindness, helpfulness begets helpfulness, and these are the wages of a Mason.
Many conspiracy theories about the Freemasons have been described since the 1700′s. Some conspiracy theories may seem far fetched, while others may seem quit possible. One theory is that the Freemasons control huge parts of society and government and continue to work to establish the New World Order. The New World Order is a one-world government. Some people believe that Freemasons are conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian world government. Christians believe that the New World Order will rise at the end of time led by the Antichrist. Another theory posits that Freemasons worship Lucifer. This belief is attributed to quotes by Albert Pike, the Head of Freemasonry in the 1800′s. Pike wrote a book called Morals and Dogma in which he writes, “The masonic Religion should be, by all of us initiates of the higher degrees, maintained in the Purity of the Luciferian doctrine. If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay and his priests calumniate him?”
The Eye of Providence, or the All-Seeing Eye of God, on the One Dollar bill is a symbol known to be associated with Freemasonry. The symbol is on the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States. It is thought to represent the eye of God watching over the world. In 1797, the Eye appeared as a part of the standard symbols of the Freemasons. The symbol is a reminder that a Mason’s thoughts and deeds are always observed by God. Since Freemasonry believes in salvation by scientific knowledge, the Eye may symbolize a different supreme being, possibly blasphemous. The bottom of the seal reads, Novus Ordo Seclorum, meaning “New Order of the Ages”. While it may just mean the beginning of a great country, the United States of America, some believe it is foretelling the New World Order, previously mentioned.
As a response to Freemasonry and its hold in the United States of America, America’s first third party, the Anti-Masonic Party, was formed to get rid of Freemasonry. The Anti-Masonic Party strongly opposed Freemasonry. The party was founded in 1828 in upstate New York. The Anti-Masonic Party brought new ideas and innovations to American politics. It started nominating conventions, which is a political convention that is held every four years that determines who the presidential candidate for that party will be. The party also began party platforms, which are a list or agenda of things that need to be done to appeal to the general public and win their vote.
Anti-Masons were people who feared the secretive powerful Freemasons. They believed that the secret society of Freemasonry was very powerful and had an agenda to rule the country in defiance of republican principles. In 1826, a man named William Morgan was arrested for not paying debt, but was then released as it was paid. Morgan was a Freemason of the Batavia Lodge and had become dissatified with his lodge. Morgan was going to publish a book revealing the secrets of the Freemasons. When the Freemasons found out about his intentions, they tried to burn down the publishing house. Morgan dissappeared and was never found. It was said that he had been taken to the Cayman Islands where he was to be hanged as a pirate. The Freemasons, Loton Lawon, Nicholas Chesebro, and Edward Sawyer, were charged and convicted of kidnapping Morgan. The three Masons recieved minimal punishment. This led to public outrage and started protests against Freemasons. Many of these protests took place in New York and the adjacent States.
Ordinary citizens believed the Freemasons were an elitist group that held important positions in society and would unjustly help each other out in court and elsewhere. When a member was going to reveal the Mason secrets, the Masons had gotten rid of him. Since they controlled official positions, they could use their powers for the benefit of the fraternity and its members. Common people believed they had to be removed from their positions in government to restore a just democracy.
The Anti-Masonic movement started and was a stable, strong movement that held the beliefs of the common people. Churches began an opposition to Freemasonry of their own and it seemed to be sort of a religious crusade (Later, Freemasons were excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church in the 1917 code of Canon Law, and a statement issued by Pope John Paul II in 1983 stated that the penalty was still in force). In the early 1800s, the Anti-Masonic movement had become a local political issue in New York, where citizens held large meetings to make sure no Masons were elected for public office.
During this time, the year of 1828, President John Quincy Adams ran for his second term as President against Andrew Jackson. Adams’ supporters, called “Adams men” or the “Anti-Jackson” faction, were determined to utilize the great anti-Masonic feeling to create a new vigorous third party to contend the rising Jacksonian Democracy. John Quincy Adams notably remarked in his Letters on the Masonic Institution, “Freemasonry is deceptive and fraudulent…Its promise is light–its performance is darkness.” Adams also stated, “I do conscientiously and sincerely believe that the Order of Freemasonry, if not the greatest, is one of the greatest moral and political evils under which the Union is now laboring.” In addition to Adams’ remarks, Millard Filmore mentioned “The Masonic fraternity tramples upon our rights, defeats the administration of justice and bid defiance of every government which it cannot control.” Adams’ and Filmore’s remarks exemplify just how strongly they, as well as other people, felt about the secret society.
The party gained great support, especially because Andrew Jackson was a high-ranking Freemason who often spoke out in praise and approval of the Freemason order. In 1829, the Anti-Masonic party was increasingly strong and soon became the biggest opposing party in all of New York State. The Party expanded its platform and became a leader of internal improvements, the creation of transportation infastruction and navigational improvements, and a supporter of the protective tariff. The Party made it big and published 35 weekly newspapers in New York alone, the most popular being the Albany Journal, edited by Thurlow Weed, an Anti-Masonic member who worked to align the Anti-Masonic movement.
The Anti-Masonic Party invented the type of political conventions that are held today. A convention is where the elected delegates would vote and decide candidates for the party and pledge their loyalty. Eventually, all parties would adopt this idea and hold their own party conventions.
By 1832, the Anti-Masonic Party had lost its original sight of ridding the land of Freemasonry. The Party nominated a former Mason, William Wirt, for the 1832 Presidential elections. Wirt had won around 100,000 votes, Henry Clay of the Republic Party had won around 484,000 votes, and Andrew Jackson had won approximately 702,000 votes. Jackson had won and the Anti-Masonic Party had failed to stop Jackson, a Freemason, from being elected. The Party started to fade and its members gradually united with the National Republicans and other Anti-Jackson supporters to later form the Whig Party in 1833. The Whig Party’s boss was the one and only Thurlow Weed, the same man who began his political career as an Anti-Mason and published the Albany Journal.
In 1835, the Anti-Masonic Party started to toughen up again after their State Convention in Harrisburg. At the convention, William Henry Harrison was nominated to run for President in the 1836 presidential elections. The Party restated the original purpose of the Party as strictly anti-Masonic. Although Harrison did not win, the Anti-Masonic movement was still strong. In 1837, the Third Anti-Masonic National Nomination Convention was held in Philadelphia. At that time, the Whig party had completely engulfed the Anti-Masonic Party. Harrison became the nominee for the Whig Party in the 1840 elections. The Anti-Masonic Party did not choose a nominee and vanished by 1838.
In conclusion, the Anti-Masonic Party proved to be ineffective in its goal to prevent President Andrew Jackson from the Presidency. The Party actually split the anti-Jackson votes, which ultimately helped Jackson win. The original purpose of the party, anti-Masonry, had earned it many supporters. Once that main motive faded away, the support for the Party diminished and the Party dissolved into the Whig Party in 1838. Freemasonry has been, and still is, a popular secret society that has over 6 million members worldwide, and in the US is no longer directly involved in political parties. However, there are hundreds of Freemasons in high governmental positions and public office. Most Americans view the Freemasons as a social and fraternal organization that performs good works in the community, and no longer is suspect for sinister motives as it had been in the past. A small minority of people in America still harbor similar fears and doubts about the organization to this day.
The Anti-Masonic Party and Freemasonry in the U.S.A.
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