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ANTIMASONRY the Crusade and the Party

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ANTIMASONRY the Crusade and the Party \-\S\jJ~ .-~~ lorman Ratner Herbert H. Lehman College ('~(J'V. The City University of New Yorl: ANTIMASONRY The Crusade and the Party AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOURCES SERIES: Research and Interpretation LORMAN RATNER. Editor PRBNTICE-HALL INTERNATION:A.L, INC., London PRENTICE-HALL OF AUSTRAUA PTY. LTD., Sydney PRENTICE-HALL OP CANADA LTD., Toronto PRENTICE-HALL OP INDIA PRIVATE LTD., New Delhi PRENTICE-HALL OF JAPAN, mc., Tokyo Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey EDITOR'S FOREWORD Antimasonry: The Crusade «na the Party is a volume In the American Historical Sources Series, a series devoted to the exploration of aspects of American history and to the process of interpreting his­ torical evidence. The introduction to each volume will be followed by some of the original documents used to prepare the essay. In this way readers are invited to share in the experience of turning raw evidence into history. To David Brion Davis When I considered topics that would be appropriate for this series, Antimasonry seemed to qualify on several counts. First, it of­ fered the opportunity to study the Jacksonian era from a different per­ AU rights reservel. No part of t'hu book spective; although his name has been given to the age, Andrew Jack­ may be reproduced in any form son and his supporters were only part of a much larger group of actors. or by any means without peNnissUm In writing from the publUher. Second, a study of Antimasonry involved dealing with both the poli­ tics and the temper of a time; Antimasonry was a crusade in an age of crusades. Third, Antimasonry was not limited to just one period of Current printing (last digit): time. The existence of Antimasonic feeling in the eighteenth century 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 made possible some comparisons of both Antimasonic sentiments, the content of which changed over time, and the societies in which Anti­ masonry provoked interest. Finally, when we study Antimasonry, ques­ @ 1969 by PlUINTIClI-HALL, INa. tions arise such as what motivated men to join the Antimasonic crusade Englewood CliHs, New Jersey and become active in the Party, and what problems resulted when a crusade and a party combined. I have not attempted to answer these questions, but rather, to point out problems, suggest some lines to follow, Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 72-88712 and provide some material for study, all of which will be of use to students for pursuing the subject on their own. LORMAN RATNER Printed in the United States of America 13-038513-1 Herbert H. Lehman College The City University of New York v ••__...___7.'_______________________...._,__ ...".,_ CONTENTS Antimasonry: The Crusade and the Party, 1 source 1 The Danger of Conspiracy, 19 J.d.dioh MOrl. source 2 Adams Responds to the Antimasonic Attacks, 24 John Adami source 3 The Morgan Case and the Proof of an lnternal Conspiracy, 26 Committee on the Abdudion of William Morgan source 4 The Clerical Appeal, 38 source 5 Political Action, 48 source 6 The Crusade and the Party, 64 Thurlow Weed vii ...................................................--................~~....~ ~ .. H",~·.~· 3 2 Antimasonry: The Crusade ana the PaTty Antimasonry: The Crusade and the Party paranoid style" in American political behavior-an unreasonable fear and imbued with a spirit of philanthropy. In this respect they reRected of some group that is believed to be threatening American beliefs, the Age of Enlightenment. But in addition to the belief that reason values, and institutions. could correct the wrongs of society, the Fraternity offered mystery, a To explain Antimasonry in these tenDS is to enter into a highly sense of brotherhood, and the excitement of ceremonies derived from speculative realm of inquiry. The search for the psychological and the Orient. This combination of factors seemingly had widespread ap­ socio-psychological basis of political behavior is most interesting, but peal among eighteenth-century Englishmen, for the Masons increased at least for the historian it is inconclusive. But granting this, the task their membership rapidly and managed to attract writers and shop­ remains to examine what Antimasons said; to question why their beliefs keepers, politicians and artisans, nobility and commoners. had some appeal at one time but not at another; to discover to whom However, though the Fraternity prospered, it also aroused some Antimasonry appealed; and to determine how it was used politically, opposition. The Catholic Church denounced it as a tool of atheists and noting what effect Antimasonry had on politics and vice versa. Ours are revolutionaries, and even in England there were those who viewed the questions of a lesser magnitude than those raised about how Anti­ society as a threat to the power of both church and state. Though they masonry reBects an American style of behavior or how it is characteristic attacked neither church nor state, it was apparent that Masons chal­ of such a style in a particular era. But ours are questions for which we lenged both institutions at least by implication, by pursuing their have the materials to construct a reasonable set of answers, and perhaps objective of refonn through reason. But if the English religious and in answering these questions we will have a basis for more intelligent political leaders feared the Fraternity, they did little to suppress it. examination of the relationship of Antimasonry to the study of the Perhaps this toleration was due in part to the prestige of the members American style of political behavior. To find answers to the questions on the Fraternity'S growing list and their insistence that they sought we have asked we shall begin by considering the history and the reform within the existing institutional structures. When criticism of doctrines of the Masonic Fraternity and the reasons Americans of differ­ the Fraternity was heard in England, it was based on the charge that ent eras offered for denouncing the Fraternity. Since the Masonic behind the secrecy of the Fraternity the Masons were in fact engaged Fraternity underwent two significant attacks in America, we can begin in immoral activity; they were not regarded as revolutionaries of any by comparing the phenomena in the 1790's--when it attracted little sort. In 1730 the Masons were accused in several journals of being support-with the Widespread interest in the post-Morgan era. We will "lewd, debauched, and blasphemous." Such criticisms followed Free­ compare the general conditions of each age, the content and quality of masonry from England to the American colonies. the written attacks on the Fraternity, and the organization into a na­ In 1720 Henry Prince, a merchant, founded a Masonic lodge in tional movement of what began as a mere sentiment against Masonry. Boston. Throughout the 1720's, Boston newspapers made frequent The origins of Freemasonry are unknown. Evidence points to the references to Masonry, but in most cases these references consisted of existence of a stonemasons' society that began in the fifteenth century, reprints from English journals. Those English editors occasionally de­ but the exact date of its origin and the nature of the society remain a scribed measures taken against the Masonic order by the Catholic mystery. Modem freemasonry was founded in England at the beginning Church. The American papers had no comments to make on these of the eighteenth century. Though it would be of interest to relate the reports. It seems reasonable to assume that the Masonic lodges in full history of the organization, it is doubtful that the modern movement Boston would, if anything, pront from public awareness that the had much in common with its predecessor except in one respect-the Fraternity was disliked by the Catholic Church, which itself was secrecy that surrounded the society. viewed by almost all New Englanders as a menace to all Protestant The EngUsh Masons were devoted to social refonD, which they societies. believed could be accomplished by men who were guided by reason The first strong attacks on Masonry in America came in New •....7..............~~......• ............~1t.1......................... ~....~; .....,.. 4 Antimasonry: The Crusade and the Party Antimasonry: The Crusade and the Party 5 York. As in England, they were based on the claim that the Masons The Masons attained their peak of popularity in the years imme­ were immoral. In 1737, the New York Gazette acknowledged the diately follOWing the war. Deism and religious free-thinking generally existence in the colony of Masonic lodges and, by reason of the secrecy had gained widespread acceptance during that era. Formal church of their ritual, assumed that they were following immoral practices. organization, already weak, was rent by the split resulting from the The Masonic oaths were mentioned and special note was made that Revolution; religious toleration was raised high as part of the republican "brutal death" was the punishment for breach of secrecy. Meeting be­ doctrine. There could be little hope of checking a group because of its hind closed doors, the taking of oaths, and the general tone of mystery secular nature. In addition, the Fraternity capitalized on the prestige of made Masonry subject to suspicion and suggested to many the work of men like Franklin, Washington, and Lafayette, all of whom were the devil. Antimasons, both in the eighteenth century and later times, Masons. The public became conscious of the association of these nan always emphasized the secrecy that surrounded the Fraternity. Secrecy tional heroes with Masonry. could always be cited as proof of something to hide, of some immoral Despite all this, another attack on the Fraternity was launched. activity, or of some conspiratorial plot. The new Antimasonry, like the old, had for its spokesmen clergymen In the same year that the New Yark Gazette made its charges, primarily, but their warning was not only of danger to the churches.
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