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Anti-Masonic Party

{{short description|1820s–1830s American political party}}

{{Infobox political party

| colorcode = {{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}

| name = Anti-Masonic Party

| leader = Solomon Southwick
Thurlow Weed
William Wirt

| foundation = First: {{start date and age|1828|02}}
Second: {{start date and age|1872}}

| dissolution = First: {{end date and age|1840|12}}
Second: {{end date and age|1888}}

| colors = {{color box|{{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}|border=darkgray}} Buff

| merged = Whig Party

| headquarters = Albany, New York

| newspaper = Anti-Masonic Enquirer
National Observer
Albany Journal

| ideology = American School
{{nowrap| Anti-elitism (de facto){{harvnb|Cooper|2017|pages=280–283}}Chip Berlet, Matthew Nemiroff Lyons, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Md1aRhWNk1QC&pg=PA38 Right-wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort], 2000, p. 38Sydney Nathans, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iPg6AAAAIAAJ&q=outsiders Daniel Webster and Jacksonian Democracy], 1973, p. 88{{cite book |last=Formisano |first=Ronald P. |date=2008 |title=For the People: American Populist Movements from the Revolution to the 1850s |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSwQBp7JC9sC&pg=PA126 |location=Chapel Hill |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |page=126 |isbn=978-0-8078-3172-4}}Ronald P. Formisano, and Kathleen Smith Kutolowski, "Antimasonry and Masonry: The Genesis of Protest, 1826–1827." American Quarterly 29#2 (1977): 139–165}}
Anti-JacksonianismBrodie, pp. 38–39Anne-Marie Taylor, [https://books.google.com/books?id=an2KtqVlwlsC&pg=PA40 Young Charles Sumner and the Legacy of the American Enlightenment, 1811–1851], 2001, p. 40
Anti-Masonry{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Anti-Masonic-Movement |title=Anti-Masonic Movement |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=July 20, 1998 |access-date=September 9, 2017}}

| religion = Protestantism{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nfe_Ucpg-xEC&q=anti-masonic+party+protestant&pg=PA166|title=Freemasonry: A Study of the Phenomenon|author=Alexander Piatigorsky|publisher=Random House|date= 2013|page=166|isbn=978-1860462658|author-link=Alexander Piatigorsky}}

| national = National Republican Party (1828)Anne-Marie Taylor, [https://books.google.com/books?id=an2KtqVlwlsC&pg=PA40 Young Charles Sumner and the Legacy of the American Enlightenment, 1811–1851], 2001, p. 40{{sfn|Stahr|2012|pp=24–26}}

| country = the United States

}}

{{Freemasonry}}

The Anti-Masonic Party was the earliest third party in the United States.{{cite book |last1=Binning |first1=William C. |last2=Esterly |first2=Larry C. |last3=Sracic |first3=Larry A. |date=1999 |title=Encyclopedia of American Parties, Campaigns, and Elections |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w67OEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |location=Westport, CT |publisher=Greenwood Press |page=7 |isbn=978-0-3130-0762-0 |via=Google Books}} Formally a single-issue party, it strongly opposed Freemasonry in the United States. It was active from the late 1820s, especially in the Northeast, and later attempted to become a major party by expanding its platform to take positions on other issues. It declined quickly after 1832 as most members joined the new Whig Party; it disappeared after 1838.

The party was founded following the disappearance of William Morgan, a former Mason who had become a prominent critic of the Masonic organization. Many believed that Masons had murdered Morgan for speaking out against Masonry and subsequently many churches and other groups condemned Masonry. As many Masons were prominent businessmen and politicians, the backlash against the Masons was also a form of anti-elitism. The Anti-Masons purported that Masons posed a threat to American republicanism by secretly trying to control the government. Furthermore, there was a strong fear that Masonry was hostile to Christianity.

Mass opposition to Masonry eventually coalesced into a political party. Before and during the presidency of John Quincy Adams, there was a period of political realignment. The Anti-Masons emerged as an important third-party alternative to Andrew Jackson's Democrats and Adams' National Republicans. In New York, the Anti-Masons supplanted the National Republicans as the primary opposition to the Democrats.

After experiencing unexpected success in the 1828 elections, the Anti-Masons adopted positions on other issues, most notably support for internal improvements and a protective tariff. Several Anti-Masons, including William A. Palmer and Joseph Ritner, won election to prominent positions. In states such as Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, the party controlled the balance of power in the state legislature and provided crucial support to candidates for the United States Senate. In 1831, the party held the first presidential nominating convention, a practice that was subsequently adopted by all major parties. Delegates chose former U.S. attorney general William Wirt as their standard bearer in the 1832 presidential election; Wirt won 7.8% of the popular vote and carried Vermont.

As the 1830s progressed, many of the Anti-Masonic Party's supporters joined the Whig Party, which sought to unite those opposed to the policies of President Jackson. The Anti-Masons brought with them an intense distrust of politicians and a rejection of unthinking party loyalty, together with new campaign techniques to whip up excitement among the voters. The Anti-Masonic Party held a national convention in 1835, nominating Whig candidate William Henry Harrison, but a second convention announced that the party would not officially support a candidate. Harrison campaigned as a Whig in the 1836 presidential election and his relative success in the election encouraged further migration of Anti-Masons to the Whig Party. By 1840, the party had ceased to function as a national organization. In subsequent decades, former Anti-Masonic candidates and supporters such as Millard Fillmore, William H. Seward, Thurlow Weed and Thaddeus Stevens became prominent members of the Whig Party.

History

= Background =

{{conservatism US|parties}}

File:William Morgan (anti-Mason).jpg, whose disappearance and probable murder led to creation of the Anti-Masonic Party]]

The opponents of Freemasonry formed a political movement after the Morgan affair convinced them the Masons were murdering men who spoke out against them.{{Cite journal |last=Ulm |first=Aaron Hardy |date=February 14, 1920 |title=Third Parties We Have Known |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YmgwAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA72 |journal=Collier's |location=San Francisco, CA |publisher=P. F. Collier & Son Company |page=18 |ref={{sfnRef|"Third Parties We Have Known"}}}} This key episode was the mysterious 1826 disappearance of William Morgan, a Freemason in upstate New York who had turned against the Masons.{{sfn|"Third Parties We Have Known"|page=18}}

Morgan claimed to have been made a member of the Masons while living in Canada{{cite book |last= Ellis |first=Edward Sylvester |date=1920 |title=Low Twelve: "By Their Deeds Ye Shall Know Them" |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5wOAAAAYAAJ&q=%22william+morgan%22+%22lodge%22+%22york%22+%22brewer%22&pg=PA234 |location=New York |publisher=Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co. |page=234}} and he appears to have briefly attended a lodge in Rochester.{{cite book |last= Bentley |first= A. P.|date=1874 |title=History of the Abduction of William Morgan |url=https://archive.org/details/historyabductio00bentgoog |location=Mt. Pleasant, IA |publisher=Van Cise & Throop}}{{rp|9}} In 1825, Morgan received the Royal Arch degree at Le Roy's Western Star Chapter #33, having declared under oath that he had previously received the six degrees which preceded it.{{cite book |last=Tillotson |first=Lee S. |date=1920 |title=Ancient Craft Masonry in Vermont |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientcraftmas00tillgoog |quote=rochester. |location=Montpelier, VT |publisher=Capital City Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientcraftmas00tillgoog/page/n85 79]}}{{cite book |last=Morris |first=Robert |date=1884 |title=William Morgan, Or, Political Anti-Masonry: Its Rise, Growth and Decadence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fZNAAQAAMAAJ&q=york&pg=PA132 |location=New York |publisher=Robert Macoy, Masonic Publisher |page=61 |ref={{sfnRef|Morris (1884)}}}} Whether he actually received these degrees and if so from where has not been determined for certain.{{rp|9}}

Morgan then attempted unsuccessfully to help establish or visit lodges and chapters in Batavia, but was denied participation in Batavia's Masonic activities by members who were uncertain about Morgan's character and claims to Masonic membership.{{cite book |last=Ross |first=Peter |date=1899 |title=A Standard History of Freemasonry in the State of New York, Volume 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-GciAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA310 |location=New York |publisher=Lewis Publishing Company |page=310}} Angered by the rejection, Morgan announced that he was going to publish an exposé titled Illustrations of Masonry,{{Citation | last=Morgan | first=William | title=Illustrations of Masonry by One of the Fraternity Who has Devoted Thirty Years to the Subject: "God said, Let There be Light, and There was light" | publisher=David C. Miller | place=Batavia, NY| year=1827 | url=http://utlm.org/onlinebooks/captmorgansfreemasonrycontents.htm}} critical of the Freemasons and describing their secret degree ceremonies in detail.{{cite book |last= Stokes |first=Jerry |date=2007 |title=Changing World Religions, Cults & Occult |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DTPJpanTizwC&pg=PA285 |location=Menlo Park, CA |publisher=(self-published) |page=285}}

When his intentions became known to the Batavia lodge, an attempt was made to burn down the business of the printer who planned to publish Morgan's book.Jasper Ridley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5VItAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT208 The Freemasons: A History of the World's Most Powerful Secret Society], 2013, unknown page number In September 1826, Morgan was arrested on flimsy allegations of failing to repay a loan and theft of a shirt and tie in an effort to prevent publication of his book by keeping him in jail.{{sfn|Morris (1884)|page=106}} The individual who intended to publish Morgan's book paid his bail and he was released from custody.{{sfn|Morris (1884)|page=106}} Shortly afterwards, Morgan disappeared.{{cite book |title=History of Rochester and Monroe county, New York |last=Peck |first=William F. |year=1908 |publisher=The Pioneer publishing company |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_IvssAAAAYAAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_IvssAAAAYAAJ/page/n63 63] |access-date=2009-05-02}}

Some skeptics argued that Morgan had left the Batavia area on his own, either because he had been paid not to publish his book, or to escape Masonic retaliation for attempting to publish the book, or to generate publicity that would boost the book's sales.[http://www.skepdic.com/freemasons.html The Skeptic's Dictionary: Freemasons], retrieved September 9, 2014 The generally believed version of events was that Masons killed Morgan by drowning him in the Niagara River.{{cite book |last= Pool |first= William |date= 1897 |title= Landmarks of Niagara County, New York |url= https://archive.org/details/landmarksofniaga00pool |publisher= D. Mason & Company |page= [https://archive.org/details/landmarksofniaga00pool/page/69 69]}}{{cite book |last= Cornog |first= Evan |date= 1998 |title= The Birth of Empire : DeWitt Clinton and the American Experience, 1769–1828 |url= https://archive.org/details/birthofempiredew00corn |url-access= registration |publisher= Oxford University Press |page= [https://archive.org/details/birthofempiredew00corn/page/167 167]|isbn= 978-0195353204 }} Whether he fled or was murdered, Morgan's disappearance led many to believe that Freemasonry was in conflict with good citizenship.Josephus Nelson Larned, [https://books.google.com/books?id=fTcFAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA374 The New Larned History for Ready Reference, Reading and Research], Volume 1, 1922, p. 374

Because judges, businessmen, bankers and politicians were often Masons, ordinary citizens began to think of it as an elitist group.Chip Berlet, Matthew Nemiroff Lyons, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Md1aRhWNk1QC&pg=PA38 Right-wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort], 2000, p. 38 Moreover, many claimed that the lodges' secret oaths bound Masons to favor each other against outsiders in the courts and elsewhere.Sydney Nathans, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iPg6AAAAIAAJ&q=outsiders Daniel Webster and Jacksonian Democracy], 1973, p. 88

Because some trials of alleged Morgan conspirators were mishandled and the Masons resisted further inquiries, many New Yorkers concluded that Masons controlled key offices and used their official authority to promote the goals of the fraternity by ensuring that Morgan's supposed killers escaped punishment.Henry Dana Ward, [https://books.google.com/books?id=oARAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA290 The Anti-Masonic Review], Volume 1, 1828, p. 290 When a member sought to reveal its secrets, so ran the conclusion, the Freemasons had done away with him. Because they controlled the courts and other offices, they were considered capable of obstructing the investigation. True Americans, they said, had to organize and defeat this conspiracy. If good government was to be restored "all Masons must be purged from public office".Rayback 1959, pp. 18–19

= Party foundation =

File:Thurlow Weed - Brady-Handy.jpg, newspaper editor who helped form the Anti-Masonic Party]]

The Anti-Masonic Party was formed in Upstate New York in February 1828.William Preston Vaughn, The Antimasonic Party in the United States, 1826–1843 (1983) pp. 21–34. Anti-Masons were opponents of Freemasonry, believing that it was a corrupt and elitist secret society which was ruling much of the country in defiance of republican principles.{{cite book |author=Massachusetts Antimasonic Republican Convention |date=1834 |title=Antimasonic Republican Convention, for Massachusetts, Held at Boston, Sept. 10 and 11, 1834 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UJnOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA35 |location=Boston |publisher=Leonard W. Kimball |pages=34–35 |via=Google Books}} Many people regarded the Masonic organization and its adherents involved in government as corrupt.Ronald P. Formisano, and Kathleen Smith Kutolowski, "Antimasonry and Masonry: The Genesis of Protest, 1826–1827." American Quarterly 29#2 (1977): 139–165

Opposition to Masonry was taken up by some evangelical Protestant churches as a religious cause, particularly in the Burned-over district of upstate New York.David G. Hackett, [https://books.google.com/books?id=1-CHAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 That Religion in Which All Men Agree: Freemasonry in American Culture], 2014, p. 118 Many churches passed resolutions condemning ministers and lay leaders who were Masons and several denominations condemned Freemasonry, including the Presbyterian, Congregational, Methodist and Baptist churches.{{cite journal |last=McKinley |first=Erik |date=March 1, 1921 |title=The Anti-Masonic Party |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dHA4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA72 |journal=The Builder: A Journal for the Masonic Student |volume=7 |location=Anamosa Iowa |publisher=National Masonic Research Society |page=72}}

File:Solomon Southwick.jpg, newspaper publisher and 1828 Anti-Masonic candidate for Governor of New York]]

Anti-Masonry became a political issue in Western New York, where early in 1827 many mass meetings resolved not to support Masons for public office.Michael Kazin, Rebecca Edwards, Adam Rothman, editors, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4hqpJEJp7cUC&pg=PA39 The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History], Volume 1, 2010, p. 39 In New York, the supporters of President John Quincy Adams, called "Adams men", or Anti-Jacksonians, or National Republicans, were a feeble organization. Adams supporters used the strong anti-Masonic feeling to create a new party in opposition to the rising Jacksonian Democracy nationally and the Albany Regency political organization of Martin Van Buren in New York.Anne-Marie Taylor, [https://books.google.com/books?id=an2KtqVlwlsC&pg=PA40 Young Charles Sumner and the Legacy of the American Enlightenment, 1811–1851], 2001, p. 40 In this effort, they were aided by the fact that Andrew Jackson was a high-ranking Mason and frequently spoke in praise of the organization.{{Cite journal |last=Neeley |first=Philip P. |date=1846 |title=Masonic Tribute to the Late General Andrew Jackson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cPwqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA83 |journal=The Freemason's Monthly Magazine |volume=5 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Tuttle & Dennett |page=83}} The alleged remark of Anti-Masonic organizer Thurlow Weed (which Weed denied), that an unidentified corpse found in the Niagara River was "a good enough Morgan" until after the 1828 elections, summarized the value of the Morgan disappearance for the opponents of Jackson.{{cite journal |last=Weed |first=Thurlow |date=1877 |title=A Good Enough Morgan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZE7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA51 |journal=Selections from the Newspaper Articles of Thurlow Weed |location=Albany, NY |publisher=Weed, Parsons and Company |pages=51–61}}

= Political rise =

In the elections of 1828, the new party proved unexpectedly strong.{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Anti-Masonic Party|volume=2|page=127}} Though its candidate for governor of New York, Solomon Southwick, was defeated, the Anti-Masonic Party became the main opposition party to the Jacksonian Democrats in New York.Mark Stein, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4dJXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA45 American Panic: A History of Who Scares Us and Why], 2014, p. 45 In 1829, it broadened its issues base when it became a champion of internal improvements and the protective tariff.Edward S. Mihalkanin, editor, [https://books.google.com/books?id=c_ORomNygLcC&pg=PA451 American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell], 2004, p. 451

Anti-Masonic Party members expanded the use of party-affiliated newspapers for political organizing by publishing over 100, including Southwick's National Observer and Weed's Anti-Masonic Enquirer.{{rp|34–35}} By 1829, Weed's Albany Journal had become the preeminent Anti-Masonic paper and it later became the leading Whig newspaper.Jeffrey D. Schultz, John G. West, Iain S. MacLean, editors, [https://books.google.com/books?id=dy1MNv8ou-0C&pg=PA18 Encyclopedia of Religion in American Politics], 1999, p. 18Charles Elliott Fitch [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediabio00fitcgoog/page/n564 Encyclopedia of Biography of New York], Volume 1, 1916, p. 318Benson John Lossing, [https://archive.org/details/empirestateacom01lossgoog/page/n471 The Empire State: A Compendious History of the Commonwealth of New York], 1888, p. 447 The newspapers of the time reveled in partisanship and one brief paragraph in an Albany Journal article opposing Martin Van Buren included the words "dangerous", "demagogue", "corrupt", "degrade", "pervert", "prostitute", "debauch" and "cursed".John G. Gasaway, [https://books.google.com/books?id=AjByAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Albany+Evening+Journal%22+%22martin+Van+Buren%22+corrupt Tippecanoe and the Party Press Too: Mass Communication, Politics, Culture, and the Fabled Presidential Election of 1840], 1999, p. 228

= Conventions and elections =

A national Anti-Masonic organization was planned as early as 1827, when the New York leaders attempted unsuccessfully to persuade Henry Clay to renounce his Masonic membership and head the movement.

By 1830, the Anti-Masonic movement's effort to broaden its appeal enabled it to spread to neighboring states, becoming especially strong in Pennsylvania and Vermont. In 1831, William A. Palmer was elected governor of Vermont on an Anti-Masonic ticket, an office he held until 1835.{{cite book |last= Wells |first= Frederic Palmer |date= 1902 |title=History of Newbury, Vermont |url= https://archive.org/details/historynewburyv00wellgoog |quote= william a palmer governor vermont anti-masonic. |publisher= The Caledonian Company |page= [https://archive.org/details/historynewburyv00wellgoog/page/n439 340] |access-date= September 19, 2014}} Palmer's brother-in-law Augustine Clarke was an Anti-Masonic presidential elector in 1832, served as Vermont state treasurer from 1833 to 1837 and was appointed to the Anti-Masonic National Committee in 1837.{{cite book |last= Bouton |first= Nathaniel |author-link=Nathaniel Bouton |date= 1856 |title= The History of Concord, Vermont |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=23owAQAAMAAJ&q=%22augustine+clark%22+%22william+a+palmer%22&pg=PA697 |publisher= McFarland & Jenks |page= 697 |isbn= 978-0608438405 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}{{cite news |first= William Ogden |last= Niles |title= National Antimasonic Convention |work= Niles' National Register |volume=53 |page= 68 |date= September 30, 1837 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6PAaAAAAYAAJ&q=%22augustine+clark%22+anti-masonic+committee&pg=PA68}}{{cite book |last= Hemenway|first= Abby Maria |date= 1882 |title= The History of the Town of Montpelier, Including that of the Town of East Montpelier |url= https://archive.org/details/historytownmont00waltgoog |quote= augustine clark treasurer.|publisher= A. M. Hemenway |page= [https://archive.org/details/historytownmont00waltgoog/page/n41 273] |access-date= September 19, 2014}} Other Vermont Anti-Masonic electors in 1832 included former governor Ezra Butler and former United States representative William Strong.{{cite book |last= Vermont Secretary of State|date= 1902 |title= Vermont Legislative Directory |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wCY0AQAAMAAJ&q=vermont+electors+1832+clarke+butler+strong&pg=PA199 |publisher= Vermont Watchman Co. |page= 199 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}

The highest elected office held by a member of the Anti-Masonic Party was governor. Besides Palmer in Vermont, Joseph Ritner was the governor of Pennsylvania from 1835 to 1839.{{cite book |last= Pennsylvania Bureau of Statistics |date= 1875 |title= Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Pennsylvania, Volume 2|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CnYpAAAAYAAJ&q=%22joseph+ritner%22+governor+anti-mason+1835+1839&pg=PA17 |publisher= B. F. Meyers, State Printer |page= 17 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}

In addition to Palmer and Ritner, Silas H. Jennison, an Anti-Mason, was elected Lieutenant Governor of Vermont with Whig support in 1835. No candidate, including Palmer, received a majority of votes for governor as required by the Vermont Constitution. The contest then moved to the Vermont General Assembly, which could not choose a winner. The General Assembly then opted to allow Jennison to act as governor until the next election. He won election as governor in his own right as a Whig in 1836 and served from 1836 to 1841.{{cite book |last= Duffy |first= John J. |date= 2003 |title= The Vermont Encyclopedia |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uTBCXqOou0YC&q=%22silas+h.+jennison%22&pg=PA171 |publisher= University of Vermont Press |page= 171 |access-date= September 19, 2014|display-authors=etal|isbn= 978-1584650867 }}

File:William Wirt by Henry Inman (frameless).jpg William Wirt won Vermont's Electoral College votes in the 1832 presidential election for the Anti-Masonic Party]]

Though the Anti-Masonic Party elected no senators and controlled no houses of a state legislature, Anti-Masons in state legislatures sometimes formed coalitions to elect senators and organize their chambers. Examples include: William Wilkins, elected to the Senate in 1830 by a coalition of Democrats and Anti-Masons in the Pennsylvania General Assembly;{{cite book |author= Polk, James K. |editor= Cutler, Wayne |date= 1996 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wxmLh0gDfSoC&q=%22william+wilkins%22+%22anti-mason%22+senator+1830&pg=PA39 |title= Correspondence of James K. Polk: Volume IX, January–June 1845 |publisher= University of Tennessee Press |page= 39 |access-date= September 21, 2014|isbn= 978-0870499470 }}{{cite book |date= 1956 |title= A History of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7Jq11dtTA2oC&q=%22william+wilkins%22+%22anti-mason%22+senator&pg=PA508 |publisher= U.S. Government Printing Office |page= 508 |access-date= September 21, 2014|isbn= 978-0160845789 }} and William Sprague, elected speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives in 1831 by a coalition of Democrats and Anti-Masons.{{cite book |last= American Historical Association |date= 1903 |title= Annual Report, Volume I |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=C_hGAQAAIAAJ&q=%22william+sprague%22+%22rhode+island%22+speaker+%22anti-masonic%22&pg=PA551 |publisher= U.S. Government Printing Office |page= 551 |access-date= September 21, 2014}}

File:Amos Ellmaker.jpg, 1832 Anti-Masonic candidate for Vice President]]

The Anti-Masonic Party conducted the first presidential nominating convention in the United States history for the 1832 elections, nominating William Wirt (a former Mason) for president and Amos Ellmaker for vice president in Baltimore. Wirt won 7.8 percent of the popular vote and the seven electoral votes of Vermont.{{cite book |last= Haynes |first= Stan M. |date= 2012 |title= The First American Political Conventions: Transforming Presidential Nominations, 1832–1872 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mSud-fdhUnkC&q=wirt+ellmaker+anti-masonic+1832+vermont&pg=PA27 |publisher= McFarland & Company, Inc. |page= 27 |access-date= September 19, 2014|isbn= 978-0786490301 }} Soon the Democrats and Whigs recognized the convention's value in managing parties and campaigns and began to hold their own.{{cite book |last= Goldwag |first= Arthur |date= 2012 |title= The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VlMuXEWD8hoC&q=%22Anti-Masonic%22+innovations+conventions+newspapers&pg=PA172 |page= 172 |publisher= Knopf Doubleday Publishing |access-date= September 19, 2014|isbn= 978-0307742513 }}

Following Ritner's election in 1835, a state convention was held in Harrisburg on December 14–17, 1835 to choose presidential electors for the 1836 election.{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=432554 |title=PA US President – AM Convention Race – Dec 14, 1835 |publisher=Our Campaigns |date=2008-03-27 |access-date=2014-02-21}} The convention nominated William Henry Harrison for president and Francis Granger for vice president.{{cite news |date=December 22, 1835 |title=Harrisburg Conventions |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98863712/harrisburg-comventions/ |work=Richmond Enquirer |location=Richmond, VA |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}} The Vermont state Anti-Masonic convention followed suit on February 24, 1836.{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=432869 |title=VT US President – AM Convention Race – Feb 24, 1836 |publisher=Our Campaigns |date=2008-03-27 |access-date=2014-02-21}} Anti-Masonic leaders were unable to obtain assurance from Harrison that he was not a Mason, so they called a national convention. The second national Anti-Masonic nominating convention was held in Philadelphia on May 4, 1836.{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=157642 |title=US President – AM Convention Race – May 04, 1836 |publisher=Our Campaigns |date=2008-03-27 |access-date=2014-02-21}} The meeting was divisive, but a majority of the delegates officially stated that the party was not sponsoring a national ticket for the presidential election of 1836 and proposed a meeting in 1837 to discuss the future of the party.{{cite book |last= Trefousse |first= Hans Louis |date= 1997 |title= Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth-century Egalitarian |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OKq8EaomNzkC&q=%22anti-masonic%22+philadelphia+1836+convention&pg=PA45 |publisher= University of North Carolina Press |page= 45 |access-date= September 19, 2014|isbn= 978-0807823354 }}

Although Harrison lost the election to Democratic candidate Martin Van Buren in 1836, his strength throughout the North was hailed by Anti-Masonic leaders because the Anti-Masonic Party was the first to officially place his name in contention.{{cite book |last= Mueller |first= Richard Mueller |date= 1922 |title= The Whig Party in Pennsylvania |url= https://archive.org/details/whigpartyinpenn00muelgoog |quote= anti-masonic harrison 1836. |publisher= Columbia University |page= [https://archive.org/details/whigpartyinpenn00muelgoog/page/n288 276] |access-date= September 19, 2014}} By the mid-1830s, other Anti-Jacksonians had coalesced into the Whig Party, which had a broader issue base than the Anti-Masons. By the late 1830s, many of the Anti-Masonic movement's members were moving to the Whigs, regarding that party as a better alternative to the Jacksonians, by then called Democrats.{{cite book |last= Adams |first= Sean Patrick |date= 2013 |title= A Companion to the Era of Andrew Jackson |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=dPYFIb5hOHsC&q=%22anti-masons%22+join+whig+party&pg=PA343 |publisher= Blackwell Publishing |page= 343 |isbn= 978-1118290828 |access-date= September 19, 2014}} The Anti-Masonic Party held a conference in September 1837 to discuss its situation—one delegate was former president John Quincy Adams.{{cite book |editor-last= Haywood |editor-first= H. L. |date= 1921 |title= The Builder: A Journal for the Masonic Student |volume=7 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=dHA4AQAAMAAJ&q=%22anti-masonic+party%22+philadelphia+september+1837&pg=PA77 |publisher= National Masonic Research Society |page= 77 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}

The Anti-Masonic Party held a third national nominating convention at Temperance Hall in Philadelphia on November 13–14, 1838.{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=432897 |title=US President – AM Convention Race – Nov 13, 1838 |publisher=Our Campaigns |date=2009-05-23 |access-date=2014-02-21}} By this time, the party had been almost entirely supplanted by the Whigs. The Anti-Masons unanimously endorsed William Henry Harrison for president and Daniel Webster for vice president in the 1840 election. When the Whig National Convention nominated Harrison with John Tyler as his running mate, the Anti-Masonic Party did not make an alternate nomination and ceased to function, with most adherents being fully absorbed into the Whigs by 1840.{{cite book |last= Remini |first= Robert Vincent |date= 1991 |title= Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=f9Hb6i90_mAC&q=%22anti-masonic+party%22+1839+webster&pg=PA528 |publisher= W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. |page= 528 |isbn= 978-0393310887 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}{{cite book |last= McLaughlin |first= Andrew Cunningham |date= 1914 |title= Cyclopedia of American Government, Volume 1 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vvYUAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Anti-Masonic%22+%22william+wirt%22+speech+defending+freemasons&pg=PA49 |publisher= D. Appleton and Company |page= 49 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}

Legacy

File:Jonathan Blanchard.png, 1884 presidential candidate of the Anti-Masonic Party's second incarnation]]

Anti-Masonry was deeply committed to conspiracy theories, primarily the claim that Masonic elites were trying to secretly control the government.{{cite magazine |last=Cheathem |first=Mark R. |date=April 11, 2019 |title=Conspiracy Theories Abounded in 19th-Century American Politics |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/conspiracy-theories-abounded-19th-century-american-politics-180971940/ |magazine=Smithsonian |location=Washington, DC |publisher= Smithsonian Institution}} As people became more mobile economically during the Industrial Revolution and began to move west when new states were populated by white settlers and added to the Union, the growth of the Anti-Masonic movement was caused by the political and social unrest resulting from the weakening of longstanding family and community ties.{{cite book |last=Keller |first=Morton |date=2007 |title=America's Three Regimes: A New Political History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uNjQCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=77 |isbn=978-0-19-532502-7}} With Freemasonry one of the few institutions that remained stable during this time of change, it became a natural target for protesters.{{cite book |last=Lipson |first=Dorothy Ann |date=1977 |title=Freemasonry in Federalist Connecticut, 1789–1835 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1oV9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |location=Princeton, NJ |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=9|isbn=978-1400870080 }} As a result, the Morgan Affair became the highly visible catalyst that turned a popular movement into a political party.Vaughn, The Anti-Masonic Party in the United States: 1826–1843 pp. 21–34.

Under the banner of Anti-Masons, able leaders united Anti-Jacksonians and others who were discontented with existing political conditions.{{cite book |last= Scarry |first= Robert J. |date= 2001 |title= Millard Fillmore |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=IDr_W-wch94C&q=%22Anti-Masonic%22+morgan+catalyst&pg=PA34 |publisher= McFarland & Company, Inc. |page= 34 |isbn= 978-0786450763 |access-date= September 19, 2014}} The fact that William Wirt, their choice for the presidency in 1832, not only was a former Mason, but also defended Freemasonry in a speech before the convention that nominated him indicates that opposition to Masonry was not the Anti-Masonic movement's sole issue.

The Anti-Masonic movement gave rise to or expanded the use of many innovations which became accepted practice among other parties, including nominating conventions and party newspapers. In addition, the Anti-Masons aided in the rise of the Whig Party as the major alternative to the Democrats, with Anti-Masonic positions on issues including internal improvements and tariffs being adopted by the Whigs.{{cite book |editor-last= Mihalkanin |editor-first= Edward S. |date= 2004 |title= American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=c_ORomNygLcC&q=%22Anti-Masonic%22+%22whig%22+internal+improvement+tariff&pg=PA451 |publisher= Greenwood Press |page= 451 |isbn= 978-0313308284 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}

Second Anti-Masonic Party

A later political organization called the Anti-Masonic Party was active from 1872 until 1888. This second group had a more religious basis for its anti-Masonry and was closely associated with Jonathan Blanchard of Wheaton College.{{cite book |last= Volo |first= James M. |date= 2012 |title= The Boston Tea Party: The Foundations of Revolution |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=403f4VrQwvYC&q=%22jonathan+blanchard%22+%22wheaton+college%22+%22Anti-Masonic%22&pg=PA21 |publisher= ABC-CLIO, LLC |page= 21 |isbn= 978-0313398759 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}

Members of Congress

File:Grattan H. Wheeler, Sr.jpg, Anti-Masonic congressman from New York]]

The Anti-Masons did not elect anyone to the Senate, but elected several members of the House of Representatives.Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, [http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch1.asp List of Anti-Masonic Party Members of Congress]. Retrieved June 17, 2014.

; Massachusetts

; New York

; Ohio

; Pennsylvania

; Rhode Island

; Vermont

Notable office holders and candidates

{{main|Category:Anti-Masonic Party politicians}}

File:Unidentified Artist - Millard Fillmore - Google Art Project.jpg Millard Fillmore's political career began as an Anti-Masonic member of the New York State Assembly in 1829]]

Electoral history

= Presidential elections =

class="sortable wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!Election

!Candidate

!Running mate

!Votes

!Vote %

!Electoral votes

!+/-

!Outcome of election

1832

|94x94px
William Wirt

|80px
Amos Ellmaker

|align="center"|100,715

|align="center"|7.8

|align="left"|{{composition bar|7|286|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|align="left"|New

|align="left"|Lost

1836{{efn|group="Presidential elections table"|Endorsed William H. Harrison for President and Francis Granger for Vice President.}}

|align="center" colspan=7|Not presented

1840{{efn|group="Presidential elections table"|Initially endorsed Harrison for President and Daniel Webster for Vice President, it fully merged into the Whig Party following the election.}}

|align="center" colspan=7|Not presented

1880

|80px
John W. Phelps

|80px
Samuel C. Pomeroy

|align="center"|1,045

|align="center"|nil

|align="left"|{{composition bar|0|369|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|align="left"|{{steady}}0

|align="left"|Lost

{{notelist|group="Presidential elections table"}}

= Congressional elections =

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

class=wikitable

|+United States
House of Representatives

Election year

!No. of
overall seats won

!+/–

!House Speaker

{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}

!1828

|{{composition bar|5|213|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|New

|rowspan=3 {{Party shading/Jacksonian}}|Andrew Stevenson

{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}

!1830

|{{composition bar|17|213|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|{{increase}} 12

{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}

!1832

|{{composition bar|25|240|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|{{increase}} 8

{{Party shading/Democratic}}

!1834

|{{composition bar|16|242|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|{{decrease}} 9

|rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Democratic}}|James K. Polk

{{Party shading/Democratic}}

!1836

|{{composition bar|7|242|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|{{decrease}} 9

{{Party shading/Democratic}}

!1838

|{{composition bar|6|242|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|{{decrease}} 1

|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|John W. Jones

{{col-2}}

class=wikitable

|+United States
Senate

Election year

!No. of
overall seats won

!+/–

!Senate President

{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}

!1828/1829

|{{composition bar|0|48|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|New

|rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Jacksonian}}|John C. Calhoun

{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}

!1830/1831

|{{composition bar|0|48|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|{{steady}} 0

{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}

!1832/1833

|{{composition bar|0|48|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|{{steady}} 0

|{{Party shading/Independent}}|Vacant{{efn|group="Congressional elections table"|Office left vacant when Calhoun resigned to become Senator on December 28, 1832.}}

{{Party shading/Whig}}

!1834/1835

|{{composition bar|0|48|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|{{steady}} 0

|rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Democratic}}|Martin Van Buren

{{Party shading/Democratic}}

!1836/1837

|{{composition bar|0|52|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|{{steady}} 0

{{Party shading/Democratic}}

!1838/1839

|{{composition bar|0|52|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}

|{{steady}} 0

|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|Richard M. Johnson

{{col-end}}

{{notelist|group="Congressional elections table"}}

References

{{reflist|30em}}

Sources and further reading

  • Bemis, Samuel Flagg. John Quincy Adams and the union (1956) vol 2 pp 273–304.
  • {{cite book| last = Brodie| first = Fawn| author-link = Fawn Brodie| year = 1966| edition = Norton Library| orig-year = 1959| title = Thaddeus Stevens: Scourge of the South| publisher = W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.| location = New York| isbn = 0-393-00331-0 }}
  • {{cite book|last1=Cooper|first1=William J.|title=The Lost Founding Father: John Quincy Adams and the Transformation of American Politics|date=2017|publisher=Liveright Publishing|isbn=978-1631493898}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Formisano|first1=Ronald P.|year=2008|title=For the People: American Populist Movements from the Revolution to the 1850s|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill|isbn=978-0-8078-3172-4}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Formisano |first1=Ronald P. |last2=Kutolowski |first2=Kathleen Smith |date=1977 |title=Antimasonry and Masonry: The Genesis of Protest, 1826–1827 |jstor=2712356 |journal=American Quarterly |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=139–165 |doi=10.2307/2712356 }}
  • Goodman, Paul. Towards a Christian republic: Antimasonry and the great transition in New England 1826–1836 (Oxford University Press, 1988).
  • Holt, Michael F. "The Antimasonic and Know Nothing Parties," in History of U.S. Political Parties, ed. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (4 vols., New York, 1973), vol I, 575–620.
  • {{citation|last=Jamele|first=John F.|title=The Antimasonic Party in Massachusetts, 1826–1835|year=1991|location=College Park, MD |publisher=University of Maryland Library|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CNuHtgAACAAJ}}.
  • {{citation|last=McCarthy|first=Charles|title=The Antimasonic Party: A Study of Political Antimasonry in the United States, 1827–1840 |year=1903|location=Washington|publisher=Government Printing Office|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QapJAAAAMAAJ}}, reprinted from {{citation|title=Annual Report of the American Historical Association|year=1902|volume=1|pages=365–574}}.
  • {{citation|last=Nathans |first=Sydney |title=Daniel Webster and Jacksonian Democracy |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-8018-1246-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPg6AAAAIAAJ |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore, MD}}.
  • Ratcliffe, Donald J. "Antimasonry and Partisanship in Greater New England, 1826–1836." Journal of the Early Republic 15.2 (1995): 199–239.
  • Rayback, Robert J. Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President. Buffalo Historical Society. 1959. [https://archive.org/details/millardfillmoreb006143mbp online]
  • Rupp, Robert O. "Parties and the public good: political Antimasonry in New York reconsidered." Journal of the Early Republic 8.3 (1988): 253–279. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3123690 online]
  • Shade, William. "Review: The Elder Goodman's 'Light on Antimasonry'?" Reviews in American History (1989) 17#1 pp. 58–63 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2703127 in jstor];
  • {{cite book |last1=Stahr |first1=Walter |title=Seward : Lincoln's indispensable man |date=2012 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4391-2118-4}}
  • Trefousse, Hans L. Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth-Century Egalitarian. University of North Carolina Press. 1997.
  • Vaughn, William Preston (1983) The Antimasonic Party in the United States, 1826–1843. University Press of Kentucky. {{ISBN|0-8131-1474-8}}, the standard history.
  • Van Deusen, Glyndon G. Thurlow Weed, Wizard of the Lobby (1947) [https://archive.org/details/thurlowweedwizar00vand online].

{{United States political parties}}

{{Conspiracy theories}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Anti-Masonry in the United States

Category:Freemasonry in the United States

Category:Defunct political parties in the United States

Category:Political parties established in 1828

Category:Political parties disestablished in 1838

Category:Second Party System

Category:1828 establishments in the United States

Category:1838 disestablishments in the United States

Category:Protestant political parties

Category:Right-wing populism in the United States