The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

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Chapter 2 – Historical Background
the 56 signers belonged to the fraternity. This conjecture is not supported by Coil
in his Masonic encyclopedia. He lists only evidences that eight of the signers had
Masonic background, among them John Hancock. According to CME, the
investigation who were and who were not Freemasons among the signers of the
Declaration has been "the vehicle for much romance and imagination,
additionally invigorated by a mistaken notion that some extravagance was
permissible in projects to elevate the standing of the Fraternity." 189 Also,
Freemasons sometimes boast that Masons were crucial in the Boston Tea
Party. 190 This thesis is considered by Coil as absurd anyway, for, as Coil says,
"Freemasonry, as an institution, had absolutely nothing to do with the American
Revolution. [...] Writers, speakers and 'historians' have erroneously cast it in a
war-like role, perhaps in an attempt to add 'glamour' to the Craft." 191 It is false to
attribute political events to Freemasonry as a whole, although it cannot be
overlooked that certain individuals who took actively part in political decisions
were Freemasons. The most eminent of them in the U.S. certainly was George
Washington.
As to the political and social basis, in contrast to European Masonry, North
American Masonry neither had nor has problems with the government or with
the churches. The population accepts the fraternity as an important social factor
and has managed to integrate the whole family in Masonic or quasi-Masonic
feelings and activities.
It is difficult to delve much further into the realms of American
Masonry without discussing it in the context of the family. Probably one
of the first things that will become apparent to the overseas visitor is
that Freemasonry in the United States is not simply for the man alone,
but rather it involves the entire family. The male Freemason will be a
member of one or more Craft lodges. [...]. He will often be a member of
a number of additional degrees, as well.
For his wife, there are several 'Masonic' orders, such as the Order of
the Eastern Star, the Order of Amaranth, and others. For girls, there is
the Order of Job's Daughters, and the Order of the Rainbow. For boys
[...], there is the Order of DeMolay. These organisations for the Masonic
family are not Masonic as such: they contain no ritual or forms in any
way imitative of Freemasonry. However, in America, these bodies are
certainly associated or identified with Masonry. 192
The analyses of the rituals in Chapter 7. will show that "true" Freemasonry is
reserved for men. The women receive a kind of moral education with female
Biblical characters serving as examples, and are prepared for a harmonious
189 CME, p. 622.
190 Cf., for example, the proud account in Freemasonry in the American Revolution by Sidney Morse,
published in Little Masonic Library, vol. III, by Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., Inc.
191 CME, p. 39.
192 Henderson and Pope, vol. I, p. 68.