February - Scottish Rite

United
By MARK A. TABBERT, 33°
American
Mechanics
Two fraternities, one origin
One might see a symbol depicting
an arm and hammer located
within the square and compasses
and naturally assume it to be
Masonic in some way. In fact it is not.
Instead the symbol is the emblem of
the Junior Order United American Mechanics
(JrOUAM), one of the largest
fraternal organizations in American history
and one of two similarly named
orders.
Although it has Masonic connections,
it began as an offshoot of a parent organization
called the Order of United
American Mechanics.
The older group was founded in 1845
in Philadelphia. During that period
America experienced its first mass European
immigration.
Overpopulation, the potato famine,
and political and religious upheavals
caused many Europeans — especially
Irish and Germans — to immigrate to
America.
White native-born Americans, especially
Protestants, resented these immigrants
seeking work, starting businesses
and establishing Catholic
churches.
The men who founded the original
Mechanics, four of whom were Freemasons,
determined to create an organization
with patriotic, fraternal and
benevolent purposes.
Yet, the Mechanics also actively
worked to restrict immigration and encouraged
hiring and trading with only
native-born Americans.
Chart of the
Order of United
American
Mechanics,
1870.
Strobridge
and Company,
Cincinnati, OH.
They also resisted what they believed
to be the threat of the growing Catholic
Church.
Membership, therefore, was restricted
to white, Protestant, nativeborn,
adult men.
Despite the name, membership was
not restricted to “mechanics;” rather
there was a preference for tradesmen,
machinists, artisans, farmers and other
skilled and professional men who felt
most threatened by immigration.
The Mechanics organization grew
rapidly after its founding, spreading to
Delaware, New Jersey, New York and
later across the nation.
MARK A. TABBERT, 33°, is the director of collections at the George Washington
Masonic National Memorial and author of American Freemasons.
Part of its success was attributed to its
political agenda, but it was also helped
by a national re-birth of fraternal orders
following the anti-Masonic period of
the 1820s and 30s.
Other “nativist” organizations followed
the Mechanics, such as Sons of
America, the Brotherhood of the Union,
and the Order of the Star Spangled Banner.
By the beginning of the Civil War in
1861, Freemasonry had surpassed its
membership levels of the 1820s, the
Odd Fellows had over 300,000 members,
while the Mechanics claimed over
100,000 members.
In the midst of this growth, the Junior
Order of the Mechanics was
founded in 1853.
8 THE NORTHERN LIGHT / FEBRUARY 2007