FREEMASONRY AND DEMOCRACY
Just prior to his death Allen E. Roberts completed Part I of his book
entitled "Freemasonry and Democracy. " Part II has been written by a Canadian
Mason, Wallace McLeod.
This digest traces the evolution of Democracy in both the United States
and Canada and will be available in June of 1997.
Freemasons played prominent roles in helping to form democratic
governments in both countries, a legacy of which every Freemason should be
proud!
This STB is a prelude to the digest and describes the events leading up to
the American Revolution which set in motion the chain of events leading to
Democracy! --Editor
Its Evolution in North America
What the world knows as "The Constitutional Convention" of the United States
had a long prelude. Much of this was tragic. It was made possible by events long
forgotten, if ever really considered. It took brave and unselfish men and women
to bring it to reality.
A national holiday commemorates the discovery in 1492 of a "new Land." What
isn't celebrated are the early attempts to colonize this new world. The first
known attempt was in 1585 when Sir Walter Raleigh founded a colony at Roanoke
Island. What happened to the settlers is still unknown.
In May 1607, 105 passengers of four ships from England landed at what became
known as "Jamestown" in a colony called "Virginia." These colonists were led by
Captain John Smith. Their luck proved better than their predecessors'. They
survived and prospered. So much so that on July 30,1619, representatives from
each of the eleven settlements met in the first representative assembly in the
new world. It adopted statutes based on English common law. Later in 1619 they
and their progeny celebrated a day of Thanksgiving at Berkeley Plantations along
the James River.
With this success another group of settlers set out from England for Virginia
in 1620. They missed their destination and landed in what became known as
"Plymouth" in what would become the colony of "Massachusetts."
For over 150 years these settlers continued their close ties with England.
They even adopted and followed laws they had considered repressive when they
fled their mother country. Actually, some of their leaders became even more
audacious than were those they had left behind. (This continues to the present
day!) Many more empathic leaders took those who would follow them to other areas
and formed new colonies. One of the most notable of these was Roger William's
who founded the colony of Rhode Island. This became the first colony to keep the
political forces in a state from determining which religion should be practiced.
Even as the thirteen original colonies came into being, England kept a firm
grip on them. The citizens of this new world appeared to be evenly divided in
their allegiance to the government overseas and to their leaders who were
advocating more freedom from England's rule. In spite of their feelings,
however, the colonists fought along side the British during the French and
Indian Wars.
It was during this period, 1670-1759, that Freemasonry seriously came to
North America. English, Irish and Scottish Military Lodges brought it with them.
Its concepts slowly caught on with the thinking men in the colonies. Its firm
belief in the brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God found fertile
ground in those who believed in the freedom of man. This would become evident
within the next several years. The philosophies of the various colonies and
their leadership became more varied as the years went by. In each of them there
was a faction that considered the acts of the King and Parliament in England
repressive. This group argued for independence; the other wanted things to
continue as they were.
This loyalty to England was particularly true of many in the New England
colonies. They had become an important and prosperous trading center. The ports
in New England thrived because all shipping had to be handled in English
vessels. In addition, the colonists were forbidden by England to do any
manufacturing. Raw goods had to be shipped to Britain for this purpose.
These restrictive acts were accepted, although in many cases, reluctantly, by
the colonies. But, England, deeply in debt, demanded more and more from the
struggling colonists. The restraints on manufacturing were tightened, and taxes
were increased. When a "Writ of Assistance" was enacted by Parliament in 1761,
rebellion was imminent. This writ gave the Crown the "right" to search any home
or business in the colonies.
James Otis, the General Advocate of Massachusetts, a member of St. John's
Lodge, refused to enforce the Writ. In Faneuil Hall in Boston, he encouraged the
colonists to "breast any storm of ministerial vengeance that their resistance
might cause." He concluded his five-hour speech by saying: "To my dying day will
I oppose with all the power and faculties God has given me, all such instruments
of slavery on the one hand, and villainy on the other." He then handed the
General Advocate his resignation.
British troops were sent to Massachusetts to enforce the taxes. Along with
them came a "Quartering Act," forcing the inhabitants to provide housing for the
soldiers. Then came the "Stamp Act" in 1765. This caused several
reactions. The group known as the "Sons Liberty" was born; many ladies in
Rhode Island determined to ignore the intentions of any man supporting the Stamp
Act; Virginia adopted the "Virginia Resolves."
The circulation of the "Resolves" brought mixed reactions. New Yorkers
considered them too treasonous to publish; New Englanders were pleasantly
surprised because they had considered Virginia the most loyal of the Loyalist
colonies.
Parliament quickly dissolved the Stamp Act, not because of sympathy for the
colonists, but because of the English merchants. Their business declined
drastically.
The King fired the Prime Minister, and through a series of events Charles
Townshend became the power in the government. The acts he forced into enactment
in 1767 enraged the colonists.
His action in forcing through these laws along with previous suppressive
acts, and others that would follow, would be vividly recalled twenty years later
in Philadelphia.
All the soldiers from Britain weren't advocates of the acts of their
politicians. In 1768 Dr. Joseph Warren, Master of St. Andrew's Lodge in Boston,
worked with three Military Lodges in the British forces to form a Grand Lodge
for the "Antients" in Massachusetts. Warren was appointed Provincial Grand
Master by the Grand Lodge of Scotland on May 30, 1769.
The Townshend Acts were partially abolished in 1770. The crisis was
diminished Then in June 1772 the British custom schooner Gaspee ran aground near
Providence. About 150 Rhode Islanders board her and burned her to the water
line. It would no longer interfere with the smuggling trade But taxes and
repression grew worse; among them was a three penny tax placed on tea by the
short-sighted Crown.
Tempers flared, especially in Boston. They reached a crescendo on the night
of December 16,1773. From the Green Dragon Tavern, home of St. Andrews Masonic
Lodge, and the Sons of Liberty, and other places, "Mohawk Indians" tramped. They
boarded the East India ships, tossing 342 chests overboard, turning the harbor
into a giant teapot.
(It has been highly publicized that the minutes of St. Andrew's Lodge ended
with a large 'T', and it didn't hold a meeting because not enough members were
present. Actually, the minutes ended with a scroll mark, in no way
distinguishable as any letter of a known alphabet.) The port of Boston was
closed by the British. The news of "the Boston Tea Party" and the repression by
England spread throughout the colonies. They began to train for war in earnest.
A group of volunteers called the "Minute Men" was born. Men were chosen to meet
in what would be called the "First Continental Congress."
This Congress began its meetings in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, with
Peyton Randolph, a Virginia Freemason, as its president. In England, Edmund
Burke, a Freemason, pleaded with the Parliament to stop its repressive taxation,
and work for a peaceful settlement. He was ignored.
Lord Dunsmore suspended the Virginia Assembly and it moved to Richmond where
it met in St. John's Church on March 23, 1775. There Patrick Henry (not a
Freemason) made his "give me liberty, or give me death" speech. A provincial
congress in Massachusetts adopted 53 articles of war on April 5,1775.
The British General Thomas Gage marched on Concord to destroy what his spies
informed him was a large store of military supplies. Bostonians were expecting
some such move. When it was made a signal was flashed from the Old North Church
by a Freemason. This sent Paul Revere, a member of St. Andrew's Lodge, and
others, to warn the citizens.
At dawn on April 19, 1775, the British force of 700 troops arrived at
Lexington where they found a band of militia blocking their passage. Someone
fired, but who is still unknown. Ten Minute Men were killed; the British marched
to Concord. War had begun.
Volunteers arrived in Boston to form a ring around the town. Ethan Allen and
Benedict Arnold, a Freemason, with a force of militia seized the British forts
at Ticonderoga and Crown Point.
The Second Continental Congress began meeting on May 10, 1775, in
Philadelphia. On July 15, George Washington, a Freemason from Virginia, was
elected Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Forces. Without question, he was
the logical man for the position. Events would prove this beyond a doubt. He
immediately left for Boston, where the Battle of Bunker Hill (really Breed's
Hill) was fought, and where Joseph Warren was killed fighting for the Patriots.
What happened next has been covered at length. But problems with the
Congresses had, and have, often been glossed over. The Articles of Confederation
proved ineffective. It was clear that these had to be revised if the United
States was to survive. Wisely, for a change, the Congress called for a
convention to propose necessary changes.
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