Freemason Research Paper

Trey Klinger

Mrs. Doak

English III Level II

5 December 2016

What Is Freemasonry?

The origins of Freemasonry date all the way back to the Middle Ages. Although nobody knows for sure when the fraternity of Freemasonry began, a widely accepted theory among Masonic scholars and historians is that the Masonic society was formed by a group of stone masons who built cathedrals and castles during the Middle Ages, many of these architectural works still exist to this day. The language and symbols used in Masonic rituals come from this era, and thus back up the theory that Middle Age stone masons created the now international fraternity. In the 1700s Masonic lodges were being built in England, and afterwards records from that point in Freemason history

Within the fraternity, improvement is brought on by the principles and rituals of the Masonic Order. The Masonic Order is open to men of any race or religion. Freemasonry brings men of many religions together and they are expected to continue to follow their own faith. They show respect and tolerance for the differing opinions with kind and understanding outlooks. Freemasons strive to care for each other, as well as the community as a whole, both by charitable donations, and by voluntary work as a group, and as individuals. Freemasonry requires good moral values, while working to achieve them in individual lives of all their members. Freemasons belief states that these ideals characterize a way of achieving higher standards in life. The main purpose of Freemasonry is to aid each member in becoming a better person. The fraternity does not seek to take in bad people and make them good, but rather to take in good people and make them better. Freemasonry emphasizes the individual by reinforcing one’s character, improving moral behaviors, and broadening intellectual horizons in the fraternity’s endless quest for knowledge and a better understanding of the world in which they are working to

Within the young nation of America, Freemasonry had thrived in the original thirteen colonies. Not only had thirteen of the thirty-nine signers of the Constitution been Freemasons, but fourteen U.S. Presidents were also Freemasons. Beginning with George Washington, James Monroe, and William McKinley who were all members of the Masonic fraternity. Freemasons believe that these well-known early Americans’ actions were influenced by Masonic teachings. The emerging American values and the Masonic society had many common ideals, contributing to Freemasonry’s successful existence in American society. For example, it is believed that the Boston Masonic Lodge served as the preparation room for the colonists who executed the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party involved about sixty men, many of which were suspected to be members of a Masonic lodge, who dumped 342 chests of tea into the bay while two thousand people stood on Griffin’s Wharf and watched. The colonists called themselves “Mohawks,” because they were dressed as the Native American tribe in which the name was taken from, to aid in concealing their identities while achieving this daring act of defiance against the oppressive British rule over the thirteen