|
What's
Masonry?
Masonry (or Freemasonry) is the oldest fraternity in the world. No
one knows just how old it is because the actual origins have been
lost in time. Probably, it arose from the guilds of stonemasons who
built the castles and cathedrals of the Middle Ages. Possibly, they
were influenced by the Knights Templar, a group of Christian warrior
monks formed in 1118 to help protect pilgrims making trips to the
Holy Land.
In 1717,
Masonry created a formal organization in England when the first
Grand Lodge was formed. A Grand Lodge is the administrative body in
charge of Masonry in some geographical area. In the United States,
there is a Grand Lodge in each state. In Canada, there is a Grand
Lodge in each province. Local organizations of Masons are called
lodges. There are lodges in most towns, and large cities usually
have several. There are about 13,200 lodges in the United States.
If
Masonry started in Great Britain, how did it get to America?
In a time
when travel was by horseback and sailing ship, Masonry spread with
amazing speed. By 1731, when Benjamin Franklin joined the
fraternity, there were already several lodges in the Colonies, and
Masonry spread rapidly as America expanded west. In addition to
Franklin, many of the Founding Fathers -- men such as George
Washington, Paul Revere, Joseph Warren, and John Hancock -- were
Masons. Masons and Masonry played an important part in the
Revolutionary War and an even more important part in the
Constitutional Convention and the debates surrounding the
ratification of the Bill of Rights. Many of those debates were held
in Masonic lodges.
|
