This book weaves the story of Freemasonry into the narrative of American religious history. Coming to colonial America freighted with the mythical legacies of stonemasons’ guilds and the Newtonian revolution, English Freemasonry brought with it a vast array of cultural baggage that was drawn upon in different ways, added to, and transformed during the fraternity’s sojourn in American culture. This study argues that from the 1730s through the early twentieth century, the changing beliefs and initiatory practices of this all-male society were broadly appropriated by the religious worlds of an ev ... More

This book weaves the story of Freemasonry into the narrative of American religious history. Coming to colonial America freighted with the mythical legacies of stonemasons’ guilds and the Newtonian revolution, English Freemasonry brought with it a vast array of cultural baggage that was drawn upon in different ways, added to, and transformed during the fraternity’s sojourn in American culture. This study argues that from the 1730s through the early twentieth century, the changing beliefs and initiatory practices of this all-male society were broadly appropriated by the religious worlds of an evolving social order. For much of American history, Freemasonry provided a counter and complement to Protestant churches and a site for collective action among African Americans, Native Americans, Jews, and Catholics outside the European American Protestant mainstream. Moreover, to differing degrees and at different times, the cultural template of Freemasonry gave shape and content to the American “public sphere.” By expanding and complicating the terrain of American religious history to include a group not usually seen to be a carrier of religious beliefs and rituals, the intention of this book is to show how Freemasonry’s American history contributes to a broader understanding of the multiple influences that have shaped religion in American culture.