This is a study of the Antimasonry Party, but it is also a sweeping reinterpretation of America between 1820 and 1840 in social, political, cultural, and religious terms. The Order of the Masons became important in Europe and America in the wake of the American and French Revolutions. It was a cosmopolitan and tolerant Order that reflected the best aspects of the Enlightenment in many ways. But it was also a secret society, open only to men, that stressed sociability and appealed particularly to middle-class and upper-class members in small towns. When a former Mason, William Morgan, disappeared in western New York in 1826, the Antimasonary movement was fuelled and soon became a presence in state and national politics. The opposition was partly class inspired (against the ruling and upper classes) and partly religious (for an open religion with more emotional content). Part of the book provides a detailed account of Antimasonry politics in the six New England states. Scholars and students of American history; those interested in Masronry.
- ISBN10 0195048644
- ISBN13 9780195048643
- Publish Date 17 March 1988
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 12 January 1995
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 338
- Language English