Towards a Christian republic : Antimasonry and the great transition in New England, 1826-1836
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Towards a Christian republic : Antimasonry and the great transition in New England, 1826-1836
Oxford University Press, 1988
Available at 7 libraries
Note
Bibliography: p. [249]-317
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
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.
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