At that time, the government had provided no social "safety net".
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Masons supported the first public schools in both Europe and America.ĭuring the 1800s and early 1900s, Freemasonry grew dramatically. During the late 1700s it was one of the organizations most responsible for spreading the ideals of the Enlightenment: the dignity of man and the liberty of the individual, the right of all persons to worship as they choose, the formation of democratic governments, and the importance of public education. Over the centuries, Freemasonry has developed into a worldwide fraternity emphasizing personal study, self-improvement, and social betterment via individual involvement and philanthropy. Another Mason, Chief Justice John Marshall, shaped the Supreme Court into its present form. Other well-known Masons involved with the founding of America included John Hancock, John Sullivan, Lafayette, Baron Fredrick von Stuben, Nathanael Greene, and John Paul Jones. George Washington was a Mason, Benjamin Franklin served as the head of the fraternity in Pennsylvania, as did Paul Revere and Joseph Warren in Massachusetts. Freemasonry became very popular in colonial America. Within thirty years, the fraternity had spread throughout Europe and the American Colonies. In 1717, four lodges in London formed the first Grand Lodge of England, and records from that point on are more complete.
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The oldest document that makes reference to Masons is the Regius Poem, printed about 1390, which was a copy of an earlier work. The language and symbols used in the fraternity’s rituals come from this era. A widely accepted theory among Masonic scholars is that it arose from the stonemasons’ guilds during the Middle Ages. No one knows with certainty how or when the Masonic Fraternity was formed.