Mark A. CampbellMark A. Campbell

Cataract Lodge #2Cataract Lodge #2

Lodge Education Lodge Education OfficerOfficer

2007-20082007-2008

The Constitution of the United States of America –

September 17, 1787 – September 17, 2007

Assembly Room in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, site of the signing of the Constitution in 1787. Photo courtesy of Independence National Historical Park.

On February 21, 1787, the Continental Congress resolved that:

... it is expedient that on the second Monday in May next a Convention of delegates who shall have been appointed by the several States be held at Philladelphia for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation...                      

The original states, except Rhode Island, collectively appointed 70 individuals to the Constitutional Convention, but a number did not accept or could not attend. Those who did not attend included Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Samuel Adams and, John Hancock.   In all, 55 delegates attended the Constitutional Convention sessions, but only 39 actually signed the Constitution. The delegates ranged in age from Jonathan Dayton, aged 26, to Benjamin Franklin, aged 81, who was so infirm that he had to be carried to sessions in a sedan chair.

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King George III ascends to the throne of England. Treaty signed between England and France ending the French and Indian War. Canada and the continent east of the Mississippi River added to Great Britain's growing empire.

Parliament passes The Stamp Act as a means to pay for British troops on the American frontier. Colonists violently protest the measure taxing newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, legal documents, dice and playing cards.

March 18. Stamp Act repealed, but on the same day parliament passes the Declaratory Act asserting its right to make laws binding on the colonies. 

October. British troops arrive in Boston to enforce customs laws.                                                               

March. Four workers shot by British troops stationed in Boston. Patriots label the killings "The Boston Massacre."December. Massachusetts patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians protest the British Tea Act by dumping crates of tea into Boston Harbor.                       

January. The Privy Council reprimands Benjamin Franklin in London for leaking letters damaging to the Royal Governor of Massachusetts. September. First Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia.

April. Shots fired at Lexington and Concord. "Minute Men" force British troops back to Boston. George Washington takes command of the Continental Army.

January. Thomas Paine's Common Sense published. Becomes an instant best seller and pushes the colonies closer to independence.

July 4. Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence ratified by the Congress.

July. A huge British force arrives in New York harbor bent on crushing the rebellion.

August. Continental Army routed at Long Island, New York.

December 26. Washington crosses the Delaware River and captures a Hessian force at Trenton, New Jersey.

December. In desperate need of financing and arms, Congress sends Benjamin Franklin to France to urge the French to ally with America.

July. A British force led by John Burgoyne takes Fort Ticonderoga in a devastating loss to the Americans. The Marquis de Lafayette arrives in America.

Washington defeated at Brandywine (September 11) and Germantown (October 4). Philadelphia is lost to the British.

October 17. Americans capture Burgoyne and his army at Saratoga.

February. France signs a treaty of alliance with the United States and the American Revolution becomes a world war.

British attack Charleston, South Carolina. City falls in May.

1780-'81 Americans "lose" series of engagements in the south, but exact a heavy toll on the British army.                 

African-American Elizabeth Freeman sues for her freedom in Massachusetts. Her victory prohibits slavery in that state.                                

October 19. A miraculousconvergence of American and French forces traps Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. He surrenders his British army.

1786-'87 Shay's Rebellion, an armed insurrection of debt-ridden farmers in Massachusetts, quashed by the state militia.

September. A peace treaty is signed between Great Britain and the United States.

December. George Washington gives up command of the Continental Army and returns to private life.

1783-'87 Noah Webster creates and publishes a speller which helps standardize American English.

1785-'86 Treaty talks with Spain for rights to navigate the Mississippi fail because of regional conflicts between northern and southern states.

The crucial states of Virginia (June 25) and New York (July 26) become the 10th and 11th states to pass the Constitution. 

Northwest Ordinance adopted by Confederation Congress. Prohibits slavery in territories and provides a means for new states to enter the union.

In May, delegates from all 13 states arrive in Philadelphia to rewrite the Articles of Confederation.                

September 18. The Constitutional Convention adjourns having passed a National Constitution that required ratification by 3/4 of the states.

Masonic influences on the U.S.Constitution

Masonic scholar and writer Paul Bessel of the Washington, DC area

has assembled a reasonably definitive accounting

of which signers of the Constitution were confirmed Freemasons. His

work built upon that of Bro. Ronald Heaton as published by the MSA in

1962 and 1986.

Brother Bessel’s work can be viewed in detail on the Philelethes web site Freemasonry.org and his web site

Bessel.org.

Portions of his work are included here.

Masonic influences on the U.S.Constitution

Included in the 39 signatures affixed to the Constitutionare 13 who are known to be Freemasons.

Of the 16 who attended the convention and did notsign the constitution, 6 are known to be Freemasons.

So 19 of 55 men involved in framing our constitution were believed to be Freemasons dedicated to the principles ofour craft (35%).

Their names and stories follow.

Masonic influences on the U.S.ConstitutionGunning Bedford, Jr. – First Grand Master of Delaware.Born in Philadelphia in 1742, Bedford was a Colonel and aide to General Washington, graduate of Nassau Hall (which became Princeton) and was appointed by Washington to theU.S. District Court bench for Delaware.

M.W.B. Bedford was raised in Washington Lodge No.14 whichbecame Delaware Lodge No.1 and which served as Master. He became Delaware’s first Grand Master in 1806.

The two Senator requirement to equalize representationbetween large and small states is attributed to Bedford.

Masonic influences on the U.S.ConstitutionJohn Blair – First Grand Master of Virginia 1778-1784. Blair was appointed by Washington as one of the first Supreme Court Justices in 1789. Blair was the only Virginian voting in favor of the adoption ofThe Constitution.Blair was raised in Williamsburg Lodge No. 6 on December 23,1773 and elected Master in May of 1774.

Blair is often confused with his father, John Blair, Sr. who wasPresident of the Council of Virginia (same as Governor) under British rule.Blair resigned from the Supreme Court in 1796 and died in 1800.

Masonic influences on the U.S.Constitution

David Brearley – First Grand Master of New Jersey from 1786 until his death in 1790. Born in 1745 near Trenton, Brearley was a Revoutionary War soldier, officer and hero who became Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court until 1789 when he was appointed to the U.S. District Court bench by President Washington.

Masonic influences on the U.S.Constitution

Jacob Broom of Delaware was a member and officer of Christina Ferry Lodge No. 14 in Wilmington serving as Secretary and Treasurer in 1780 . He later served as a Warden and another term as Treasurer.Broom was a member of the Delaware legislature from 1784-1788 and the first Postmaster of Wilmington 1790-92.

A school teacher, real estate dealer and surveyor, Broom drew a map and provided it to General Washington weeksBefore the Battle of Brandywine.

Masonic influences on the U.S.ConstitutionDaniel Carroll – was raised in Maryland Lodge No.16 inBaltimore on May 8,1781. Bro. Carroll participated in the laying of the cornerstone for the U.S. Capitol with George Washington.

Carroll was elected to Congress from Maryland in 1789 and served until 1791 when he was appointed Commissioner for the surveying of Washington, DC. His farm formed much of the area currently occupied by the District of Columbia.

Carroll was a cousin of Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and source for the city names of both Carrollton and New Carrollton, MD.

Masonic influences on the U.S.ConstitutionJonathan Dayton – believed a member of Temple Lodge No.1 Elizabethtown, NJ, and son of Brig. Gen Elias Dayton of the Revolutionary Army. Dayton served as an officer under his fatherduring the revolution and was a three term Congressman fromNew Jersey and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Bro. Dayton was elected to the Senate in 1799 and served thereuntil 1805.

Bro. Dayton was arrested for alleged conspiracy with Aaron Burr,but was never tried on the charges. Dayton studied law andwas a graduate of Princeton

Masonic influences on the U.S.ConstitutionJohn Dickinson – “Penman of the Revolution” was raised inLodge No. 18, Dover Delaware. Dickinson studied law in Philadelphia and England, and served as a private in the revolution who was commissioned Brigadier General of the Delaware militia in 1777.

Dickinson served as the fifth President of the Delaware counciluntil he resigned to become the President of Pennsylvania council. He Founded Dickinson College at Carlisle, Pa.

Bro. Dickinson had opposed the Declaration of Independenceas premature, but supported the constitution ten years later.

Masonic influences on the U.S.ConstitutionBenjamin Franklin – was the first native born Provincial Grand Master in 1750. Franklin was raised in St. John’s Lodge in Philadelphia in 1731. He served his lodge as Secretary 1735-38 and was elected to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania as its Grand Master June 24, 1734.

Inventor, statesman and diplomat, Franklin garnered French support during the revolution and helped assure the colonists victory. Because of his poor health, Benjamin Franklin needed help to sign the Constitution. As he did so, tears streamed down his face. He died shortly thereafter in April 1790.

Masonic influences on the U.S.Constitution

Nicholas Gilman – was made a Mason March 20, 1777 inSt. John’s Lodge No.1 of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

An adjutant in Washington’s military family during theRevolutionary War, It was Gilman’s responsibility to account for the prisoners surrendered by Cornwallis at Yorktown.

He was elected to congress from New Hampshire and served In that role from 1789 to 1797. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1804 and served in that position until his death in May 2, 1814.

Masonic influences on the U.S.ConstitutionRufus King - served with Gen. Sullivan during the Revolution.A 1777 graduate of Harvard, King is thought to have been a member of St. John’s Lodge, Newburyport, Massachusetts.

King moved to New York to practice law and served a term in that state legislature before being elected to the U.S. Senate, serving there From 1789-96 and 1813-25. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Vice Presidency in 1804 and 1808 and the Presidency in 1816.

King’s brother William was the first governor of Maine and the first Grand Master of Maine.

Masonic influences on the U.S.Constitution

James McHenry – served as private Secretary and surgeon to Washington and Lafayette during the war. Dr. McHenry was a member of Spiritual Lodge No. 23 of Baltimore, Maryland.

Bro. McHenry served in the Maryland legislature from 1781-86 and concurrently represented Maryland in the Continental Congress from 1783-86. In 1796 he joined President Washington’s Cabinet as Secretary of War.

Fort McHenry is named in his honor.

Masonic influences on the U.S.ConstitutionWilliam Paterson – graduated from Princeton (1763) andentered the bar in 1769 becoming New Jersey attorney General in 1776. Paterson was a delegate to the Continental Congress 1780-81 and elected U.S. Senator in 1780. Bro. Paterson resigned from The Senate to become Governor of New Jersey in March of 1781.

In 1793 President Washington appointed Bro. Paterson to theU.S.Supreme Court where he served until his death in September1806.

Paterson was a member of Trenton Lodge No. 5 of Trenton, New Jersey.

Masonic influences on the U.S.ConstitutionGeorge Washington – was initiated in Fredericksburg LodgeOn November 4, 1752 just before his 21st birthday. He was passed to the degree of a fellow craft on March 3, 1753 just after his 21st birthday and raised to the Master Mason degreeAugust 4, 1753.

Alexandria Lodge No.39 became his home, and Washington waselected Master of the lodge May 29, 1788. His lodge transferred its charter to Virginia and became Alexandria Lodge No.22, andin 1805 Washington Alexandria Lodge No. 22.

Masonic influences on the U.S.Constitution

Masonic influences on the U.S.Constitution

William R. Davie – a graduate of Princeton in 1776, he immediately entered the army serving with distinction. Later commissioned a major general in the North Carolina militia, he participated in the constitutional convention but did not sign due to illness.

Bro. Davie became Governor of North Carolina in 1798.

Bro. Davie was raised in Occasional Lodge in 1791, and in 1792 became Grand Master serving until 1798 although he had never been Master of a lodge.

Masonic influences on the U.S.ConstitutionElbridge Gerry – a signer of the Declaration of independence he opposed the constitution as drafted.

Bro. Gerry was believed to be a member of Philanthropic Lodge At Marblehead, Massachusetts, but all lodge records from 1740-1778 have been lost.

Gerry served as a U.S. Congressman representing Massachusetts from 1789-93. His efforts to retain Republican control of Massachusetts through redistricting caused the creation of the term Gerrymandering.

Masonic influences on the U.S.Constitution

William Houstoun – a Georgia delegate to the convention,Houstoun presented his credentials as one of Georgia's delegates. He stayed for only a short time, from June 1 until about July 23, 1787.

Bro. Houstoun was a member of Solomon’s Lodge No. 1 ofSavannah, Georgia.

Houston Street in Manhattan is named after William Housto(u)n in recognition of his accomplishments and thoseof his father.

Masonic influences on the U.S.ConstitutionAlexander Martin – a graduate of Princeton, Martin settled in Guilford County, North Carolina to practice law. Service in the2nd NC regiment at Germantown and Brandywine, he rose to theRank of colonel. He served the state senate, and a term asPresident of the senate, elected governor in 1781.

Bro. Martin was elected tot the U.S.Senate serving from 1793 to 1799.

Bro. Martin was raised at a communication of the Grand LodgeOf North Carolina in Fayetteville in 1788. Bro. Martin was elected Junior Grand Warden in 1807 – and died in office.

Masonic influences on the U.S.Constitution

Dr. James McClurg – a member of Williamsburg Lodge No.6And a representative of that lodge to the convention that Established the Grand Lodge of Virginia.

Bro. McClurg was a fellow student of William and MaryCollege with Thomas Jefferson, and took his medical degrees at Edinburgh, Scotland and studied in London and Paris.

Bro McClurg was a member of the Virginia Executive CouncilAnd an associate of Edmund Randolph.

Masonic influences on the U.S.Constitution

Edmund Randolph – Governor of Virginia and Grandmasterof Virginia at the time of the convention, Randolph attended and participated as his schedule would permit. He did not support and did not sign the finished document.

Bro. Randolph was raised in Williamsburg Lodge No.6 and in 1777 Withdrew to become charter master of Jerusalem Lodge No. 54.

He served as Attorney General and Secretary of State under President John Adams.

Fascinating Facts about the U.S.Constitution

The U.S. Constitution has 4,400 words. It is the oldest and shortest written

Constitution of any major government in the world."

                                                               

           Of the typographical errors in the

Constitution, the misspelling of the word “Pensylvania” above the signers’ names is probably the most glaring.

                                                               

       Thomas Jefferson did not sign the

Constitution. He was in France during the Convention, where he served as the U.S. minister. John Adams was serving

as the U.S. minister to Great Britain during the Constitutional Convention

and did not attend either.

Fascinating Facts about the U.S.Constitution

James Madison, “the father of the Constitution,” was the first to arrive in

Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention. He arrived in February, three

months before the convention began, bearing the blueprint for the new

Constitution.

                                                                          

Of the forty-two delegates who attended most of the meetings, thirty-nine actually

signed the Constitution. Edmund Randolph and George Mason of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts refused to sign due

in part to the lack of a bill of rights.

                                                                          

When it came time for the states to ratify the Constitution, the lack of any bill of rights was the primary sticking point.

Fascinating Facts about the U.S.Constitution

The oldest person to sign the Constitution was Benjamin Franklin (81). The youngest was Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey (26).

                                                                    

  When the Constitution was signed, the

United States’ population was 4 million. It is now more than 300 million. Philadelphia was the nation’s largest city, with 40,000

inhabitants.

                                                                          

A proclamation by President George Washington and a congressional resolution established the first national Thanksgiving Day on November 26, 1789. The reason for

the holiday was to give “thanks” for the new Constitution.

Fascinating Facts about the U.S.ConstitutionThe first time the formal term “The United

States of America” was used was in the Declaration of Independence.

                                                                      

    It took one hundred days to actually

“frame” the Constitution.

                                                                          

There was initially a question as to how to address the President. The Senate proposed that he be addressed as “His Highness the President of the United States of America and Protector of their Liberties.” Both the House of Representatives and the Senate compromised on the use of “President of

the United States.”

Fascinating Facts about the U.S.Constitution

George Washington and James Madison were the only presidents who signed the

Constitution.                         

In November of 1788 the Congress of the Confederation adjourned and left the United States without a central government until

April 1789, when the first Congress under the new Constitution convened with its first

quorum.                                           

                                                                          

Although Benjamin Franklin’s mind remained active, his body was deteriorating. He was in constant pain because of gout and having a

stone in his bladder, and he could barely walk. He would enter the convention hall in a sedan chair carried by four prisoners from the

Walnut Street jail in Philadelphia.

Fascinating Facts about the U.S.ConstitutionThe members of the first Congress of the

United States included 54 who were delegates to the Constitutional Convention or delegates to the various state-ratifying conventions. The number also included 7

delegates who opposed ratification.

                                                                          

Benjamin Franklin died on April 17, 1790, at the age of 84. The 20,000 mourners at his funeral on April 21, 1790, constituted the largest public gathering up to that time.

                                                                      

    Vermont ratified the Constitution on

January 10, 1791, even though it had not yet become a state.

Fascinating Facts about the U.S.Constitution

John Adams referred to the Constitution as “the greatest single effort of national

deliberation that the world has ever seen” and George Washington wrote to the Marquis de Lafayette that “It (the

Constitution) appears to me, then, little short of a miracle.”

                                                                 

         The Pennsylvania State House (where

the Constitutional Convention took place) was where George Washington was

appointed the commander of the Continental Army in 1775 and where the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. It was also where the Articles of Confederation were adopted as our first

constitution in 1781.

Fascinating Facts about the U.S.Constitution

The word “democracy” does not appear once in the Constitution.

 There was a proposal at the Constitutional Convention to limit the standing army for the country to 5,000 men. George Washington sarcastically agreed with this proposal as long as a stipulation was added that no invading army could number more than 3,000 troops!

Fascinating Facts about the U.S.Constitution

At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention Benjamin Franklin observed the symbol of the sun at the top of George Washington’s chair and mused: “I have the happiness to know it is a rising sun and not a setting sun”

Bibliography:

http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html

www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/marryff.html

http://bessel.org/constmas.htm

http://www.constitutionfacts.com/index.cfm