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{{short description|1820s–1830s American political party}}
{{Infobox political party
| colorcode = {{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}
| name = Anti-Masonic Party
| leader = [[Solomon Southwick]]<br />[[Thurlow Weed]]<br />[[William Wirt (attorney general)|William Wirt]]
| foundation = First: {{start date and age|1827|9|br=y}}<br />Second: {{start date and age|1872|br=y}}
| dissolution = First: {{end date and age|1840|12|br=y}}<br />Second: {{end date and age|1884|br=y}}
| merged = First: [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]]<br />Second: [[Prohibition Party]]
| headquarters = [[Albany, New York]]
| newspaper = ''[[Anti-Masonic Enquirer]]''<br />''National Observer''<br />''Albany Journal''
| ideology = [[American School (economics)|American School]]<br />{{nowrap| Anti-[[elitism]]<ref>{{harvnb|Cooper|2017|pages=280–283}}</ref><ref name="books.google.com">Chip Berlet, Matthew Nemiroff Lyons, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Md1aRhWNk1QC&pg=PA38 ''Right-wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort''], 2000, p. 38</ref><ref name="Sydney Nathans 1973, page 88">Sydney Nathans, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iPg6AAAAIAAJ&q=outsiders ''Daniel Webster and Jacksonian Democracy''], 1973, p. 88</ref><ref name="Formisano 2008 126">{{cite book |last=Formisano |first=Ronald P. |date=2008 |title=For the People: American Populist Movements from the Revolution to the 1850s |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSwQBp7JC9sC&pg=PA126 |location=Chapel Hill |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |page=126 |isbn=978-0-8078-3172-4}}</ref><ref name="Ronald P. Formisano 1827">Ronald P. Formisano, and Kathleen Smith Kutolowski, "Antimasonry and Masonry: The Genesis of Protest, 1826–1827." ''American Quarterly'' 29#2 (1977): 139–165</ref>}}<br /> Anti-[[Jacksonian Democracy|Jacksonianism]]<ref>Brodie, pp. 38–39</ref><ref name="Anne-Marie Taylor 2001, page 40">Anne-Marie Taylor, [https://books.google.com/books?id=an2KtqVlwlsC&pg=PA40 ''Young Charles Sumner and the Legacy of the American Enlightenment, 1811–1851''], 2001, p. 40</ref><br />[[Anti-Masonry]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Anti-Masonic-Movement |title=Anti-Masonic Movement |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |date=July 20, 1998 |access-date=September 9, 2017}}</ref>
| religion = [[Protestantism]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nfe_Ucpg-xEC&q=anti-masonic+party+protestant&pg=PA166|title=Freemasonry: A Study of the Phenomenon|author=Alexander Piatigorsky|publisher=[[Random House]]|date= 2013|page=166|isbn=978-1860462658|author-link=Alexander Piatigorsky}}</ref>
| national = [[National Republican Party]] ([[1828 United States presidential election|1828]])<ref name="Anne-Marie Taylor 2001, page 40">Anne-Marie Taylor, [https://books.google.com/books?id=an2KtqVlwlsC&pg=PA40 ''Young Charles Sumner and the Legacy of the American Enlightenment, 1811–1851''], 2001, p. 40</ref>{{sfn|Stahr|2012|pp=24–26}}
| country = the United States
}}
{{Freemasonry|expanded=Views on Masonry}}
The '''Anti-Masonic Party''' was the earliest [[Third party (United States)|third party]] in the United States.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Binning |first1=William C. |last2=Esterly |first2=Larry C. |last3=Sracic |first3=Larry A. |date=1999 |title=Encyclopedia of American Parties, Campaigns, and Elections |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w67OEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |location=Westport, CT |publisher=Greenwood Press |page=7 |isbn=978-0-3130-0762-0 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Formally a [[Single-issue politics|single-issue party]], it strongly opposed [[Freemasonry in the United States]]. It was active from the late 1820s, especially in the Northeast, and later attempted to become a major party by expanding its platform to take positions on other issues. It declined quickly after 1832 as most members joined the new [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]]; it dissolved after 1838.

The party was founded following the disappearance of [[William Morgan (anti-Mason)|William Morgan]], a former Mason who had become a prominent critic of the Masonic organization. Many believed that Masons had murdered Morgan for speaking out against Masonry and subsequently many churches and other groups condemned Masonry. As many Masons were prominent businessmen and politicians, the backlash against the Masons was also a form of anti-[[elitism]]. The Anti-Masons purported that Masons posed a threat to American [[republicanism]] by secretly trying to control the government. Furthermore, there was a strong fear that Masonry was hostile to [[Christianity]].

Mass opposition to Masonry eventually coalesced into a political party. Before and during the [[presidency of John Quincy Adams]], there was a period of political realignment. The Anti-Masons emerged as a third-party alternative to [[Andrew Jackson]]'s [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] and Adams' [[National Republican Party|National Republicans]]. In [[New York (state)|New York]], the Anti-Masons supplanted the National Republicans as the primary opposition to the Democrats.

After experiencing unexpected success in the [[1828 United States elections|1828 elections]], the Anti-Masons adopted positions on other issues, including support for [[internal improvements]] and a protective [[tariffs in United States history|tariff]]. Several Anti-Masons, including [[William A. Palmer]] and [[Joseph Ritner]], won election to prominent positions. In states such as [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Rhode Island]], the party controlled the balance of power in the state legislature and provided crucial support to candidates for the [[United States Senate]]. In 1831, the party held the first [[United States presidential nominating convention|presidential nominating convention]], a practice that was subsequently adopted by all major parties. Delegates chose former U.S. attorney general [[William Wirt (attorney general)|William Wirt]] as their standard bearer in the [[1832 United States presidential election|1832 presidential election]]; Wirt won 7.8% of the popular vote and carried [[Vermont]].

As the 1830s progressed, many of the Anti-Masonic Party's supporters joined the Whig Party, which sought to unite those opposed to the policies of President Jackson. The Anti-Masons brought with them an intense distrust of politicians and a rejection of unthinking party loyalty, together with new campaign techniques to whip up excitement among the voters. The Anti-Masonic Party held a national convention in 1835, nominating [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] candidate [[William Henry Harrison]], but a second convention announced that the party would not officially support a candidate. Harrison campaigned as a Whig in the [[1836 United States presidential election|1836 presidential election]] and his relative success in the election encouraged further migration of Anti-Masons to the Whig Party. By 1840, the party had ceased to function as a national organization. In subsequent decades, former Anti-Masonic candidates and supporters such as [[Millard Fillmore]], [[William H. Seward]], [[Thurlow Weed]] and [[Thaddeus Stevens]] became prominent members of the Whig Party.

==History==
===Background===
{{conservatism US|parties}}
[[File:William Morgan (anti-Mason).jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[William Morgan (anti-Mason)|William Morgan]], whose disappearance and probable murder led to creation of the Anti-Masonic Party]]

The opponents of Freemasonry formed a political movement after the [[William Morgan (anti-Mason)#Disappearance|Morgan affair]] convinced them the Masons were murdering men who spoke out against them.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ulm |first=Aaron Hardy |date=February 14, 1920 |title=Third Parties We Have Known |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YmgwAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA72 |journal=Collier's |location=San Francisco, CA |publisher=P. F. Collier & Son Company |page=18 |ref={{sfnRef|"Third Parties We Have Known"}}}}</ref> This key episode was the mysterious 1826 disappearance of William Morgan, a Freemason in upstate New York who had turned against the Masons.{{sfn|"Third Parties We Have Known"|page=18}}

Morgan claimed to have been made a member of the Masons while living in Canada<ref>{{cite book |last= Ellis |first=Edward Sylvester |date=1920 |title=Low Twelve: "By Their Deeds Ye Shall Know Them" |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5wOAAAAYAAJ&q=%22william+morgan%22+%22lodge%22+%22york%22+%22brewer%22&pg=PA234 |location=New York |publisher=Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co. |page=234}}</ref> and he appears to have briefly attended a lodge in Rochester.<ref name="Bentley 1874">{{cite book |last= Bentley  |first= A. P.|date=1874 |title=History of the Abduction of William Morgan |url=https://archive.org/details/historyabductio00bentgoog |location=Mt. Pleasant, IA |publisher=Van Cise & Throop|pages=9}}</ref> In 1825, Morgan received the [[Royal Arch Masonry|Royal Arch]] degree at [[Le Roy (village), New York|Le Roy]]'s Western Star Chapter #33, having declared under oath that he had previously received the six degrees which preceded it.<ref name="Tillotson 1920 79">{{cite book |last=Tillotson |first=Lee S. |date=1920 |title=Ancient Craft Masonry in Vermont |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientcraftmas00tillgoog |location=Montpelier, VT |publisher=Capital City Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientcraftmas00tillgoog/page/n85 79]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Morris |first=Robert |date=1884 |title=William Morgan, Or, Political Anti-Masonry: Its Rise, Growth and Decadence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fZNAAQAAMAAJ&q=york&pg=PA132 |location=New York |publisher=Robert Macoy, Masonic Publisher |page=61 |ref={{sfnRef|Morris (1884)}}}}</ref> Whether he actually received these degrees and if so from where has not been determined for certain.<ref name="Bentley 1874"/><ref name="Tillotson 1920 79"/> 

Morgan then attempted unsuccessfully to help establish or visit lodges and chapters in [[Batavia, New York|Batavia]], but was denied participation in Batavia's Masonic activities by members who were uncertain about Morgan's character and claims to Masonic membership.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ross |first=Peter |date=1899 |title=A Standard History of Freemasonry in the State of New York, Volume 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-GciAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA310 |location=New York |publisher=Lewis Publishing Company |page=310}}</ref> Angered by the rejection, Morgan announced that he was going to publish an exposé titled ''Illustrations of Masonry'',<ref name="illustrations">{{Citation | last=Morgan | first=William | title=Illustrations of Masonry by One of the Fraternity Who has Devoted Thirty Years to the Subject: "God said, Let There be Light, and There was light" | publisher=David C. Miller | place=Batavia, NY| year=1827 | url=http://utlm.org/onlinebooks/captmorgansfreemasonrycontents.htm}}</ref> critical of the Freemasons and describing their secret degree ceremonies in detail.<ref>{{cite book |last= Stokes |first=Jerry |date=2007 |title=Changing World Religions, Cults & Occult |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DTPJpanTizwC&pg=PA285 |location=Menlo Park, CA |publisher=(self-published) |page=285}}</ref>

When his intentions became known to the Batavia lodge, an attempt was made to burn down the business of the printer who planned to publish Morgan's book.<ref>Jasper Ridley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5VItAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT208 ''The Freemasons: A History of the World's Most Powerful Secret Society''], 2013, unknown page number</ref> In September 1826, Morgan was arrested on flimsy allegations of failing to repay a loan and theft of a shirt and tie in an effort to prevent publication of his book by keeping him in jail.{{sfn|Morris (1884)|page=106}} The individual who intended to publish Morgan's book paid his bail and he was released from custody.{{sfn|Morris (1884)|page=106}} Shortly afterwards, Morgan disappeared.<ref>{{cite book |title=History of Rochester and Monroe county, New York |last=Peck |first=William F. |year=1908 |publisher=The Pioneer publishing company |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_IvssAAAAYAAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_IvssAAAAYAAJ/page/n63 63] |access-date=2009-05-02}}</ref>

Some skeptics argued that Morgan had left the Batavia area on his own, either because he had been paid not to publish his book, or to escape Masonic retaliation for attempting to publish the book, or to generate publicity that would boost the book's sales.<ref>[https://www.skepdic.com/freemasons.html The Skeptic's Dictionary: Freemasons], retrieved September 9, 2014</ref> The generally believed version of events was that Masons killed Morgan by drowning him in the [[Niagara River]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Pool |first= William |date= 1897 |title= Landmarks of Niagara County, New York |url= https://archive.org/details/landmarksofniaga00pool |publisher= D. Mason & Company |page= [https://archive.org/details/landmarksofniaga00pool/page/69 69]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Cornog |first= Evan |date= 1998 |title= The Birth of Empire : DeWitt Clinton and the American Experience, 1769–1828 |url= https://archive.org/details/birthofempiredew00corn |url-access= registration |publisher= Oxford University Press |page= [https://archive.org/details/birthofempiredew00corn/page/167 167]|isbn= 978-0195353204 }}</ref>  Whether he fled or was murdered, Morgan's disappearance led many to believe that Freemasonry was in conflict with good citizenship.<ref>Josephus Nelson Larned, [https://books.google.com/books?id=fTcFAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA374 ''The New Larned History for Ready Reference, Reading and Research''], Volume 1, 1922, p. 374</ref>

Because judges, businessmen, bankers and politicians were often Masons, ordinary citizens began to think of it as an elitist group.<ref name="books.google.com">Chip Berlet, Matthew Nemiroff Lyons, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Md1aRhWNk1QC&pg=PA38 ''Right-wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort''], 2000, p. 38</ref> Moreover, many claimed that the lodges' secret oaths bound Masons to favor each other against outsiders in the courts and elsewhere.<ref name="Sydney Nathans 1973, page 88">Sydney Nathans, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iPg6AAAAIAAJ&q=outsiders ''Daniel Webster and Jacksonian Democracy''], 1973, p. 88</ref>

Out of dozens of indictments for Morgan's disappearance, only ten conspirators were ever convicted, and none were sentenced to greater than three years. Upon sentencing four of the conspirators in 1827, judge and future [[Governor of New York]], [[Enos T. Throop]], lamented their light punishment, stating they had "created, in the people of this section of the country, a strong feeling of virtuous indignation."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stone |first=William |title=Letters On Masonry and Anti-Masonry: Addressed to the Hon. John Quincy Adams |publisher=New York: O. Halsted |year=1832 |pages=200-201}}</ref>

Because some trials of alleged Morgan conspirators were mishandled and the Masons resisted further inquiries, many New Yorkers concluded that Masons controlled key offices and used their official authority to promote the goals of the fraternity by ensuring that Morgan's supposed killers escaped punishment.<ref>Henry Dana Ward, [https://books.google.com/books?id=oARAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA290 ''The Anti-Masonic Review''], Volume 1, 1828, p. 290</ref> When a member sought to reveal its secrets, so ran the conclusion, the Freemasons had done away with him. Because they controlled the courts and other offices, they were considered capable of obstructing the investigation. True Americans, they said, had to organize and defeat this conspiracy. If good government was to be restored "all Masons must be purged from public office".<ref>Rayback 1959, pp. 18–19</ref>

===Party foundation===
[[File:Thurlow Weed - Brady-Handy.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Thurlow Weed]], newspaper editor who helped form the Anti-Masonic Party]]

The Anti-Masonic Party was formed in [[Upstate New York]] in September 1827.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=McCarthy |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QapJAAAAMAAJ |title=The Antimasonic Party |date=1903 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=372-4 |language=en}}</ref> Anti-Masons were opponents of Freemasonry, believing that it was a corrupt and elitist [[secret society]] which was ruling much of the country in defiance of [[Republicanism in the United States|republican principles]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Massachusetts Antimasonic Republican Convention |date=1834 |title=Antimasonic Republican Convention, for Massachusetts, Held at Boston, Sept. 10 and 11, 1834 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UJnOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA35 |location=Boston |publisher=Leonard W. Kimball |pages=34–35 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>  Many people regarded the Masonic organization and its adherents involved in government as corrupt.<ref name="Formisano 2008 126"/><ref name="Ronald P. Formisano 1827">Ronald P. Formisano, and Kathleen Smith Kutolowski, "Antimasonry and Masonry: The Genesis of Protest, 1826–1827." ''American Quarterly'' 29#2 (1977): 139–165</ref>

Opposition to Masonry was first taken up by some evangelical Protestant churches as a religious cause, particularly in the [[Burned-over district]] of upstate New York.<ref>David G. Hackett, [https://books.google.com/books?id=1-CHAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 ''That Religion in Which All Men Agree: Freemasonry in American Culture''], 2014, p. 118</ref> Many churches passed resolutions condemning ministers and lay leaders who were Masons and several denominations condemned Freemasonry, including the [[Presbyterian Church in the United States of America|Presbyterian]], [[Congregational church|Congregational]], [[United Methodist Church|Methodist]] and [[Baptists in the United States|Baptist]] churches.<ref>{{cite journal |last=McKinley |first=Erik |date=March 1, 1921 |title=The Anti-Masonic Party |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dHA4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA72 |journal=The Builder: A Journal for the Masonic Student |volume=7 |location=Anamosa Iowa |publisher=National Masonic Research Society |page=72}}</ref>

[[File:Solomon Southwick 1804 - Portrait First President of Farmers and Machanics Bank (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Solomon Southwick]], newspaper publisher and 1828 Anti-Masonic candidate for Governor of New York]]

Early religious anti-Masonic sentiment sought to avoid political involvement, mostly believing it to be a corruption of Christianity.<ref name=":0" /> However, after the death of Morgan, many began to believe the society was harmful to the integrity of American government and elections. Anti-Masonry officially became a political issue in [[Western New York]] in early 1827, when many local mass meetings resolved not to support Masons for public office.<ref>Michael Kazin, Rebecca Edwards, Adam Rothman, editors, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4hqpJEJp7cUC&pg=PA39 ''The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History''], Volume 1, 2010, p. 39</ref> The Anti-Masonic Party opposed [[Jacksonian Democracy]], exemplified in New York by the [[Bucktails]] of Senator [[Martin Van Buren]] and the rival Clintonian faction of Governor [[DeWitt Clinton]].<ref name="Anne-Marie Taylor 2001, page 40">Anne-Marie Taylor, [https://books.google.com/books?id=an2KtqVlwlsC&pg=PA40 ''Young Charles Sumner and the Legacy of the American Enlightenment, 1811–1851''], 2001, p. 40</ref> The party also initially opposed the [[National Republican Party]] of President [[John Quincy Adams]] because it included Masons, but by 1830 the Anti-Masons had attracted many National Republicans to the fold, including Adams himself.<ref name=":1" />  

When the Anti-Masonic party began organizing candidates for the 1827 election of the [[51st New York State Legislature]], the anti-Jackson [[National Republican Party|National Republicans]] gave up in regions where Anti-Masonic sentiment was highest, which led to Anti-Masons gaining 15 of 125 assembly seats.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The alleged remark of Anti-Masonic organizer [[Thurlow Weed]] (which Weed denied), that an unidentified corpse found in the Niagara River was "a good enough Morgan" until after the 1828 elections, summarized the value of the Morgan disappearance for Jackson's opponents.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Weed |first=Thurlow |date=1877 |title=A Good Enough Morgan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZE7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA51 |journal=Selections from the Newspaper Articles of Thurlow Weed |location=Albany, NY |publisher=Weed, Parsons and Company |pages=51–61}}</ref>

===Political rise===
In the [[1828 United States House of Representatives elections|elections of 1828]], the new party proved unexpectedly strong, securing three of eight available State Senate seats as well as five seats in the [[United States House of Representatives]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Anti-Masonic Party|volume=2|page=127}}</ref> The party's [[New York gubernatorial election, 1828|candidate]] for [[governor of New York]], [[Solomon Southwick]], was defeated, partially due to attacks on his character by Thurlow Weed.<ref name=":1" /> Despite this, the Anti-Masonic Party became the main opposition party to the Jacksonian Democrats in New York.<ref>Mark Stein, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4dJXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA45 ''American Panic: A History of Who Scares Us and Why''], 2014, p. 45</ref> In this effort, they were aided by the fact that president-elect [[Andrew Jackson]] was a high-ranking Mason and frequently spoke in praise of the organization.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neeley |first=Philip P. |date=1846 |title=Masonic Tribute to the Late General Andrew Jackson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cPwqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA83 |journal=The Freemason's Monthly Magazine |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Tuttle & Dennett |volume=5 |page=83}}</ref> Having established itself as a major political force, the party broadened its issues base in 1829, when it became a champion of [[internal improvements]] and the protective [[tariff]].<ref>Edward S. Mihalkanin, editor, [https://books.google.com/books?id=c_ORomNygLcC&pg=PA451 ''American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell''], 2004, p. 451</ref>

Anti-Masonic Party members expanded the use of party-affiliated newspapers for political organizing by publishing over 100, including Southwick's ''National Observer'' and Weed's ''Anti-Masonic Enquirer''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hamilton |first=Milton W. |date=1938 |title=Anti-Masonic Newspapers, 1826-1834 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24296490 |journal=The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America |volume=32 |pages=71–97 |issn=0006-128X}}</ref> By 1829, Weed's ''Albany Journal'' had become the preeminent Anti-Masonic paper and it later became the leading [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] newspaper.<ref>Jeffrey D. Schultz, John G. West, Iain S. MacLean, editors, [https://books.google.com/books?id=dy1MNv8ou-0C&pg=PA18 ''Encyclopedia of Religion in American Politics''], 1999, p. 18</ref><ref>Charles Elliott Fitch [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediabio00fitcgoog/page/n564 <!-- pg=318 --> Encyclopedia of Biography of New York], Volume 1, 1916, p. 318</ref><ref>Benson John Lossing, [https://archive.org/details/empirestateacom01lossgoog/page/n471 <!-- pg=447 --> The Empire State: A Compendious History of the Commonwealth of New York], 1888, p. 447</ref> The newspapers of the time reveled in partisanship and one brief paragraph in an ''Albany Journal'' article opposing [[Martin Van Buren]] included the words "dangerous", "demagogue", "corrupt", "degrade", "pervert", "prostitute", "debauch" and "cursed".<ref>John G. Gasaway, [https://books.google.com/books?id=AjByAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Albany+Evening+Journal%22+%22martin+Van+Buren%22+corrupt ''Tippecanoe and the Party Press Too: Mass Communication, Politics, Culture, and the Fabled Presidential Election of 1840''], 1999, p. 228</ref>

===Conventions and elections===
A national Anti-Masonic organization was planned as early as 1827, when the New York leaders attempted unsuccessfully to persuade [[Henry Clay]] to renounce his Masonic membership and head the movement.<ref name="EB1911"/>

By 1830, the Anti-Masonic movement's effort to broaden its appeal enabled it to spread to neighboring states, becoming especially strong in [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Vermont]].<ref name="EB1911"/>  In 1831, [[William A. Palmer]] was elected [[governor of Vermont]] on an Anti-Masonic ticket, an office he held until 1835.<ref name="Wells 1902 340">{{cite book |last= Wells |first= Frederic Palmer |date= 1902 |title=History of Newbury, Vermont |url= https://archive.org/details/historynewburyv00wellgoog |publisher= The Caledonian Company |page= [https://archive.org/details/historynewburyv00wellgoog/page/n439 340] |access-date= September 19, 2014}}</ref> Palmer's brother-in-law [[Augustine Clarke]] was an Anti-Masonic presidential elector in 1832, served as [[Vermont State Treasurer|Vermont state treasurer]] from 1833 to 1837 and was appointed to the Anti-Masonic National Committee in 1837.<ref>{{cite book |last= Bouton |first= Nathaniel |author-link=Nathaniel Bouton |date= 1856 |title= The History of Concord, Vermont |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=23owAQAAMAAJ&q=%22augustine+clark%22+%22william+a+palmer%22&pg=PA697 |publisher= McFarland & Jenks |page= 697 |isbn= 978-0608438405 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first= William Ogden |last= Niles |title= National Antimasonic Convention |work= Niles' National Register |volume=53 |page=68 |date= September 30, 1837 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6PAaAAAAYAAJ&q=%22augustine+clark%22+anti-masonic+committee&pg=PA68}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Hemenway|first= Abby Maria |date= 1882 |title= The History of the Town of Montpelier, Including that of the Town of East Montpelier |url= https://archive.org/details/historytownmont00waltgoog |publisher= A. M. Hemenway |page= [https://archive.org/details/historytownmont00waltgoog/page/n41 273] |access-date= September 19, 2014}}</ref> Other Vermont Anti-Masonic electors in 1832 included former governor [[Ezra Butler]] and former [[United States Representative|United States representative]] [[William Strong (Vermont politician)|William Strong]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Vermont Secretary of State|date= 1902 |title= Vermont Legislative Directory |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wCY0AQAAMAAJ&q=vermont+electors+1832+clarke+butler+strong&pg=PA199 |publisher= Vermont Watchman Co. |page= 199 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}</ref>

The highest elected office held by a member of the Anti-Masonic Party was governor. Besides Palmer in Vermont, [[Joseph Ritner]] was the [[governor of Pennsylvania]] from 1835 to 1839.<ref>{{cite book |last= Pennsylvania Bureau of Statistics |date= 1875 |title= Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Pennsylvania, Volume 2|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CnYpAAAAYAAJ&q=%22joseph+ritner%22+governor+anti-mason+1835+1839&pg=PA17 |publisher= B. F. Meyers, State Printer |page= 17 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}</ref>

In addition to Palmer and Ritner, [[Silas H. Jennison]], an Anti-Mason, was elected [[Lieutenant Governor of Vermont]] with [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] support in 1835. No candidate, including Palmer, received a majority of votes for governor as required by the Vermont Constitution. The contest then moved to the [[Vermont General Assembly]], which could not choose a winner. The General Assembly then opted to allow Jennison to act as governor until the next election. He won election as governor in his own right as a Whig in 1836 and served from 1836 to 1841.<ref name="Wells 1902 340"/><ref>{{cite book |last= Duffy |first= John J. |date= 2003 |title= The Vermont Encyclopedia |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uTBCXqOou0YC&q=%22silas+h.+jennison%22&pg=PA171 |publisher= University of Vermont Press |page= 171 |access-date= September 19, 2014|display-authors=etal|isbn= 978-1584650867 }}</ref>
[[File:William Wirt by Henry Inman (frameless).jpg|left|thumb|221x221px|Former [[Freemasonry|Mason]] [[William Wirt (attorney general)|William Wirt]] won [[Vermont]]'s [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]] votes in the [[1832 United States presidential election|1832 presidential election]] for the Anti-Masonic Party]]
Though the Anti-Masonic Party elected no [[United States Senate|senators]] and controlled no houses of a state legislature, Anti-Masons in state legislatures sometimes formed coalitions to elect senators and organize their chambers. Examples include: [[William Wilkins (U.S. politician)|William Wilkins]], elected to the Senate in 1830 by a coalition of pro-Adams Democrats and Anti-Masons in the [[Pennsylvania General Assembly]];<ref>{{cite book |author= Polk, James K. |editor= Cutler, Wayne |date= 1996 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wxmLh0gDfSoC&q=%22william+wilkins%22+%22anti-mason%22+senator+1830&pg=PA39 |title= Correspondence of James K. Polk: Volume IX, January–June 1845 |publisher= University of Tennessee Press |page= 39 |access-date= September 21, 2014|isbn= 978-0870499470 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date= 1956 |title= A History of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7Jq11dtTA2oC&q=%22william+wilkins%22+%22anti-mason%22+senator&pg=PA508 |publisher= U.S. Government Printing Office |page= 508 |access-date= September 21, 2014|isbn= 978-0160845789 }}</ref> and [[William Sprague III|William Sprague]], elected speaker of the [[Rhode Island House of Representatives]] in 1831 by a coalition of pro-Adams Democrats and Anti-Masons.<ref>{{cite book |last= American Historical Association |date= 1903 |title= Annual Report, Volume I |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=C_hGAQAAIAAJ&q=%22william+sprague%22+%22rhode+island%22+speaker+%22anti-masonic%22&pg=PA551 |publisher= U.S. Government Printing Office |page= 551 |access-date= September 21, 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Amos Ellmaker.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Amos Ellmaker]], 1832 Anti-Masonic candidate for [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]]]]
The Anti-Masonic Party conducted the first [[United States presidential nominating convention|presidential nominating convention]] in the United States history for the [[1832 United States presidential election|1832 elections]], nominating [[William Wirt (attorney general)|William Wirt]] (a former Mason) for [[President of the United States|president]] and [[Amos Ellmaker]] for [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]] in Baltimore. Wirt won 7.8 percent of the popular vote and the seven electoral votes of Vermont.<ref>{{cite book |last=Haynes |first=Stan M. |date=2012 |title=The First American Political Conventions: Transforming Presidential Nominations, 1832–1872 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mSud-fdhUnkC&q=wirt+ellmaker+anti-masonic+1832+vermont&pg=PA27 |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |page=27 |access-date=September 19, 2014|isbn=978-0786490301 }}</ref> Soon the Democrats and Whigs recognized the convention's value in managing parties and campaigns and began to hold their own.<ref name="Goldwag 2012 172">{{cite book |last=Goldwag |first=Arthur |date=2012 |title=The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VlMuXEWD8hoC&q=%22Anti-Masonic%22+innovations+conventions+newspapers&pg=PA172 |page=172 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing |access-date=September 19, 2014|isbn=978-0307742513 }}</ref>

Following Ritner's election in 1835, a state convention was held in Harrisburg on December 14–17, 1835 to choose [[Electoral College (United States)|presidential electors]] for the [[1836 United States presidential election|1836 election]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=432554 |title=PA US President – AM Convention Race – Dec 14, 1835 |publisher=Our Campaigns |date=2008-03-27 |access-date=2014-02-21}}</ref> The convention nominated [[William Henry Harrison]] for president and [[Francis Granger]] for vice president.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 22, 1835 |title=Harrisburg Conventions |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98863712/harrisburg-comventions/ |work=[[Richmond Enquirer]] |location=Richmond, VA |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> The Vermont state Anti-Masonic convention followed suit on February 24, 1836.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=432869 |title=VT US President – AM Convention Race – Feb 24, 1836 |publisher=Our Campaigns |date=2008-03-27 |access-date=2014-02-21}}</ref> Anti-Masonic leaders were unable to obtain assurance from Harrison that he was not a Mason, so they called a national convention. The second national Anti-Masonic nominating convention was held in Philadelphia on May 4, 1836.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=157642 |title=US President – AM Convention Race – May 04, 1836 |publisher=Our Campaigns |date=2008-03-27 |access-date=2014-02-21}}</ref> The meeting was divisive, but a majority of the delegates officially stated that the party was not sponsoring a national ticket for 1836 and proposed a meeting in 1837 to discuss the future of the party.<ref>{{cite book |last=Trefousse |first=Hans Louis |date=1997 |title=Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth-century Egalitarian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OKq8EaomNzkC&q=%22anti-masonic%22+philadelphia+1836+convention&pg=PA45 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |page=45 |access-date=September 19, 2014|isbn=978-0807823354 }}</ref>

Although Harrison lost the election to Democratic candidate [[Martin Van Buren]] in 1836, his strength throughout the North was hailed by Anti-Masonic leaders because the Anti-Masonic Party was the first to officially place his name in contention.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mueller |first=Henry Richard |date=1922 |title=The Whig Party in Pennsylvania |url=https://archive.org/details/whigpartyinpenn00muelgoog |publisher= Columbia University |page=[https://archive.org/details/whigpartyinpenn00muelgoog/page/n288 276] |access-date=September 19, 2014}}</ref> By the mid-1830s, other Anti-Jacksonians had coalesced into the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]]. By the late 1830s, many of the Anti-Masonic movement's members were moving to the Whigs, regarding that party as a better alternative to the Jacksonians, by then called Democrats.<ref>{{cite book |last=Adams |first=Sean Patrick |date=2013 |title=A Companion to the Era of Andrew Jackson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dPYFIb5hOHsC&q=%22anti-masons%22+join+whig+party&pg=PA343 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |page=343 |isbn=978-1118290828 |access-date=September 19, 2014}}</ref> The Anti-Masonic Party held a conference in September 1837 to discuss its situation—one delegate was former president John Quincy Adams.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Haywood |editor-first=H. L. |date=1921 |title=The Builder: A Journal for the Masonic Student |volume=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dHA4AQAAMAAJ&q=%22anti-masonic+party%22+philadelphia+september+1837&pg=PA77 |publisher=National Masonic Research Society |page=77 |access-date=September 19, 2014}}</ref>

The Anti-Masonic Party held a third national nominating convention at [[Temperance halls|Temperance Hall]] in [[Philadelphia]] on November 13–14, 1838.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=432897 |title=US President – AM Convention Race – Nov 13, 1838 |publisher=Our Campaigns |date=2009-05-23 |access-date=2014-02-21}}</ref> By this time, the party had been almost entirely supplanted by the Whigs. The Anti-Masons unanimously endorsed William Henry Harrison for president and [[Daniel Webster]] for vice president in the [[1840 United States presidential election|1840 election]]. When the Whig National Convention nominated Harrison with [[John Tyler]] as his running mate, the Anti-Masonic Party did not make an alternate nomination and ceased to function, with most adherents being fully absorbed into the Whigs by 1840.<ref>{{cite book |last=Remini |first=Robert Vincent |date=1991 |title=Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f9Hb6i90_mAC&q=%22anti-masonic+party%22+1839+webster&pg=PA528 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. |page=528 |isbn=978-0393310887 |access-date=September 19, 2014}}</ref><ref name="McLaughlin 1914 49">{{cite book |last=McLaughlin |first=Andrew Cunningham |date=1914 |title=Cyclopedia of American Government, Volume 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vvYUAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Anti-Masonic%22+%22william+wirt%22+speech+defending+freemasons&pg=PA49 |publisher=D. Appleton and Company |page=49 |access-date=September 19, 2014}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Because the Anti-Masonic Party was absorbed into the Whig Party, its attempts to expand its political platform have been often overshadowed by its foundational commitment to the claim that Masonic elites were attempting to secretly control the government.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Cheathem |first=Mark R. |date=April 11, 2019 |title=Conspiracy Theories Abounded in 19th-Century American Politics |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/conspiracy-theories-abounded-19th-century-american-politics-180971940/ |magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |location=Washington, DC |publisher= [[Smithsonian Institution]]}}</ref> 

During the [[Industrial Revolution]], increased economic mobility, westward migration, and the addition of new states to the Union were thought of by many as weakening longstanding family and community ties—perceptions that contributed to the growth of the Anti-Masonic movement.<ref>{{cite book |last=Keller |first=Morton |date=2007 |title=America's Three Regimes: A New Political History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uNjQCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=77 |isbn=978-0-19-532502-7}}</ref> Because Freemasonry was one of the institutions that remained stable during this time of change, it became a target for protesters.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lipson |first=Dorothy Ann |date=1977 |title=Freemasonry in Federalist Connecticut, 1789–1835 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1oV9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |location=Princeton, NJ |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=9|isbn=978-1400870080 }}</ref> As a result, the Morgan Affair became the highly visible catalyst that turned a popular sentiment into a political party.<ref name=":1">Vaughn, ''The Anti-Masonic Party in the United States: 1826–1843'' pp. 21–34.</ref>

Under the banner of Anti-Masonry, a collective of Anti-Jacksonians and others discontented with existing political conditions formed the earliest United States [[Third party (U.S. politics)|third party]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Scarry |first= Robert J. |date= 2001 |title= Millard Fillmore |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=IDr_W-wch94C&q=%22Anti-Masonic%22+morgan+catalyst&pg=PA34 |publisher= McFarland & Company, Inc. |page= 34 |isbn= 978-0786450763 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}</ref> The fact that William Wirt, their choice for the presidency in 1832, was a Mason and announced so before the convention that nominated him, suggests that opposition to Masonry was not the movement's sole issue.<ref name="McLaughlin 1914 49" />

Anti-Masonic attempts at platform expansion aided in the rise of the Whig Party as the major alternative to the Democrats, with Anti-Masonic positions on issues including internal improvements and tariffs being adopted by the Whigs.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last= Mihalkanin |editor-first= Edward S. |date= 2004 |title= American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=c_ORomNygLcC&q=%22Anti-Masonic%22+%22whig%22+internal+improvement+tariff&pg=PA451 |publisher= Greenwood Press |page= 451 |isbn= 978-0313308284 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}</ref> In addition, the Anti-Masonic movement introduced or expanded several innovations that became accepted practice among other parties, including nominating conventions and party newspapers.<ref name="Goldwag 2012 172"/> 

==Second Anti-Masonic Party==
[[File:Jonathan Blanchard.png|thumb|[[Jonathan Blanchard (abolitionist)|Jonathan Blanchard]], founder of the Anti-Masonic Party's second incarnation|202x202px]]
A later political organization called the Anti-Masonic Party, or American Party, was active from 1872 until 1884. This second group had a more religious basis for its anti-Masonry, and was founded by the [[National Christian Association|National Christian Association (NCA)]] and [[Jonathan Blanchard (abolitionist)|Jonathan Blanchard]] of [[Wheaton College (Illinois)|Wheaton College]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Volo |first= James M. |date= 2012 |title= The Boston Tea Party: The Foundations of Revolution |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=403f4VrQwvYC&q=%22jonathan+blanchard%22+%22wheaton+college%22+%22Anti-Masonic%22&pg=PA21 |publisher= ABC-CLIO, LLC |page= 21 |isbn= 978-0313398759 |access-date= September 19, 2014}}</ref> The party nominated candidates in four United States presidential elections but only participated in two before eventually merging into the [[Prohibition Party]].

At their 1872 convention in [[Oberlin, Ohio]], [[Charles Francis Adams Sr.|Charles Francis Adams]] was nominated for president, with General [[Charles Henry Howard]] as his running mate. Howard declined, and Joseph Lorenzo Barlow was nominated in his stead. However, upon the discovery that Adams was a [[Royal Arch Masonry|Royal Arch Mason]], the party withdrew their ticket for the [[1872 United States presidential election|election]].<ref>Richardson, Darcy G. ''Others : Third Party Politics from the Nation’s Founding to the Rise and Fall of the Greenback-Labor Party / Darcy G. Richardson.'' IUniverse, Inc., 2004. p. 371</ref>

After the embarrassment of the 1872 ticket, the party only nominated close associates of their founder and president, Johnathan Blanchard, at the cost of national notoriety.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Michael |title=Jacksonian Volcano: Anti-Secretism and Secretism in 19th Century American Culture |publisher=University of Cincinnati |year=2012 |pages=201-224}}</ref> In the [[1876 United States presidential election|1876]] election, Blanchard's [[Wheaton College (Illinois)|Wheaton]] colleague, Reverend James Walker, was nominated with running mate Donald Kirkpatrick of New York. Blanchard's cousin, [[John W. Phelps]], was nominated alongside Samuel C. Pomeroy for the [[1880 United States presidential election|election of 1880]]. Neither ticket received more than 1,100 votes nation-wide. 

In 1884, the party nominated Blanchard and Pomeroy, but merged with the [[Prohibition Party|Prohibition Party's]] ticket for [[John St. John (American politician)|John St. John]] before the election could be held.<ref name=":2" /> 

This second incarnation of the party was also responsible for erecting a memorial to William Morgan in the [[Batavia Cemetery]] in 1882.<ref>An Old Tragedy Revived; Erection Of A Memorial To Morgan, Who Divulged The Secrets Of Masonry", ''The New York Times'', 14 September 1882, p. 1.</ref>

==Members of Congress==
[[File:Grattan H. Wheeler, Sr.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Grattan H. Wheeler]], Anti-Masonic [[United States Congress|congressman]] from [[New York (state)|New York]]]]
The Anti-Masons did not elect anyone to the [[United States Senate|Senate]], partly due to never controlling any state legislatures, but elected several members of the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]].<ref>Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, [http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch1.asp List of Anti-Masonic Party Members of Congress]. Retrieved June 17, 2014.</ref>

'''Massachusetts'''
* [[William Jackson (Massachusetts politician, born 1783)|William Jackson]]
* [[John Reed Jr.]]

'''New York'''
* [[William Babcock (politician)|William Babcock]]
* [[Gamaliel H. Barstow]]
* [[Timothy Childs]]
* [[John A. Collier]]
* [[Bates Cooke]]
* [[John Dickson (New York politician)|John Dickson]]
* [[Philo C. Fuller]]
* [[Gideon Hard]]
* [[Abner Hazeltine]]
* [[George W. Lay]]
* [[Henry C. Martindale]]
* [[Robert S. Rose]]
* [[Phineas L. Tracy]]
* [[Grattan H. Wheeler]]
* [[Frederick Whittlesey]]

'''Ohio'''
* [[Jonathan Sloane]]

'''Pennsylvania'''
* [[Robert Allison (Pennsylvania politician)|Robert Allison]]
* [[John Banks (U.S. politician)|John Banks]]
* [[Charles Augustus Barnitz]]
* [[Richard Biddle]]
* [[George Chambers (Pennsylvania politician)|George Chambers]]
* [[William Clark (congressman)|William Clark]]
* [[Edward Darlington]]
* [[Edward Davies (Pennsylvania politician)|Edward Davies]]
* [[Harmar Denny]]
* [[John Edwards (Pennsylvania)|John Edwards]]
* [[Thomas Henry (Pennsylvania politician)|Thomas Henry]]
* [[William Hiester (Pennsylvania politician)|William Hiester]]
* [[Francis James (congressman)|Francis James]]
* [[Thomas McKean]]
* [[Charles Ogle (politician)|Charles Ogle]]
* [[David Potts Jr.]]
* [[Andrew Stewart (died 1872)|Andrew Stewart]]

'''Rhode Island'''
* [[Dutee Jerauld Pearce]]

'''Vermont'''
* [[William Cahoon]]
* [[Benjamin F. Deming]]
* [[Henry Fisk Janes]]
* [[William Slade (politician)|William Slade]]

==Office holders and candidates==
{{main|Category:Anti-Masonic Party politicians}}
[[File:Unidentified Artist - Millard Fillmore - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright|[[President of the United States|President]] [[Millard Fillmore]]'s political career began as an Anti-Masonic member of the [[New York State Assembly]] in 1829]]
* [[Solomon Southwick]], candidate for [[Governor of New York]] (1828)
* [[Millard Fillmore]], [[New York State Assembly]] (1829–1831)
* [[William H. Seward]], [[New York State Senate]] (1831–1834)
* [[Lebbeus Egerton]], [[Lieutenant Governor of Vermont]] (1831–1835)
* [[William A. Palmer]], [[Governor of Vermont]] (1831–1835)
* [[William Wirt (attorney general)|William Wirt]], candidate for [[President of the United States|President]] in 1832
* [[Amos Ellmaker]], candidate for [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] in 1832
* [[William Sprague III]], [[Rhode Island House of Representatives|Speaker]] of the [[Rhode Island House of Representatives]] (1832–1835)
* [[Thaddeus Stevens]], [[Pennsylvania House of Representatives]] (1833–1835)
* [[Augustine Clarke]], [[Vermont State Treasurer]] (1833–1837)
* [[Joseph Ritner]], [[Governor of Pennsylvania]] (1835–1839)
* [[Silas H. Jennison]], Governor of Vermont (1835–1841) and Anti-Mason running with [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] support who later became a Whig
* [[John Quincy Adams]], candidate for [[Governor of Massachusetts]] in 1833
* [[Allen Wardner]], Vermont State Treasurer (1837–1838)
* [[Jonathan Blanchard (abolitionist)|Jonathan Blanchard]], candidate for president in 1884

==Electoral history==
===Presidential elections===
{|class="sortable wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Election
!Candidate
!Running mate
!Votes
!Vote %
!Electoral votes
!+/-
!Outcome of election
|-
![[1828 United States presidential election|1828]]{{efn|group="Presidential elections table"|Endorsed [[National Republican Party]] candidate [[John Quincy Adams]] for President and [[Richard Rush]] for Vice President.}}
|align="center" colspan=7|Not presented
|-
![[1832 United States presidential election|1832]]
|[[File:William Wirt by Henry Inman (frameless) (cropped).jpg|94x94px]]<br />[[William Wirt (attorney general)|William Wirt]]
|[[File:Amos Ellmaker.jpg|80px]]<br />[[Amos Ellmaker]]
|align="center"|100,715
|align="center"|7.8
|align="left"|{{composition bar|7|286|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|align="left"|New
|align="left"|Lost
|-
![[1836 United States presidential election|1836]]{{efn|group="Presidential elections table"|Endorsed [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] candidate [[William Henry Harrison]] for President and [[Francis Granger]] for Vice President.}}
|align="center" colspan=7|Not presented
|-
![[1840 United States presidential election|1840]]{{efn|group="Presidential elections table"|Initially endorsed Whig Party candidate Harrison for President and [[Daniel Webster]] for Vice President, it fully merged into the Whig Party following the election.}}
|align="center" colspan=7|Not presented
|-
![[1880 United States presidential election|1880]]
|[[File:John Wolcott Phelps (Union Army general from Vermont).jpg|80px]]<br />[[John W. Phelps]]
|[[File:Samuel C. Pomeroy - Brady-Handy.jpg|80px]]<br />[[Samuel C. Pomeroy]]
|align="center"|1,045
|align="center"|nil
|align="left"|{{composition bar|0|369|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|align="left"|{{steady}}0
|align="left"|Lost
|}
{{notelist|group="Presidential elections table"}}

===Congressional elections===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
{|class=wikitable
|+United States<br />House of Representatives
|-
!Election year
!No. of<br />overall seats won
!+/–
![[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|House Speaker]]
|-{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}
![[1828–29 United States House of Representatives elections|1828-1829]]
|{{composition bar|5|213|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|New
|rowspan=3 {{Party shading/Jacksonian}}|[[Andrew Stevenson]]
|-{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}
![[1830–31 United States House of Representatives elections|1830-1831]]
|{{composition bar|17|213|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 12
|-{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}
![[1832–33 United States House of Representatives elections|1832-1833]]
|{{composition bar|25|240|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 8
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
![[1834–35 United States House of Representatives elections|1834-1835]]
|{{composition bar|16|242|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 9
|rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[James K. Polk]]
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
![[1836–37 United States House of Representatives elections|1836-1837]]
|{{composition bar|7|242|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 9
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
![[1838–39 United States House of Representatives elections|1838-1839]]
|{{composition bar|6|242|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 1
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[John Winston Jones|John W. Jones]]
|}
{{col-2}}
{|class=wikitable
|+United States<br />Senate
|-
!Election year
!No. of<br />overall seats won
!+/–
![[Vice President of the United States|Senate President]]
|-{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}
![[1828–29 United States Senate elections|1828/1829]]
|{{composition bar|0|48|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|New
|rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Jacksonian}}|[[John C. Calhoun]]
|-{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}
![[1830–31 United States Senate elections|1830/1831]]
|{{composition bar|0|48|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|{{steady}} 0
|-{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}
![[1832–33 United States Senate elections|1832/1833]]
|{{composition bar|0|48|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|{{steady}} 0
|{{Party shading/Independent}}|Vacant{{efn|group="Congressional elections table"|Office left vacant when Calhoun resigned to become Senator on December 28, 1832.}}
|-{{Party shading/Whig}}
![[1834–35 United States Senate elections|1834/1835]]
|{{composition bar|0|48|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|{{steady}} 0
|rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Martin Van Buren]]
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
![[1836–37 United States Senate elections|1836/1837]]
|{{composition bar|0|52|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|{{steady}} 0
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
![[1838–39 United States Senate elections|1838/1839]]
|{{composition bar|0|52|hex={{party color|Anti-Masonic Party}}}}
|{{steady}} 0
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Richard M. Johnson]]
|}
{{col-end}}
{{notelist|group="Congressional elections table"}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources and further reading==
* Bemis, Samuel Flagg. ''John Quincy Adams and the union'' (1956) vol 2 pp 273–304.
* {{cite book| last = Brodie| first = Fawn| author-link = Fawn Brodie| year = 1966| edition = Norton Library| orig-year = 1959| title = Thaddeus Stevens: Scourge of the South| publisher = W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.| location = New York| isbn = 0-393-00331-0 }}
* {{cite book|last1=Cooper|first1=William J.|title=The Lost Founding Father: John Quincy Adams and the Transformation of American Politics|date=2017|publisher=Liveright Publishing|isbn=978-1631493898}}
* {{cite book|last1=Formisano|first1=Ronald P.|year=2008|title=For the People: American Populist Movements from the Revolution to the 1850s|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill|isbn=978-0-8078-3172-4}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Formisano |first1=Ronald P. |last2=Kutolowski |first2=Kathleen Smith |date=1977 |title=Antimasonry and Masonry: The Genesis of Protest, 1826–1827 |jstor=2712356 |journal=American Quarterly |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=139–165 |doi=10.2307/2712356 }}
* Goodman, Paul. ''Towards a Christian republic: Antimasonry and the great transition in New England 1826–1836'' (Oxford University Press, 1988).
* Holt, Michael F. "The Antimasonic and Know Nothing Parties," in ''History of U.S. Political Parties'', ed. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (4 vols., New York, 1973), vol I, 575–620.
* {{citation|last=Jamele|first=John F.|title=The Antimasonic Party in Massachusetts, 1826–1835|year=1991|location=College Park, MD |publisher=University of Maryland Library|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CNuHtgAACAAJ}}.
* {{citation|last=McCarthy|first=Charles|title=The Antimasonic Party: A Study of Political Antimasonry in the United States, 1827–1840 |year=1903|location=Washington|publisher=Government Printing Office|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QapJAAAAMAAJ}}, reprinted from {{citation|title=Annual Report of the American Historical Association|year=1902|volume=1|pages=365–574}}.
* {{citation|last=Nathans |first=Sydney |title=Daniel Webster and Jacksonian Democracy |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-8018-1246-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPg6AAAAIAAJ |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore, MD}}.
* Ratcliffe, Donald J. "Antimasonry and Partisanship in Greater New England, 1826–1836." ''Journal of the Early Republic'' 15.2 (1995): 199–239.

* Ratner, Lorman. ''Antimasonry; the Crusade and the Party'' (1969) [https://archive.org/details/antimasonrycrusa0000ratn/page/n6/mode/1up online]

* Rayback, Robert J. ''Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President''. Buffalo Historical Society.  1959. [https://archive.org/details/millardfillmoreb006143mbp online]
* Rupp, Robert O. "Parties and the public good: political Antimasonry in New York reconsidered." ''Journal of the Early Republic'' 8.3 (1988): 253–279. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3123690 online]
* Shade, William.  "Review: The Elder Goodman's 'Light on Antimasonry'?" ''Reviews in American History'' (1989) 17#1 pp.&nbsp;58–63  [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2703127 in jstor];
* {{cite book |last1=Stahr |first1=Walter |title=Seward : Lincoln's indispensable man |date=2012 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4391-2118-4}}
* Trefousse, Hans L. ''Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth-Century Egalitarian''. University of North Carolina Press.  1997.
* Vaughn, William Preston (1983) ''The Antimasonic Party in the United States, 1826–1843''. University Press of Kentucky. {{ISBN|0-8131-1474-8}}, the standard history. [https://archive.org/details/antimasonicparty0000vaug online]
* Van Deusen, Glyndon G. ''Thurlow Weed, Wizard of the Lobby'' (1947) [https://archive.org/details/thurlowweedwizar00vand online].

{{United States political parties}}
{{Conspiracy theories}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Anti-Masonry in the United States]]
[[Category:Freemasonry in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in the United States]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1828]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1838]]
[[Category:Second Party System]]
[[Category:1828 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:1838 disestablishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Protestant political parties]]
[[Category:Right-wing populism in the United States]]