Editing Anti-Masonic Party (section)

== Legacy ==
[[File:Jonathan Blanchard.png|thumb|upright|[[Jonathan Blanchard (abolitionist)|Jonathan Blanchard]], [[1884 United States presidential election|1884 presidential candidate]] of the Anti-Masonic Party's second incarnation]]
Anti-Masonry was deeply committed to conspiracy theories, primarily the claim that Masonic elites were trying 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> As people became more mobile economically during the [[Industrial Revolution]] and began to move west when new states were populated by white settlers and added to the Union, the growth of the Anti-Masonic movement was caused by the political and social unrest resulting from the weakening of longstanding family and community ties.<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> With Freemasonry one of the few institutions that remained stable during this time of change, it became a natural 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 movement into a political party.<ref>Vaughn, ''The Anti-Masonic Party in the United States: 1826–1843'' pp. 21–34.</ref>

Under the banner of Anti-Masons, able leaders united Anti-Jacksonians and others who were discontented with existing political conditions.<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, not only was a former Mason, but also defended Freemasonry in a speech before the convention that nominated him indicates that opposition to Masonry was not the Anti-Masonic movement's sole issue.<ref name="McLaughlin 1914 49"/>

The Anti-Masonic movement gave rise to or expanded the use of many innovations which became accepted practice among other parties, including nominating conventions and party newspapers.<ref name="Goldwag 2012 172"/> In addition, the Anti-Masons 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>