The first assembly of the Continental Congress was presided over by a Master Mason, Peyton Randolph,

Provincial Grand Master of Virginia. The Revolutionary War was a distinctly Masonic enterprise. The Boston

Tea Party was organized in St. Andrews Lodge, at an adjourned meeting, and that every "Indian" who threw

the tea into the harbor was a member of that Lodge. Paul Revere, made his immortal ride, when he was the

Junior Warden of that Lodge. More than fifty of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence

were members of the Masonic fraternity. All but one of the five members of the

Constitutional Convention were Masons.

Richard Henry Lee, who moved the Resolution of Independence in the Continental Congress, was a Mason. Lee, and all five members of that committee -- Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston -- were Masons. The American Flag was made by the widow of John Ross, a Mason, and was placed in the hands of George Washington, who was elected Grand Master of Virginia, but did not accept because of his duties as commander-in-Chief of the American Army, which absorbed all his attention and time. Washington took the oath of office as President of the United States upon a Bible brought from St. Johns Lodge No. 1, of New York. The oath of office was administered by Chancellor Livingston, Grand Master of the state of New York. The Governors of every one of the original thirteen states at the time Washington was inaugurated were Masons. Washington demanded that Lafayette coming from France, and Von Stuben coming from Germany, be made Masons. All of Washington's Brigadier Generals except one were Masons. The Constitution of the United States was written by Masons. Free Speech, Free Religion, and Free Schools were the gifts of Masonry America, and these were opposed by all anti-Masonic institutions. The four Major Generals who almost ruined Washington and the cause of Freedom were the four who were not Masons.

These are historical facts and are a part of the rich heritage of our nation. HOWEVER, no part of the above facts are now taught in our free schools, which were made possible by the foresight of our Masonic forebears.