Running through all the events of the founding of our Nation, the desire for Liberty was the one factor that controlled every thought-that motivated every action. As our Founding Fathers watched the gathering storm and experienced the continuous acts of repression passed and practiced by their British rulers, the need for Freedom-freedom of thought, of speech, of peaceable assembly, of political action-determined every move they made, every step they took.
From the date of its concept in the minds of men, Masonry had stood for freedom, for liberty. Even the name "Freemasonry", no matter how defined, connotes that very thought. So it was completely natural that within the hearts and minds of the Freemasons of the New World, a desire for political freedom, whereby they could work out their own destiny, should become paramount. To translate such thought into action was in the finest tradition of free Englishmen. From the Magna Carta (1215 A.D.) onward, the citizens of England had struggled to throw off the yoke of oppression. The white men who first settled on our shores-the Pilgrims, the Puritans-were in search of religious liberty, a prime factor in the overall panorama of civil, religious, and political freedom.
Our Founding Fathers were not all Freemasons, but all were imbued with the love of Liberty. But many of their outstanding leaders were members of this Fraternity, and the Masonic idea of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity permeated every action. Brother Heaton has shown this in compiling for us a historical record of our nation's Founders.
The Masonic Book Club is proud to present a copy of this book to its members. Brother Ronald E. Heaton, the author, worked on its contents for many years before its publication in 1965. Even then, it was an idea whose time would not ripen until our Bicentennial years arrived, and now it is most timely. The Masonic Service Association, under the leadership of its very eminent Executive Secretary, Conrad Hahn, first published and distributed this book in 1965. Now, a copy is hard to find so a reprint was needed.
