What was the anti-masonic party's platform?

Answer 1

The Anti-Masonic Party was founded in 1828 in upstate New York, capitalizing on the negative sentiment towards Freemasons after William Morgan, a Mason himself, was kidnapped and supposed dead because he attempted to publish information on Masonic secrets. The party introduced the concept of nominating committees in 1831, nominating former Attorney General William Wirt to run for president. He did not win the election the following year, and ironically split the opposition against Andrew Jackson, aiding his victory. Andrew Jackson was a primary enemy of the Anti-Masonic Party.

Answer 2

The Anti-Masonic Party's platform was stated as the removal of Freemasons from any position of authority in society. The humorous part of that (at least to me) is that William Wirt, former Attorney General of the United States and Anti-Masonic Presidential Candidate, was himself a Freemason.

Answer 3

In 1830 in the US there appeared the world's first political party dedicated to abolish secrecy in US government affairs. The party believed that secrecy was corroding the very fabric of the nation and was destroying trust between politics, government and private business. One issue that the party believed to be corrosive were documents, kept secret, by the US concerning the War of 1812.