Builders Of Empire Freemasons And British Imperialism 17171927 Jessica L Harlandjacobs by Jessica L. Harland-jacobs 9781469613482, 1469613484 instant download after payment.

They built some of the first communal structures on the empire’s
frontiers. The empire's most powerful proconsuls sought entrance into
their lodges. Their public rituals drew dense crowds from Montreal to
Madras. The Ancient Free and Accepted Masons were quintessential
builders of empire, argues Jessica Harland-Jacobs. In this first study
of the relationship between Freemasonry and British imperialism,
Harland-Jacobs takes readers on a journey across two centuries and five
continents, demonstrating that from the moment it left Britain’s shores,
Freemasonry proved central to the building and cohesion of the British
Empire.

The organization formally emerged in 1717 as a
fraternity identified with the ideals of Enlightenment cosmopolitanism,
such as universal brotherhood, sociability, tolerance, and benevolence.
As Freemasonry spread to Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australasia, and
Africa, the group’s claims of cosmopolitan brotherhood were put to the
test. Harland-Jacobs examines the brotherhood’s role in diverse colonial
settings and the impact of the empire on the brotherhood; in the
process, she addresses issues of globalization, supranational
identities, imperial power, fraternalism, and masculinity. By tracking
an important, identifiable institution across the wide chronological and
geographical expanse of the British Empire, Builders of Empire makes a significant contribution to transnational history as well as the history of the Freemasons and imperial Britain.