Some accounts estimate that nine of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence and thirteen of the thirty-nine signers of the Constitution were Freemasons. The political influence of Freemasonry during the founding era is harder to pin down. Prominent Masons such as Washington and Franklin generally did not present their political views as expressions of their Masonic membership. Freemasonry did, however, bring together men who valued personal character, civic responsibility, and in principle, religious tolerance and liberty. Historian James Brown wrote of Franklin: “What influence Freemasonry may have had on the life and character of Benjamin Franklin can only be conjecture, but that it did influence him and his contemporaries in the great struggle for American independence seems beyond doubt.” It is possible to see connections between Masonic ideals and the founding generation’s debates about liberty and government, but those connections should be described with care. The founders did not all share the same views, and Masonic membership alone does not show what any individual believed. Still, the period’s Masonic tradition emphasized self-improvement and the hope of contributing to a better society. For some members, ideals of liberty and religious freedom may have resonated with the cause of independence. Their story is part of the wider history of the ideas that shaped the early United States.