"The primary distinction for Prince Hall was that he was the Founder of Masonry, not by copying and imitating white American Masonry but by the application to and the approval of British Masonry in the period of the American Revolution when the rights of men were being tested. American masons had not invited nor considered black Americans for admission to their lodges, nor assisted in the separate organization of them."
Charles H. Wesley, Prince Hall Life and Legacy
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In operative Masonry, the use of distinguishing mark to identify each craftsman's work is a long established practice and was widely employed in the erection of cathedrals, churches, castles and other stately buildings of the Renaissance period in Britain and Europe.
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