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The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, as we know it today, had its origins
on the continent of Europe. Its immediate predecessor, known as The Order
of the Royal Secret, consisted of 25 Degrees under the Constitutions of 1762.
Masonic tradition maintains that Lodges of this Rite, transmitted from Bordeaux
in France through the West Indies to the American mainland, were established
at New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1763; at Albany, New York, in 1767; at
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1781-82; and at Charleston, South Carolina,
in 1783.
The Grand Constitutions of 1786 provided for an extension of the Rite to
thirty-three Degrees, governed in each country under a Supreme Council of
the Thirty-third and Last Degree. Its provisions were cited in a Manifesto
at Charleston that confirmed the first Supreme Council ever opened under
these Grand Constitutions, on May 31, 1801, "by Brothers John Mitchell and
Frederick Dalcho." All regular and recognized Supreme Councils and their
Subordinate Bodies today are descended directly or collaterally from this
Mother Supreme Council of the World. THE NAME
In announcing its establishment to the Masonic world in that Manifesto, dated
December 4, 1802, the name was given as The Supreme Council of the Thirty-third
Degree for the United States of America. The word Scotch appeared in connection
with one of the early Supreme Council Degrees, and Scotish (sic) was included
in the name of one of the detached Degrees conferred by The Supreme Council.
The name Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite first appeared in an 1804 agreement
between the Supreme Council of France and the Grand Orient of France. Beginning
with the administration of Grand Commander Albert Pike in 1859, it came into
general use in the Southern Jurisdiction and elsewhere. Many Scottish Masons
fled to France during political upheavals in the 17th and 18th centuries,
at a time when the Degrees of the Rite were evolving in French Freemasonry.
This has caused some to think mistakenly that the Rite originated in Scotland.
Actually, however, a Supreme Council for Scotland was not established until
1846. SOUTHERN JURISDICTION The Grand Constitutions of 1786, in the earliest known text in the possession of John Mitchell and Frederick Dalcho, provided for two Supreme Councils in the United States. The Supreme Council at Charleston sent one of its Active Members to New York and authorized him to establish in 1813 a Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States of America. With this accomplished, The Supreme Council at Charleston in 1827 ceded to the Northern Supreme Council the 15 states north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi Rivers. The Southern Supreme Council retained jurisdiction over all other states and territories (at home and abroad) of the United States.
INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER The Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction recognizes in its fraternal relations 40 Supreme Councils and four National Grand Lodges practicing the Rites that include the Scottish Rite, in different countries throughout the world. Each regular Supreme Council has declared its general adherence to those Grand Constitutions of 1762 and 1786, but each, being a sovereign Masonic Body, has made variations in its Statutes to meet its own particular needs. This is especially true as to the number of members composing a Supreme Council. Some have retained the original limitations of nine Active Members. In our Jurisdiction the number of Active Members is limited to 33. In other Jurisdictions larger or smaller limitations have been set. To maintain the spirit of international unity, the Mother Supreme Council participates in overseas conferences with other Supreme Councils. |