The Anti-Masonic Party was founded as a populist movement opposed to the supposed power of Freemasonry in the US. In the 1820s opponents of Freemasonry alleged that Masons were deeply insinuated into national, state, and local government where they used their secret organization to expand their influence. Things came to a head in 1826 when William Morgan, a former Mason in Upstate New York, planned to publish a book exposing Masonic secrets and rituals. Morgan disappeared and was presumed by many to have been murdered by Masons — though this was never proven.
Anti-Masonic organizers used the Morgan incident to bolster their message. Support ballooned as the party embraced the use of local and state conventions to plan their activities. The party held a national convention in Philadelphia in 1830. 96 delegates from 10 states and 1 territory met on Saturday September 11th. At this meeting the delegates resolved to meet in 1831 to nominate candidates for president and vice president for the 1832 elections.
So from 26 through 28 September 1831 the Anti-Masonic Party met at the “grand saloon” of the Athenæum in Baltimore. 114 delegates from 12 states attended.
Organizers had sent an invitation to 94-year old Marylander Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Carroll declined to attend.
But among the delegates were Thaddeus Stevens and William H. Seward who later became nationally prominent Republicans.
In Baltimore delegates excoriated Freemasonry and passed resolutions. Procedural matters at the convention would have seemed familiar to presidential convention attendees into the 1970s.
This collection of resolutions by the convention is not unlike a party platform.
The convention chose former Attorney General William Wirt as their candidate for president. His margin of victory was overwhelming:
William Wirt of Maryland – 108
Richard Rush of Pennsylvania – 1
blank ballots – 2
Amos Ellmaker was chosen as Wirt’s running mate by a similar margin.
Wirt did not give an acceptance speech but he sent the convention this acceptance letter.
The Anti-Masonic Party’s convention made quite a splash, even if the party itself captured only 7 of 275 electoral votes in the 1832 election.
The National Republicans (unrelated to the later Republican Party), composed largely of supporters of former President John Quincy Adams, decided to hold their own convention. Between 12 and 15 December 1831 they too met at the Athenæum in Baltimore where they nominated Henry Clay for president and John Sergeant for vice president.
It was assumed that incumbent President Andrew Jackson would be the standard bearer for the Democratic Party as he sought a second term. Though Jackson needed a running mate to replace the truculent nullificationist John C. Calhoun. So the first ever Democratic National Convention was held from 21 to 23 May 1832 at Baltimore’s Athenæum where Calhoun’s rival Martin Van Buren got the nod for VP. Jackson was the unanimous choice for the presidential nomination.
Before 1830 the party caucuses in Congress would choose presidential candidates. But with the dawn of nominating conventions “King Caucus” was dead.
TL;DR Civics 