If anyone wonders why "They" might have wanted to knock Freemasons down a peg or two at the time, you might be interested in this factoid concerning the guy that fought and won what came to be known as the Bank War. Think of it like blocking the creation of the Federal Reserve.

This article was written by Masons themselves, if that makes any difference:

The Morgan Affair: Who was William Morgan and why did he disappear?

For years Freemasonry had played a very public role in American politics and the President elected shortly after the Morgan Affair was Andrew Jackson, a prominent Freemason. The Anti-Masonic Party galvanized itself around a message of anti-elitism and anti-corruption and sought to unseat Jackson and Freemasonry in general from American politics both at the local and federal level.

Had the "Morgan Affair" fully succeeded, we could have had the Fed a century before we were finally blessed with it.