How does the tom Master Mason degree relate to the Fellow Craft degree?

Symbolically, the Fellow Craft degree represents manhood and intellectual growth, forming the middle stage between the physical fundamentals of youth in the Entered Apprentice degree and the mature wisdom of the Master Mason degree 1. Carl Claudy notes that many Masons treat the Fellow Craft degree as merely a stepping-stone to the Master Mason degree, thereby overlooking its distinct emphasis on study, science, and moral obligation 1.

Historically, the structural relationship between the two degrees evolved in the early Grand Lodge era 2. In records from 1723, the essentials of what are now the Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craft degrees were imparted together in the first step, while the material that formed the basis of the modern Master Mason degree belonged to the Fellow Craft or Master 2. Between 1725 and 1740, Grand Lodge practice gradually transformed this two-part structure into the tri-gradal system used today, establishing the Fellow Craft and Master Mason as separate degrees 2.

In the system of Masonic lectures, the Master Mason degree directly incorporates the instruction of the Fellow Craft 3. William Preston notes that the Master Mason degree recapitulates and investigates the principal circumstances of both preceding degrees before introducing its own historical traditions and emblems 3.