Free and Accepter Mason
The abbreviation of this is F&AM or F. & A. M.
The word Ancient is sometimes placed in front of the word Free, thus yielding Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, or A. F. & A. M.
This is the term used for Masons.
A man must be both born free and then accepted into the fraternity of Masons before he can become a member.
A slave cannot become a Mason due to the the fact that he is owned by someone else and therefore cannot make his own decisions. This is somewhat a mute point since for all practical purposes slavery has been abolished throughout at least most of the world.
A man must still be unanimously accepted into a Lodge of Masons.
The word mason, in lower case' is used to indicate a person who is an operative mason who works with stone or bricks to construct a structure. The word Mason, in upper case, indicates a man who is a member of the Free & Accepted Masons.