Joseph Smith and the Start of the Mormon Movement

1820 - 1831

Joseph Smith and the start of the Mormon movement.

• The Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-day Saints was founded by Joseph Smith in New York State in the USA in 1830.

• Smith had received a revelation from God, first through an angel, and then through a book inscribed on golden plates.

• Smith translated the writing on the plates into the Book of Mormon, which tells the story of the ancient people of America. It was published in 1830.

The Book of Mormon

• According to the golden plates, the lost tribes of Israel migrated to America long before Christ was born. They had fought each other until Christ appeared in America to establish his church there. Later the fighting started again. One of the few survivors, a man called Mormon, recorded the lives of his people on the plate. The person who found the plates was to restore the Church of Christ in America, before Christ reappeared to begin his 1000 year reign

The Book of Mormon Cont..

You think it would be easy to check Smith’s story by seeing the plates, but Smith claimed that no one else was allowed to see the Plates. However, when Smith’s translation was published in 1830 as The Book of Mormon it contained statements by 8 people.

Impact

Smith started with 5 followers in 1830, but this soon grew to several hundred. However, he was unpopular in New York State and people claimed he was a fraud. His house was attacked by mobs. After praying for guidance, he took his followers to the village of Kirtland

Joseph Smith describing his meeting with an angel in 1827

He called me by name and said unto me that his name was Moroni, that God had work for me to do. He said that there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent and the source from which they sprang.’

From Kirtland to Missouri to Nauvoo

1831 - 1846

The Mormons in Kirtland (1831-1837)

• Mormon movement grew to 1000 in 1831. But their success was their downfall. They worked hard and soon owned a mill, a store, a bank and a printing press. The non Mormons thought the Mormons were taking over.

• When the banks collapsed in 1837, many non-Mormons lost their money they had put into the Mormon bank. They blamed the Mormons and chased them out of Kirtland.

The Mormons in Missouri (1837-1838)

“Numbers joined the church and we were increasing rapidly. We made large purchases of land, our farms teemed with plenty. Our neighbours [had come to Missouri] to escape the hand of justice. Because we could not join them in their sabbath breaking, horse racing and gambling, they commenced to persecute us. Finally an organised mob assembled and burned our houses, tarred and feathered and whipped many of our brethren, and finally drove them from their farms’ A Mormon account of events in Missouri

The Mormons in Missouri (1837-1838)

“We are told that we are to have our lands taken over by them. The day is not far distant when the government of the county will be in their hands. What would be the fate of our lives and property in the hands of jurors and witnesses who do not blush to swear that they have wrought miracles and supernatural cures and converse with God and his Angels’ Extracts from a local newspaper, ‘The Missouri Intelligencer.

The Mormons in Missouri (1837-1838)

As soon as the Mormons arrived in Missouri attempts were made to stop them voting in elections. The local settlers rioted and destroyed property and troops had to be sent in to restore order. Mormons were held responsible and their leaders, including Smith, were imprisoned and sentenced to death. The governor declared they were ‘public enemies’.

The Mormons in Nauvoo (1839-1846)

Smith was released from prison and didn’t want to lead the Mormons further West into the ‘Great American desert’. Travelled to tiny town in Illinois which they named Nauvoo. They were able to develop this as an independent city state. The close-knit community of Mormons prospered and by 1844 it was the largest city in Illinois. The Mormons tried to create an ideal society where no one was poor or homeless. There were now 35,000 Mormons and most of these converts came from the poor. They governed themselves and had a trained army of 4000 men to defend them.

Smith’s Downfall

1844-1845

Polygamy - Smith’s Big Mistake?

In 1844, Smith received a revelation from God which, he said, allowed certain Mormons to practice polygamy (Smith already had more than one wife). Some of the Mormons thought this was wrong and denounced Smith as a false prophet, criticizing him in the local newspaper. Smith responded by destroying the printing press. This resulted in people thinking he was a dictator. His critics demanded his arrest and he was taken to a jail in nearby Carthage.

The death of Smith

When news about polygamy reached the non-Mormons they were outraged. They thought it was immoral and would lead to a rapid increase in the Mormon population. On 27 June, 1845, a mob of 200 non-Mormons attacked the jail and shot Smith dead.

A cartoon from the 1840s commenting on Polygamy

Brigham Young and the Decision to Go West

Where to go to?

• Brigham Young became the new leader of the Mormons. He looked for somewhere isolated and unwanted. He knew from the guidebooks about the Oregon Trail and that Salt Lake City was by the Great Salt Lake. An added positive was that this part of the Rockies was still part of Mexico and was therefore outside of US government control. In September 1845, Young agreed that the Mormons would leave in Spring.

How to move 16,000 Mormans across the Plains….

• Young was a brilliant organiser, down-to-earth and very determined.

• He sent ahead a band in February to establish a first-way station. At this camp, Young split the Mormons into separate wagon trains. A captain would be in charge of each wagon.

• By June 1846, Young and his wagon train reached the Missouri river. Despite being very prepared, over 700 died over the winter.

• In April 1847 a ‘Pioneer Band’ of 143 led the way to the Great Salt Lake.

First Reactions to Salt Lake

“A broad and barren plain hemmed in by mountains, blistering in the burning rays of the midsummer sun. No waving fields, no swaying forests, no green meadows – the paradise of the lizard, the cricket and the rattlesnake’ Description by a member of the Pioneer Band

Making a success of Salt Lake

Brigham Young decided that there would be no private ownership of land or water. The Church would assign farmland to people according to their needs. The Mormons believed he was inspired by God and so accepted his decisions without question. One US government surveyor in 1850 described Salt Lake as a city that ‘has been laid out on a magnificent scale’.

The Successes of the Mormons

Deseret (1848)

In 1848 the US defeated Mexico and gained new territory, including the Great Salt Lake. Young decided to form a Mormon state called Deseret and apply to join the United States. However the US government refused. A compromise was agreed and the Territory of Utah was created. Young’s word was still law and the Mormons were now free to build their Kingdom of God on earth with the support and protection of the US government.

Spread across Utah

• Young’s plan was to settle on every part of Utah. He sent farmers, shopkeepers and craftsmen to ensure towns were self-sufficient. Towns such as Las Vegas began and wheat production increased threefold between 1850 and 1860.

• For this to continue, more people were needed. Young sent missionaries across the world with great success – in England alone 32,894 converts were ready to depart by the end of 1851. A Perpetual Emigrating Fund was set up to help the poor pay for the passage to Salt Lake.

Deseret.

Mormon Failures

Problems with the town

• Less successful in industrial development as didn’t have enough money or workers. A journalist visiting the Mormons in 1859 states ‘The Mormons’ manufacturing energies have been most unhappily directed’

• Education was also a problem with many schools being badly equipped and parents only allowing pupils to be in school for 3 months so they could work the farms.

The Mormon War

• Relations between the Mormons and the outside world still difficult. Stories that the Mormons were plotting to kill all gentiles (Non-Mormons) and were arming the Indians to help started. The Mormons had always treated the Indians as equals and had converted some of them. To the outside world this seemed suspicious. Young was also able to flout US laws.

• The US government decided it had to act and sent an army of 2500 men in June 1857. The Mormons mounted a Guerilla attack and were so successful in holding up their progress the troops failed to reach Salt Lake City.

The Mountain Meadow Massacre

• In 1857 a group of 140 emigrants were passing through Utah, they abused Indians who had become converts and insulted Mormon women. This provoked the Indians into attacking and they killed 7 before the emigrants could defend themselves. The Indians went for help and 50 Mormons came. They decided that every emigrant must be killed to stop the news of killings getting out.

• Once they killed the 140 people, the Mormons spread the story that it was the Indians. But they were not believed and the US government sent more troops to the Mormons. Mormons fled their homes.

• When news of this reached the East, the Mormons were turned into martyrs. In April 1858 the US gov. offered the Mormons a full pardon if they accepted the authority of the US gov. They agreed. A governor of Utah was appointed.