The Mormons: The early history

Mr McDonald

Presentation Objectives:

Find out who was Joseph Smith The early history of the Mormon movement

Kirtland Ohio Crisis in Kirtland Independence Missouri

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith was a poor farmer from New York State.

He claimed in 1823 he dug up some gold plates and that four years later he began translating the text on the plates.

He said that he was helped by an angel called Moroni who also told him where to look for the plates.

His translations were down in secret with he and the plates on one side of the room and a blanket separating him from his wife who wrote down what he said.

The Plates

The plates told of battles in America between the early Jewish tribes from the bible.

Mormon and his son Moroni were the only survivors and that he who found the plates should create the Church of Jesus Christ and establish it ready for the second coming of the Jesus.

Kirtland Ohio

Smith aimed to create Zion (the Heavenly city) at Kirtland. Smiths followers flocked to the area and in doing so bought land and houses. A Mormon temple was built there and the followers were asked to dedicate their property to the church.

10% of the Mormons income would go to help poorer Mormons settle in Kirtland.

Crisis in Kirtland

In 1837 a financial crisis hit Kirtland. The Mormon bank collapsed. Many Mormons and Non-Mormons who had invested in the bank lost money.

Non Mormons were especially angry at the collapse and the Mormons were chased out of Kirtland Ohio.

The Mormons moved to another Mormon settlement in Missouri (Independence).

Independence Missouri

The Mormons followed a similar strategy to how they built up property in Kirtland. However they soon created great anger amongst the local populace.

The locals distrusted to the Mormons for a number of reasons: They believed that the Mormons wanted to abolish

slavery. They also believed that the Mormons were too friendly

with the Indians. Finally the fear of the Mormons themselves and the

Danites (A Mormon Secret Police!)

Independence Missouri

Violence soon began in Independence and, Joseph Smith and other Mormon leaders found themselves in prison.

One leader (Brigham Young) took the Mormons from Independence to Nauvoo in Illinois.

Nauvoo Illinois

The Mormons moved to a town called Commerce which was in decline. They renamed it Nauvoo which is Hebrew meaning ‘Beautiful Plantation’. Population of Nauvoo (1842) – 1,500 Population of Nauvoo (1845) – 11,057

Like before the Mormons invested heavily in the town but unlike before, they wanted to control the political power as they believed that it would stop the violence.

Nauvoo Illinois

The state of Illinois gave the Mormons their own Charter to set up Nauvoo as an independent state.

The Charter allowed them to: Have their own council. Set up their own laws (so long as it fell in line with US

law). Have their own army of 2000 men.

This made non Mormons feel very insecure.

The fear of the Mormons

The fear of the Mormons

The fear from the Mormon army

The fear of Mormon practices such as

Polygamy

The fear of the Mormons political

power

Fear of being heavily outnumbered by

Mormons.

Fear of the Mormons

The fear of the Mormons grew with knowledge of the practice of Polygamy (marrying more than one wife).

Non Mormons were angered by the idea of polygamy whereas even Mormons argued against it. Their anger grew when Joseph Smith was found to have more than one wife.

Fear of the Mormons

When Joseph Smith announced his desire to run for President, violence again erupted against the Mormons.

In June 1844, Smith was being held in prison in Carthage when a mob attacked the prison and killed him.

The Governor of Illinois withdrew the Nauvoo charter and told the Mormons to leave.

Conclusion

The Mormon church had been created to build a new community but its actions made it a perceived threat to the surrounding community.

The settlements at Kirtland, Independence and Nauvoo failed because the settlements were based in areas already populated.

To stop this happening again they would need to move to an area remote from built up areas. To do this they would have to cross the Plains!