Bellringer: D21 Why might people want to come and live in Utah, rather than California or Oregon?

Ch. 6.1 - Intro to the Mormons Utah Studies Ch. 6.1 - Intro to the Mormons

Religious Freedom Relocating and settling was actually an American tradition, even for religious reasons. For instance, Thanksgiving, the soon-to-happen holiday, was founded by Puritans and Pilgrims, two religious groups that came to America to escape persecution and practice their religion as they chose. Other colonies had been founded by others in America to have freedom of religion, so that people could practice any religion they wanted! Despite this, many people were still not very tolerant of different beliefs. The puritans for example only wanted people to practice their religion in their colony, and this made life for others difficult. The Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts on the Mayflower, and with the Natives’ help, survived. Thanksgiving commemorates their first dinner together

The 2nd Great Awakening From 1820 to 1840, a feeling of religious revival was sweeping the country. People wanted to make sure they were serving God well, including the Smith Family. So the LDS or Mormon Church didn’t begin in Utah, but in New York, where the Smiths lived. Joseph Smith, one of the family’s sons, said that he had been visited by God, when he asked which church he should join. God had said he should join none of them, but start a new church. Joseph Smith was visited by heavenly being many times over the next several years. He published a book called the Book of Mormon, which he said were golden plates that were a record of an ancient people that lived here in the Americas. Because of this book, people who listened to Joseph Smith were often called Mormons, but they are also known as the LDS Church, or Latter-Day Saints, which is a nickname from the church’s full name: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Gathering in Zion Many people believed what Joseph Smith had to say, and became converts to his new religion. Smith believed that God wanted him to gather all such believers into one place, aka Zion, a term among early Christians for the Holy Land. However, these converts and Smith were persecuted, and were often beat up and teased for their beliefs. As a result of this persecution, the LDS people left New York, and traveled next to Kirtland, Ohio. Other Mormons gathered in Missouri, and both groups cleared land, farmed, and tried to start a new life for themselves. Missionaries taught others as far away as Britain, and these converts immigrated and came to join the rest of the “Saints” in Zion. The Mormons built a temple in Kirtland, Ohio, which they believed was a sacred place they could worship God. There are many LDS temples all around the world today.

Missouri and Moving…Again The persecution continued, especially in Missouri, where most people were slaveholders, and didn’t like this new religion. Also, Mormons did not believe slavery was a good thing, so they naturally had conflict (remember, the Civil War was fought a few years later, in large part, over this same issue). After several years of the two sides fighting back and forth, Governor Boggs, the governor of Missouri, gave an extermination order, saying the Mormons must be driven from the state, or killed. After looting and murdering showed the Mormons the Missourians meant business, most of them left in the middle of winter, this time headed for Illinois.

Painting Analysis: This painting from the textbook shows the expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri. What do you see occurring in the painting? How are people being treated? Whose perspective is being represented here? Why do you think so? VID

Why all the conflict? There are several reasons… Most of the time, conflicts in human history revolve around politics, religion, and economics. The same proved true in this case: Mormons said that their church was the one true church. Thus, all other churches were false. Also, they also believed that the Book of Mormon was scripture, just like the Bible was to most other Christians. Most other American Christians were offended by these claims The idea of “Gathering in Zion” meant that the Mormons planned to settle a new area en masse. This meant they soon outnumbered their nonmormon neighbors, and this freaked people out. In elections, Mormons usually all voted the same way. Many of the other locals worried that Mormons would take over the control of the local and even state politics. At different points, Mormons lived a communal lifestyle, where everyone shared everything in common. This freaked out their neighbors as well, because it gave church leaders a lot of power. In Missouri, the issue of slavery was a huge deal. Most of the Mormons came from New England, where most people didn’t like the idea of slavery. However, most of the nonmormon Missourians were from the South, so they thought slavery was fine. Some LDS leaders and others started practicing polygamy, or the marriage of one man to multiple wives. This seemed weird and unnatural to many nonmormons, who couldn’t understand this lifestyle. If you were a nonmormon living by Mormons, would any of these worry you?

HW: Editorial Letter See the handout for more info… You are a concerned citizen watching the expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri. You may be a Mormon yourself, or not, that is up to you. Write a letter to the local newspaper (~3 paragraphs, typed / neat) Clarify who you are (make sure that anyone reading the letter would be able to identify you as the author; e.g.: name, occupation, age, etc.) Explain what your thoughts are on the topic. Is it something that is good / bad / both? Explain why. Perhaps you, or others you may know, have suffered / benefited as a result of this issue...if so, explain why! Offer up some solutions, and changes you might suggest. Explain why you feel the way you do.