Mormon Migration WHAT IS MIGRATION? THE MOVEMENT OF HUMANS FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER-CAUSED BY PUSH AND PULL FACTORS

Where did the LDS or “Mormon” church begin?? HERE NOT HERE

Who is the founder?  Joseph Smith claimed to be prophet  1820–(age 14) claimed his First Vision  1823–(age 17) claimed to find gold plates with religious writings on them near his home from an angel named Moroni  1830–(age 24) Published the Book of Mormon- a translation of those gold plates  1830–(age 24) started the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  the group began to call themselves “Saints”  enemies began calling them ‘Mormons”

Persecution Comes Early  THE LDS CHURCH WAS SOON FORCED TO MOVE FROM NEW YORK  BELIEFS were the main reason  Joseph Smith’s claims of seeing God  Joseph Smith’s claims of being a prophet  Mormons claimed that this was the only true church  New members often broke ties with family and friends

Moving to Kirtland, Ohio= GROWTH The Church organization was formed here  President (Prophet), 12 Apostles, Bishops, other leaders  The first LDS temple was dedicated here on March 27, 1831  A world-wide missionary system was developed where members were sent to foreign countries to teach and convert people to the LDS Church.  BONUS QUESTION: What do we call a religion that travels and tries to convert people??  ANSWER: Universalizing Religion

Leaving Kirtland Ohio  Unfortunately, the members of the LDS church had to migrate once again, because of the following: Beliefs caused ridicule As the LDS Church grew, members began OUTNUMBER non-members. This made non-members nervous.  On to Independence, Missouri

Reasons for Missouri Persecution WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN :  Slavery: Mormons opposed slavery; most of Missouri supported slavery  Immigration: Mormons brought immigrants with them, most people were afraid of new people and immigrants  Community: Mormons worked in and as large groups (for protection)  Politics: Mormons voted in unified blocks (vote the same)

Extermination Order  October 27, 1838 –Gov. Boggs issued an Extermination Order to:  arrest top LDS leaders, force all Mormons out of the state, or kill all who resist or stay behind  Not officially ended until June 25, 1976 and Missouri finally apologized in 1991  October 30, 1838 – Hawn’s (Haun) Mill Massacre 75 families living here in Missouri about 240 men came and attacked 17 LDS men and boys killed

Winter of 1838  Joseph Smith is arrested and sent to Liberty Jail  Brigham Young became the temporary Church leader  Thousands of Mormons left Missouri in the winter and traveled to Illinois  They didn’t want to go further west  Utah was NOT the original plan  Missouri was on the western U.S. Border  Going west would take them outside the U.S.  They were still loyal to the U.S!

Nauvoo, Illinois  A city made from a swampy bend of the Mississippi River. The land was cheap- no one wanted it  Welcomed here  Nauvoo became one of the two largest cities (Chicago )  peace for almost 5 years  Nauvoo was well planned  Big square blocks, Temple in the center of town, businesses and churches in the center of town, homes built in city, farms on the outskirts of towns  just like Salt Lake City

Problems in Nauvoo  The Nauvoo Charter-SUMMARIZE  Smith asked the state for special rights because of past treatment to his church members  The state let Nauvoo have extra rights  The government would be run more by church leaders than non-church leaders  Smith became both mayor and general of the local militia (army)  All of this made surrounding towns nervous  The Nauvoo Legion- SUMMARIZE  The city had own militia (army) 3,000 men at its greatest  Almost as large as the U.S. Army at the time, All men 18 and over were expected to join  Smith was the military leader  Only used as a defense and ceremonial group used to scare enemies

Problems with Politics  Politics- SUMMARIZE  Mormons used their size (number of voters) to try to get politicians to support their ideas  Political parties in Illinois saw the Mormons as a threat and kicked them out  Joseph Smith ran for President of the United States in 1844  Smith and his brother were killed before the November election so his name was not on the ballot  James K. Polk became President of the United States in 1844  Polk helped start the Mexican War to take over western America  This war led to the Mormon Battalion and Utah becoming a U.S. Territory

Problems with Polygamy  The belief that a man can have more than one wife at the same time  Some Church members disagreed, left the Church, became enemies, and spread the word to others  The Final Blow  Destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor, an anti-Mormon newspaper  Mayor Smith ordered the city council to send police to destroy the press, said the paper threatened public safety  The press was wrecked, type destroyed, and papers ruined after only one printing  Smith’s enemies now felt they had a reason to arrest him

Carthage Jail and Mob Attack  Gov. Ford of Illinois promised Smith safety if he would appear for his freedom of the press trial (LIE)  Smith didn’t believe the governor so his friends came with him  June 27, 1844: a mob of 150 men attacked Carthage Jail where Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, John Taylor and Willard Richards were being held before the freedom of the press trial  The mob stormed the jail and broke into the second floor room where the men were being held and began firing their weapons  John Taylor was badly wounded and Willard Richards was not severely injured  Joseph and Hyrum Smith were both killed

Winter Quarters  Brigham Young ( new leader of church) says it is time to leave and move west  Young decided on a place in Nebraska which would be known as Winter Quarters (term used by mountain men and trappers)  Winter Quarters housed almost 4,000 Latter-day Saints by December. For the next two years, 8,000 LDS immigrants would also come

Problems at Winter Quarters  About 2,000 Mormons died in Winter Quarters between June 1846 and October  REASONS: 1. large storms  2. scarce supplies  3. malaria  4. inadequate shelters  5. long, traumatic journey Winter Quarters was the last stop before the trail to the west began for the Mormons.

Mormon Battalion  Asked by U.S. President Polk to help support the war with Mexico  Brigham Young agrees  believes this will help relations and fund the trek west  They never fought but marched to California  Were among the first to find Gold at Sutter’s Fort  Most returned to Utah  This is how Polk agreed to eventually make Utah a territory