Mormonism and polygamy
Many U.S. politicians were strongly opposed to the practice; the Republican platform even referred to polygamy and slavery as "the twin relics of barbarism.
Later, in 1852, Orson Pratt,[3] a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, publicly announced and defended the practice at the request of then-church president Brigham Young.
The church defended polygamy as a matter of religious freedom, while the federal government, in line with prevailing public opinion, sought to eradicate it.
[10] Historian Richard van Wagoner reports that Smith developed an interest in polygamy after studying parts of the Old Testament in which prophets had more than one wife.
[11]: 3 In the 1830s or early 1840s,[a] Latter Day Saint movement founder Joseph Smith secretly initiated a practice of religious polygamy among select members of the Church of Christ he founded.
[16] On July 12, 1843, Smith dictated and had recorded what he said was a revelation from God describing the theology and purpose of polygamy, relating it to biblical portrayals of polygamous marriage by Old Testament patriarchs such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
[25] Other leaders of the church taught that men who refused to have multiple wives were not obeying God's commandments and that they should step down from their priesthood callings.
[28] In a church-owned newspaper, an article speculates that men and women who refuse to practice polygamy will have a lesser station in the afterlife.
In a teaching manual published by the church in 2015, the practice of polygamy is described as a "test of faith" that brought Latter-day Saints closer to God.
Other recent church documents point to an increase in children as being why Mormons believe God commanded them to practice polygamy.
An article on the church's website states that early Mormons believed that they would receive blessings from God by obeying the commandment of polygamy.
[47][48][49] As of 2007[update], there were at least twelve early Latter Day Saints who, based on historical documents and circumstantial evidence, had been identified as potential Smith offspring stemming from polygamous marriages.
Records indicate that future church leaders, such as Brigham Young, John Taylor, and Heber C. Kimball, greatly opposed polygamy initially.
[31]: 382 An early leader of the church, Orson Pratt, defended polygamy by arguing that the practice was a result of divine revelation and that it was protected under the US Constitution as a religious freedom.
[57][better source needed] Sensational and often violent novels provided fictional stories about polygamy which fueled the public's dislike for the practice and Mormons.
For example, after surveying the Utah Territory, Captain Howard Stansbury concluded that most polygamous marriages were successful and there were good feelings between families.
The women of the Relief Society, encouraged by its president, Emma Smith, also wrote their experiences that disproved Bennett's statements.
One of the most concerning parts of the Cullom Bill for polygamists was that, if passed, anyone who practiced any type of non-monogamous relationship would not be able to become a citizen of the United States, vote in elections, or receive the benefits of the homestead laws.
[71] The Poland Act was a significant threat to Mormons practicing polygamy as it allowed for men who had multiple wives to be criminally indicted.
[72] In February 1882, George Q. Cannon, a prominent leader in the church, was denied a non-voting seat in the U.S. House of Representatives due to his polygamous relations.
"Unlawful cohabitation", in which the prosecution did not need to prove that a marriage ceremony had taken place (only that a couple had lived together), was a misdemeanor punishable by a $300 fine and six months imprisonment.
After visiting priesthood leaders in many settlements, church president Wilford Woodruff left for San Francisco on September 3, 1890, to meet with prominent businessmen and politicians.
He returned to Salt Lake City on September 21, determined to obtain divine confirmation to pursue a course that seemed to be agonizingly more and more clear.
[citation needed] In 1879, the Supreme Court ruled that a defendant cannot claim a religious obligation as a valid defense to a crime and upheld the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act in Reynolds v. United States.
The result was a 510-word handwritten manuscript which stated his intentions to comply with the law and denied that the church continued to solemnize or condone polygamous marriages.
[83][better source needed] Not surprisingly, rumors persisted of marriages performed after the 1890 Manifesto, and beginning in January 1904, testimony given in the Smoot hearings made it clear that polygamy had not been completely extinguished.
[citation needed] The ambiguity was ended in the General Conference of April 1904, when Smith issued the "Second Manifesto", an emphatic declaration that prohibited new polygamous marriages and proclaimed that offenders would be subject to church discipline.
The Quorum of the Twelve provided the newspapers with a one-sentence announcement, stating that the ground for excommunication was violation of the law of chastity.
[citation needed] Over time, many of those who rejected the LDS Church's relinquishment of polygamy formed small, close-knit communities in areas of the Rocky Mountains.
[99] Historian Todd Compton, in his book In Sacred Loneliness, described various cases where some wives in polygamous marriages were unhappy with polygamy.
