Mormons! The Consummate American Religion. Nowadays Mormons are seen as strange (if nice) versions of Christians, but when Joseph Smith spread his beliefs in the 19th century, Mormonism was seen as an insane, heretical and dangerous cult, and faced violent suppression in the United States. After Joseph Smith was killed by an angry mob in Illinois, Mormons led by Brigham Young headed west to establish a colony where they would be free from oppression, which later became the state of Utah. This settlement actually came into conflict with an expansionist United States seeking to impose restrictions on their religious liberty, which led to the “Utah War” from 1857-1858. Today we’re covering Mormon secessionism and the dream of the state of Deseret. 

Joseph Smith was born in 1805 in Vermont to a Christian family caught up in the fervor of the 2nd Great Awakening that swept the United States in the 19th century, especially the region of upstate New York that the Smiths moved to. In 1820 the young Joseph had the first of a series of religious experiences which led him to found the Church of Latter Day Saints, called Mormons by outsiders in reference to the “Book of Mormon”, a scripture Smith claimed was revealed to him by an angel of the Lord. Smith and his growing number of followers moved first to Ohio and then, after a disastrous failure of the Kirtland Safety Society (The primary Mormon banking institution), to Missouri in 1831.

In Missouri the Mormon movement grew, and settlers came seeking Smith’s spiritual leadership. However, the close knit religious organization drew significant negative attention by “Gentile” (non-Mormon) residents, and Mormons were displaced from different parts of Missouri several times, culminating in the bloody 1838 Mormon War where the Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs ordered all Mormons to leave the state or be EXTERMINATED. The Latter Day Saints found a new home in Nauvoo, IL and started building their Nauvoo temple, a huge stone building that was to be the center of their nascent religion. Indeed, by 1844 Nauvoo was probably second only to Chicago in size, with 12,000 Mormon settlers. Smith was the Mayor of the city, as well as the general of the considerably sized Nauvoo Legion, a 2000 man strong Mormon militia. Likely drunk with power, Smith led a mob to destroy the press of a newspaper of a Mormon apostate. When he was jailed for this, his Nauvoo Legion broke him out but he was killed in the skirmish. The magnificent Nauvoo temple was burned down by a mob in 1848 and was not rebuilt until 2002.

Brigham Young, Joseph Smith’s successor, led the Mormons on an exodus in 1845 westward, through Iowa Territory, wintering in Nebraska (then Unorganized Territory) and crossing the border between U.S. control and Mexico’s, ending up in the Salt Lake valley while the Mexican-American War was raging in the South. A “Mormon Battalion” served in the war, mostly as proof that Mormons were not disloyal and treasonous as they were seen in Illinois and Missouri. Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 and after the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo transferred ownership of the land from Mexico to the United States Brigham Young and his followers were anxious to have their colony be the center of a great new State of the US, Deseret. In 1850, American Congress somewhat answered their petitions, creating the Utah Territory and appointing Young as Governor. Young, a loyal disciple of Joseph Smith, believed in the ideology of Theodemocracy. While sometimes misinterpreted (especially in their time) as an authoritarian theocracy, both Smith and Brigham were dedicated Jacksonian democrats, and Theodemocracy was really a faith based adherence to the US Constitution, Free trade, and laissez-faire. Unfortunately their affinity with Jackson and the Jacksonians also included support for slavery, and Young expanded the practice into the Utah Territory (which at the time consisted of most of Nevada and a chunk of western Colorado as well). At this point, the Mormons had a pretty sweet deal, but the revelation of systemic polygamy in the Utah Territory outraged Gentile Americans, and in 1857 incoming president Buchanan sent federal troops to stop the practice and remove Brigham Young as governor.

The Mormons, well used to violent suppression, were ready for a fight. A Nauvoo Legion General advised his subordinates on guerilla tactics, saying “On ascertaining the locality or route of the troops, proceed at once to annoy them in every possible way. Use every exertion to stampede their animals and set fire to their trains. Burn the whole country before them and on their flanks. Keep them from sleeping, by night surprises; blockade the road by felling trees or destroying the river fords where you can. Watch for opportunities to set fire to the grass on their windward, so as, if possible, to envelop their trains. Leave no grass before them that can be burned. Keep your men concealed as much as possible, and guard against surprise”. Little battle happened between federals and the Mormon militia, but 120 Gentile civilians were massacred by the Nauvoo Legionnaires at Mountain Meadows, and the officer responsible was later arrested and sentenced to death. The actual conflict was resolved peacefully, Young stepped down as Governor and a full pardon was granted to the Mormons after they accepted U.S. Authority. Thus officially ended any mass separatist movement among the Latter Day Saints. Ironically, Union occupation was cut short in 1861 when their fort was abandoned to go after the separatists in the South, leaving Utah with the plunder of 4 million dollars worth of goods while their “Babylon” (to the Mormon “Zion”) was tearing itself apart in the East.

The American government remained suspicious of Mormon loyalty and suspected polygamy. The Mormons, mistrustful of outsiders themselves, tried to create a self-sufficient, agricultural society in Utah, with Church directed cooperatives providing important infrastructure and a Church led boycott of all Gentile merchants until 1882. Brigham Young finally died in 1877, leaving behind a healthy religious movement that had been saved many times from near extermination. However, with the 1879 Reynolds decision declaring polygamy not protected by the constitution, the “plural marriage” question continued to hound the Latter Day Saints (the Church did not repudiate the practice until 1890) and Utah was one of the last Western territories to gain statehood in 1896 despite its relatively large population because of the fear of allowing a polygamist state into the Union. In 1898, Brigham H. Roberts was prevented from taking his seat in the US Congress for his past history of polygamy, and Reed Smoot (of the infamous Smoot-Hawley tarriff of 1930), while he wasn’t barred from being seated, had to put up with 5 years of congressional investigation taking up the lions’ share of his first term 1903-1909 all based on polygamous accusations. Through this the Church continued to grow quickly during the first half of the 20th century and the Mormon faith became more accepted in the greater American consciousness. While mainstream Mormons have totally rejected the tradition of polygamy, some dissenters have seen repression by Gentile governments, most prominently in the Short Creek raid of 1953, where 400 polygamist Mormons including 150 of their children were rounded up by the Arizona national guard, some never to see their children again. The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints has grown steadily through the 21st century and currently has 6.7 million members in the US, dominating Utah but having significant influence on neighboring western states and Hawaii as well.

In the past few years, some radical Mormons have created a “DezNat” or Deseret Nationalist community online, advocating a return to the independent state their forefathers founded 150 years ago. This revival is in its infancy, but if Mormons do retvrn to their tradition (™) if they follow the ideology of Theodemocracy, they will be a very welcome, liberal force among pan-secessionists in this world. Unlike an issue like slavery, polygamy no longer elicits the kind of murderous reaction among modern Gentiles, so an independent Utah of Latter Day Saints may feel free to embrace their former beliefs on marriage. After the persecution Mormons have suffered over their history, at Springtime of Nations we have nothing but well wishes for them. Long Live Deseret! And may 1000 flowers bloom.