Posted by Dose of History
In 1831 Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon church, moved from New York to Kirtland, Ohio, announcing that he had received a vision for God decreeing that all Mormons were to gather and settle there. As followers flocked to Kirtland, they were met with suspicion and hostility.
The tensions between Mormons and non-Mormons in Kirtland would be repeated wherever the rapidly growing Mormon community gathered and settled. Non-Mormon residents feared that the Mormons would take over their local governments and dominate the communities. Non-Mormons also often reacted angrily both to Mormon doctrine declaring that all other Christian denominations were illegitimate and to rumors that the Mormons practiced polygamy. In March 1832 anti-Mormon militants took Smith from his home in Kirkland and tarred and feathered him. Meanwhile anti-Mormon residents in Jackson County, Missouri attacked the Mormon community there and drove it out of the county, into neighboring Clay County.
After the failure of a bank he had established in Kirtland, Smith and the rest of the Mormon community there relocated to the Mormon community in Clay County, Missouri. Tensions escalated after a Mormon leader there declared during a 4th of July speech that a “war of extermination” was impending between Mormons and non-Mormons. Brawls broke out in August as anti-Mormon residents tried to prevent Mormons from voting in the state election. With conflicts and mutual distrust increasing, a few months later the governor of Missouri declared that “The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State.” Soon afterwards 17 Mormons were killed when their community was attacked by an anti-Mormon militia, and the Mormon community was forced to flee Missouri.
Seeking a safe haven, the Mormons bought a small town in western Illinois, changing its name from Commerce to Nauvoo. With Smith as its mayor, chief judge, and militia commander, the settlement boomed and within a few years the population of Nauvoo had swelled to over 12,000, making it nearly as populous as Chicago.
Local anti-Mormon sentiment grew as the Mormons became more dominant, and non-Mormons were alarmed by Smith’s announcement in 1844 that he intended to run for President of the U.S. The situation came to a boil after Smith ordered the destruction of the presses of a Nauvoo newspaper owned by dissident Mormons, following its publication of an editorial challenging Smith and denouncing polygamy. The destruction of the printing press inflamed anti-Mormon sentiment in Illinois and Governor Thomas Ford had Smith and his brother arrested for inciting a riot. The two men surrendered and were jailed in nearby Carthage. Four days later a mob broke into the jail and murdered them both. Five men were ultimately charged with the murders, but they were all acquitted. Illinois revoked Nauvoo’s charter and mob violence against Mormons increased.
Convinced that they needed to find a place they could live safely and peaceably, in 1846 the Mormon community began the great migration that would eventually take them to the Utah territory—a story for another day.
The painting is “Crossing the Mississippi on the Ice,” by C. C. A. Christensen, depicting Mormons leaving Nauvoo in February 1846.
* * *
Avail of easy and fast online loan at
www.tala.com Philippines
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=122788.0
