Latter Day Saint polygamy in the late 19th century
Encyclopedia
Possibly as early as the 1830s, followers of the Latter Day Saint movement
(also known as Mormonism
), were practicing the doctrine of polygamy or "plural marriage". After the death of church founder Joseph Smith, Jr., the doctrine was officially announced in Utah by Mormon leader Brigham Young
in 1852, attributed posthumously to Smith, and the practice of polygamy began among Mormons at large, principally in Utah where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) had relocated after the Illinois Mormon War.
In the years after the church began practicing polygamy, it drew intense scrutiny and criticism from the United States government. This criticism led to the Mormon War
, and eventually the abandonment of the practice under the leadership of Wilford Woodruff
who issued the 1890 Manifesto
.
Orson Pratt
and LDS President Brigham Young
in a special conference of the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints assembled in the Mormon Tabernacle on 28 August 1852, and reprinted in the Deseret News Extra the following day. The announcement came nine years after the purported original revelation by Joseph Smith, and five years after the Mormon Exodus to Utah
following Smith's death in Illinois
. Young was unable to produce the original document and declared that Smith's widow Emma Smith had burned it. To this Emma Smith replied that she had never seen such a document, and added concerning the story that she had destroyed the original: "It is false in all its parts, made out of whole cloth, without any foundation in truth."
's platform
was a pledge "to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery".
Further tension grew due to the relationship between "Gentile" federal appointees and the Utah territorial leadership. The territory's Organic Act
held that the governor, federal judges, and other important territorial positions were to be filled by appointees chosen by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, but without any reference to the will of Utah's population. Many of these federally appointed officers were appalled by the practice of polygamy and the Mormon belief system in general, and would harangue the Mormons for their "lack of morality" in public addresses. This already tense situation was further exacerbated by a period of intense religious revival starting in late 1856 dubbed the "Mormon Reformation
."
The issue of polygamy among the Latter Day Saints in Utah was one of the contributing factors that lead to the Utah War
, in which the President of the United States dispatched an army to Utah to quell a perceived rebellion. In the midst of the American Civil War
, Republican majorities in congress were able to pass legislation meant to curb the Mormon practice of polygamy. One such act was the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
which was signed into law on July 8, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln
. The act banned plural marriage
and limited church and non-profit ownership in any territory of the United States to $
50,000. The act targeted the LDS Church ownership in the Utah Territory
. The measure had no funds allocated for enforcement, and thus it was not rigorously enforced against Mormons in Utah Territory. The Mormons, believing that the law unconstitutionally
deprived them of their First Amendment
right to freely practice their religion
, chose to ignore this law at this time.
Finally, the Poland Act
(18 Stat. 253) of 1874 was passed which sought to facilitate prosecutions under the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
by eliminating the control members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) exerted over the justice system of Utah Territory
. Sponsored by Senator
Luke P. Poland
of Vermont
, the Act redefined the jurisdiction
of Utah courts by giving the United States district court
s exclusive jurisdiction in Utah Territory over all civil
and criminal
cases. The Act also eliminated the territorial marshal and attorney, giving their duties to a U.S. Marshal
and a U.S. Attorney
. The Act also altered petit and grand jury
empaneling rules to keep polygamists off juries
. By removing Latter-day Saints from positions of authority in the Utah justice system, the Act was intended to allow for successful prosecutions of Mormon
polygamists
.
Immediately, under the act, the United States Attorney tried to bring leading church officials to trial. These efforts culminated in the sentencing of George Reynolds
to two years hard labor in prison and a fine of five hundred dollars for his practice of polygamy. In 1876 the Utah Territorial Supreme Court upheld the sentence. His 1878 Reynolds v. United States
appeal reached the United States Supreme Court, and in January 1879 that body ruled the anti-polygamy legislation constitutional and upheld Reynold’s prison sentence (it struck down the fine and hard labor portions). Reynolds was released from prison in January 1881, having served eighteen months of his original sentence.
In February 1882, George Q. Cannon
, a prominent leader in the church, was denied a non-voting seat in the House of Representatives due to his polygamous relations. This revived the issue in national politics. One month later, the Edmunds Act
was passed, amending the Morrill Act by declaring polygamy
a felony
, revoking the polygamists right to vote, making them ineligible for jury
service, and prohibiting them from holding political office. These restrictions were enforced regardless of whether an individual was actually practicing polygamy, or merely believed in the Mormon
doctrine of plural marriage
without actually participating in it. All elected offices in the Utah Territory
were vacated, an election board was formed to issue certificates to those who both denied polygamy and did not practice it, and new elections were held territory-wide.
Electoral obstacles to prosecution were now removed, and the new territorial officials began criminal prosecutions in ernest. Judge Charles S. Zane
, the Republican appointee of Chester A. Arthur
, handed down harsh sentences to church leaders, beginning with Rudger Clawson
.
Finally, the Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887 touched all the issues at dispute between the United States Congress
and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The act disincorporated both the Church and the Perpetual Emigration Fund
on the grounds that they fostered polygamy
. The act prohibited the practice of polygamy and punished it with a fine of from $500 to $800 and imprisonment of up to five years. It dissolved the corporation
of the church and directed the confiscation by the federal government of all church properties valued over a limit of $50,000.
In July of the same year, the U.S. Attorney General filed suit to seize the church and all of its assets. The act was enforced by the U.S. marshal
and a host of deputies. The act:
In 1890 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the seizure of Church property under the Edmunds-Tucker Act in The Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints v. United States
.
The church was losing control of the territorial government, and many members and leaders were being actively pursued as fugitives. Without being able to appear publicly, the leadership was left to navigate underground. Teaching new marriage and family arrangements where the principles that could not be openly discussed, compounded the problems. Those authorized to teach the doctrine had always stressed the strict covenants, obligations and responsibilities associated with it.
Following the aforementioned passage of the Edmunds-Tucker Act in 1887, the Church found it difficult to operate as a viable institution. Among other things, this legislation disincorporated the Church, confiscated its properties, and even threatened seizure of its temples.
, in his book In Sacred Loneliness, described many instances where some wives in polygamous marriages were unhappy with polygamy.
Mormon apologists claim that many women were very satisfied with polygamous marriages, and note that individuals such as Zina Huntington—a polygamous wife of Brigham Young—went on speaking tours as part of the suffrage movement touting the joys and benefits of plural marriage.
Philip Stewart Robinson was a traveling journalist for the Telegraph of London. In his "Sinners and Saints" he notes "I had expected to see men with long whips, sitting on fences, swearing at their gangs of wives at work in the fields. I expected every now and then to hear of druniken saints beating seven or eight wives all at once," but found no such thing. While continuing to disagree with the practice of polygamy, he found that
, and found that two of the girls were thirteen years old, 13 girls were fourteen years old, 21 were fifteen years old, and 53 were sixteen years old. LDS historian Todd Compton
documented that Joseph Smith, Jr. was sealed to two girls of age 14 and two girls of age 16. During the era of polygamy in Utah, the New York Times reported in 1857 cases of girls aged 10 and 11 being married to old men, and noting that marriages of girls aged 14 was "a very common occurrence". Historian Stanley Hirshson also noted these practices and cites the New York Times and several other sources as support.
Brigham Young
himself attempted to stamp out the practice of men being sealed to excessively young girls. In 1857, he stated "I shall not seal the people as I have done. Old Father Alread brought three young girls 12 & 13 years old. I would not seal them to him. They would not be equally yoked together...Many get their endowments who are not worthy and this is the way that devils are made."
stated (in an address to departing missionaries):
Apologists dispute the accuracy of the quote, as it cannot be corroborated by a second source such as the extensive (though incomplete) record of discourses in the Journal of Discourses
.
On another occasion, Kimball said "You are sent out as shepherds to gather the sheep together; and remember that they are not your sheep: they belong to Him that sends you. Then do not make a choice of any of those sheep; do not make selections before they are brought home and put into the fold." Critics of Mormonism interpret this to be a statement of "selecting" converts for plural marriages. This interpretation is disputed by apologists.
Mormon apologists dispute that there was a shortage of women, and advocate that polygamy was used at least in part to care for women who did not have husbands or were widows. LDS Apologists George L. Mitton and Rhett S. James of FARMS cite Brigham Young as encouraging single men to marry, stating that the incidence of polygamy would thus be reduced.
The precise number who participated in plural marriage is not known, but studies indicate a maximum of 20-25% of LDS adults were members of polygamist households. One third of the women of marriageable age and nearly all of the church leadership were involved in the practice.
, nineteenth wife of Brigham Young, claimed that Young coerced her to marry him by threatening financial ruin of her brother. However, LDS scholar Hugh W. Nibley disputed this claim, arguing that Ann Eliza and her mother had sought the marriage.
Mormon apologists claim that these were isolated cases, and the vast majority of wives consented willingly to plural marriage.
By September 1890, federal officials were preparing to seize the church’s four temples
and the U.S. Congress had debated whether to extend the 1882 Edmunds Act
so that all Mormon
s would be disenfranchised, not just those practicing plural marriage. The Supreme Court had already ruled in Davis v. Beason
that a law in Idaho Territory
which disenfranchised individuals who practiced or believed in plural marriage was constitutional.
Woodruff would later recount that on the night of September 23, 1890, he received a revelation
from Jesus Christ that the church should cease the practice of plural marriage. Woodruff announced the Manifesto on September 25 by publishing it in the church-owned Deseret Weekly in Salt Lake City. On October 6, 1890, during the 60th Semiannual General Conference of the church, the Manifesto was formally accepted
by the church membership.
The Manifesto was the end of official church authorization for the creation of new plural marriages that violated local laws. It had no effect on the status of already existing plural marriages, and plural marriages continued to be performed in locations where it was believed to be legal. As Woodruff explained at the general conference where the Manifesto was accepted by the church, "[t]his Manifesto only refers to future marriages, and does not affect past conditions. I did not, I could not, and would not promise that you would desert your wives and children. This you cannot do in honor." Despite Woodruff's explanation, some church leaders and members who were polygamous did begin to live with only one wife. However, the majority of Mormon polygamists continued to cohabit with their plural wives in violation of the Edmunds-Tucker Act
.
had become a state
and federal prosecution of Mormon polygamists subsided.
D. Michael Quinn
and other Mormon historians have documented that some church apostles covertly sanctioned plural marriages after the Manifesto. This practice was especially prevalent in Mexico
and Canada
because of an erroneous belief that such marriages were legal in those jurisdictions. However, a significant minority were performed in Utah and other western American states and territories. The estimates of the number of post-Manifesto plural marriages performed range from scores to thousands, with the actual figure probably close to 250. Today, the LDS Church officially acknowledges that although the Manifesto "officially ceased" the practice of plural marriage in the church, "the ending of the practice after the Manifesto was ... gradual."
However, Congress still refused to seat representatives-elect who were polygamists, including B.H. Roberts.
Rumors of post-Manifesto marriages surfaced and were examined in detail during a series of congressional hearings
on whether the United States Senate
should seat Mormon Apostle
Reed Smoot
, who was elected by the Utah
legislature in 1903. The hearings began in 1904 and continued until 1907, when the Senate finally voted to seat him. During the hearings, Smoot was given a provisional seat on the Senate and was allowed to vote. Smoot's chief opponents in the Senate were Senators Fred Dubois
of Idaho and Julius C. Burrows
of Michigan, who heavily criticized the church for its practice of polygamy. However, the opposition against Smoot was not universal among the senators with Senators such as Boies Penrose of Pennsylvania making sympathetic remarks on the issue.
In response to the hearings, church president Joseph F. Smith
issued a "Second Manifesto
" in 1904 which reaffirmed the church's opposition to the creation of new plural marriages and threatened excommunication for Latter-day Saints who continued to enter into or solemnize new plural marriages.
Apostles John W. Taylor
and Matthias F. Cowley
each resigned from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles due to disagreement with the church’s position on plural marriage. Plural marriage continues to be grounds for excommunication
from the LDS Church. The cessation of plural marriage within LDS Church gave rise to the Mormon fundamentalist movement.
(FLDS) and others.
does not, nor has ever adhered to the practice of polygamy. Notably, the FLDS church still adheres to the commandment as practiced in the early days of the movement. The LDS church (Strangite) does not observe polygamy, but recognizes the historical doctrine. Other sects in the Latter Day Saint movement have various opinions on the doctrine.
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
(also known as Mormonism
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
), were practicing the doctrine of polygamy or "plural marriage". After the death of church founder Joseph Smith, Jr., the doctrine was officially announced in Utah by Mormon leader Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
in 1852, attributed posthumously to Smith, and the practice of polygamy began among Mormons at large, principally in Utah where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) had relocated after the Illinois Mormon War.
In the years after the church began practicing polygamy, it drew intense scrutiny and criticism from the United States government. This criticism led to the Mormon War
Utah War
The Utah War, also known as the Utah Expedition, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between LDS settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the United States government. The confrontation lasted from May 1857 until July 1858...
, and eventually the abandonment of the practice under the leadership of Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff, Sr. was the fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1889 until his death...
who issued the 1890 Manifesto
1890 Manifesto
The "1890 Manifesto", sometimes simply called "The Manifesto", is a statement which officially disavowed the continuing practice of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
.
Official Sanction by the LDS Church
The Mormon doctrine of plural wives was officially announced by one of the Twelve ApostlesQuorum of the Twelve
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve was one of the governing bodies of the church hierarchy organized by the movement's founder Joseph Smith, Jr., and patterned after the twelve apostles of Christ In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the...
Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles...
and LDS President Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
in a special conference of the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints assembled in the Mormon Tabernacle on 28 August 1852, and reprinted in the Deseret News Extra the following day. The announcement came nine years after the purported original revelation by Joseph Smith, and five years after the Mormon Exodus to Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
following Smith's death in Illinois
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
. Young was unable to produce the original document and declared that Smith's widow Emma Smith had burned it. To this Emma Smith replied that she had never seen such a document, and added concerning the story that she had destroyed the original: "It is false in all its parts, made out of whole cloth, without any foundation in truth."
Early tension and the Utah War (1852-1858)
Polygamy was roundly condemned by virtually all sections of the American public. During the Presidential Election of 1856 a key plank of the newly-formed Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
's platform
Party platform
A party platform, or platform sometimes also referred to as a manifesto, is a list of the actions which a political party, individual candidate, or other organization supports in order to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having said peoples' candidates voted into political office or...
was a pledge "to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery".
Further tension grew due to the relationship between "Gentile" federal appointees and the Utah territorial leadership. The territory's Organic Act
Organic Act
An Organic Act, in United States law, is an Act of the United States Congress that establishes a territory of the United States or an agency to manage certain federal lands. The first such act was the Northwest Ordinance, enacted by the Congress of the Confederation in 1787 in order to create the...
held that the governor, federal judges, and other important territorial positions were to be filled by appointees chosen by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, but without any reference to the will of Utah's population. Many of these federally appointed officers were appalled by the practice of polygamy and the Mormon belief system in general, and would harangue the Mormons for their "lack of morality" in public addresses. This already tense situation was further exacerbated by a period of intense religious revival starting in late 1856 dubbed the "Mormon Reformation
Mormon Reformation
The Mormon Reformation was a period of renewed emphasis on spirituality within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It took place in 1856 and 1857 and was under the direction of President of the Church Brigham Young. During the Reformation, Young sent his counselor Jedediah M...
."
The issue of polygamy among the Latter Day Saints in Utah was one of the contributing factors that lead to the Utah War
Utah War
The Utah War, also known as the Utah Expedition, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between LDS settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the United States government. The confrontation lasted from May 1857 until July 1858...
, in which the President of the United States dispatched an army to Utah to quell a perceived rebellion. In the midst of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Republican majorities in congress were able to pass legislation meant to curb the Mormon practice of polygamy. One such act was the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act was a federal enactment of the United States Congress that was signed into law on July 8, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln...
which was signed into law on July 8, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. The act banned plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
and limited church and non-profit ownership in any territory of the United States to $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
50,000. The act targeted the LDS Church ownership in the Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
. The measure had no funds allocated for enforcement, and thus it was not rigorously enforced against Mormons in Utah Territory. The Mormons, believing that the law unconstitutionally
Constitutionality
Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...
deprived them of their First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
right to freely practice their religion
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
, chose to ignore this law at this time.
Aftermath and further legislation (1858-1890)
In the following years, several bills aimed at strengthening the anti-bigamy laws failed to pass the United States Congress. These included the Wade, Cragin, and Cullom bills which had their origin in the territory of Utah and were initiated by men who were bitterly opposed to the Mormon establishment. The Wade Bill initiated in 1866 would have destroyed local government if it had passed. Three years later the Cragin Bill was proposed, but within a few days it was substituted by the Cullom Bill, which was more radical than the Wade or Cragin bills. Members of the church worked for the defeat of the bill, including women of the church who held mass meetings throughout the territory in January 1870 in opposition to the bill.Finally, the Poland Act
Poland Act
The Poland Act of 1874 was an act of the United States Congress which sought to facilitate prosecutions under the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act by eliminating the control members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints exerted over the justice system of Utah Territory. Sponsored by Senator...
(18 Stat. 253) of 1874 was passed which sought to facilitate prosecutions under the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act was a federal enactment of the United States Congress that was signed into law on July 8, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln...
by eliminating the control members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) exerted over the justice system of Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
. Sponsored by Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Luke P. Poland
Luke P. Poland
Luke Potter Poland was a United States Senator and Representative from Vermont. Born in Westford, he attended the common schools and Jericho Academy. He taught at schools and studied law, being admitted to the bar in December 1836. He practiced in Morrisville...
of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, the Act redefined the jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
of Utah courts by giving the United States district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
s exclusive jurisdiction in Utah Territory over all civil
Civil law (common law)
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
and criminal
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
cases. The Act also eliminated the territorial marshal and attorney, giving their duties to a U.S. Marshal
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
and a U.S. Attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
. The Act also altered petit and grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
empaneling rules to keep polygamists off juries
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
. By removing Latter-day Saints from positions of authority in the Utah justice system, the Act was intended to allow for successful prosecutions of Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
polygamists
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
.
Immediately, under the act, the United States Attorney tried to bring leading church officials to trial. These efforts culminated in the sentencing of George Reynolds
George Reynolds
George Reynolds is a British businessman best known for his time as chairman of Darlington Football Club.Reynolds became involved in criminal activities during the 1950s, and spent six months in jail for smuggling watches from incoming ships in the 1960s...
to two years hard labor in prison and a fine of five hundred dollars for his practice of polygamy. In 1876 the Utah Territorial Supreme Court upheld the sentence. His 1878 Reynolds v. United States
Reynolds v. United States
Reynolds v. United States, , was a Supreme Court of the United States case that held that religious duty was not a suitable defense to a criminal indictment...
appeal reached the United States Supreme Court, and in January 1879 that body ruled the anti-polygamy legislation constitutional and upheld Reynold’s prison sentence (it struck down the fine and hard labor portions). Reynolds was released from prison in January 1881, having served eighteen months of his original sentence.
In February 1882, George Q. Cannon
George Q. Cannon
George Quayle Cannon was an early member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and served in the First Presidency under four successive presidents of the church: Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow...
, a prominent leader in the church, was denied a non-voting seat in the House of Representatives due to his polygamous relations. This revived the issue in national politics. One month later, the Edmunds Act
Edmunds Act
The Edmunds Act, also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882, is a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23, 1882, declaring polygamy a felony. The act is named for U.S. Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont...
was passed, amending the Morrill Act by declaring polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
a felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
, revoking the polygamists right to vote, making them ineligible for jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
service, and prohibiting them from holding political office. These restrictions were enforced regardless of whether an individual was actually practicing polygamy, or merely believed in the Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
doctrine of plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
without actually participating in it. All elected offices in the Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
were vacated, an election board was formed to issue certificates to those who both denied polygamy and did not practice it, and new elections were held territory-wide.
Electoral obstacles to prosecution were now removed, and the new territorial officials began criminal prosecutions in ernest. Judge Charles S. Zane
Charles S. Zane
Charles S. Zane was a legal associate of Abraham Lincoln, an anti-polygamy judge in the Territorial Supreme Court in Utah, and the first Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court after statehood.- Early life and education :...
, the Republican appointee of Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...
, handed down harsh sentences to church leaders, beginning with Rudger Clawson
Rudger Clawson
Rudger Judd Clawson was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1898 until his death in 1943...
.
Finally, the Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887 touched all the issues at dispute between the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The act disincorporated both the Church and the Perpetual Emigration Fund
Perpetual Emigration Fund
The Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company, commonly referred to as the Perpetual Emigration Fund , was a corporation established by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1849...
on the grounds that they fostered polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
. The act prohibited the practice of polygamy and punished it with a fine of from $500 to $800 and imprisonment of up to five years. It dissolved the corporation
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
of the church and directed the confiscation by the federal government of all church properties valued over a limit of $50,000.
In July of the same year, the U.S. Attorney General filed suit to seize the church and all of its assets. The act was enforced by the U.S. marshal
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
and a host of deputies. The act:
- Dissolved the LDS Church and the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company, with assets to be used for public schools in the Territory.
- Required an anti-polygamy oath for prospective voters, jurors and public officials.
- Annulled Territorial laws allowing illegitimate children to inherit.
- Required civil marriage licenseMarriage licenseA marriage license is a document issued, either by a church or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between countries and has changed over time...
s (to aid in the prosecution of polygamy). - Abrogated the common law spousal privilegeSpousal privilegeIn the law of the United States, the spousal privilege comprises two separate privileges, the marital confidences privilege and the spousal testimonial privilege....
to require wives to testify against their husbands - Disfranchised womenWomen's suffrageWomen's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
(who had been enfranchised by the Territorial legislature in 1870). - Replaced local judges (including the previously powerful Probate Court judges) with federally appointed judges.
- Removed local control in school textbook choice.
In 1890 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the seizure of Church property under the Edmunds-Tucker Act in The Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints v. United States
The Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints v. United States
The Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States, was a Supreme Court case that upheld the Edmunds-Tucker Act on May 19, 1890...
.
The church was losing control of the territorial government, and many members and leaders were being actively pursued as fugitives. Without being able to appear publicly, the leadership was left to navigate underground. Teaching new marriage and family arrangements where the principles that could not be openly discussed, compounded the problems. Those authorized to teach the doctrine had always stressed the strict covenants, obligations and responsibilities associated with it.
Following the aforementioned passage of the Edmunds-Tucker Act in 1887, the Church found it difficult to operate as a viable institution. Among other things, this legislation disincorporated the Church, confiscated its properties, and even threatened seizure of its temples.
Unhappiness associated with plural marriages
Critics of polygamy in the early LDS church claim that plural marriages often produced extreme unhappiness in some wives. LDS historian Todd ComptonTodd Compton
Todd Merlin Compton is an American historian in the fields of Mormon history and Classics.- Biographical background :Compton is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who lived for a number of years in Santa Monica, California. He has served an LDS mission to Ireland...
, in his book In Sacred Loneliness, described many instances where some wives in polygamous marriages were unhappy with polygamy.
Mormon apologists claim that many women were very satisfied with polygamous marriages, and note that individuals such as Zina Huntington—a polygamous wife of Brigham Young—went on speaking tours as part of the suffrage movement touting the joys and benefits of plural marriage.
Philip Stewart Robinson was a traveling journalist for the Telegraph of London. In his "Sinners and Saints" he notes "I had expected to see men with long whips, sitting on fences, swearing at their gangs of wives at work in the fields. I expected every now and then to hear of druniken saints beating seven or eight wives all at once," but found no such thing. While continuing to disagree with the practice of polygamy, he found that
Utah-born girls, the offspring of plural wives, haveHe believed that the negative representations of Mormons came universally "From anti-Mormons only".
figures that would make Paris envious; and they carry them-
selves with almost oriental dignity. There is nothing, so far
as I have seen, in the manners of Salt Lake City to make me
suspect the existence of that licentiousness of which so much
has been written.
Plural marriage used to justify immoral behavior with young girls
Richard Abanes claims that church leaders sometimes used polygamy to take advantage of young girls for immoral purposes. Historian George D. Smith studied 153 men who took plural wives in the early years of MormonismMormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
, and found that two of the girls were thirteen years old, 13 girls were fourteen years old, 21 were fifteen years old, and 53 were sixteen years old. LDS historian Todd Compton
Todd Compton
Todd Merlin Compton is an American historian in the fields of Mormon history and Classics.- Biographical background :Compton is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who lived for a number of years in Santa Monica, California. He has served an LDS mission to Ireland...
documented that Joseph Smith, Jr. was sealed to two girls of age 14 and two girls of age 16. During the era of polygamy in Utah, the New York Times reported in 1857 cases of girls aged 10 and 11 being married to old men, and noting that marriages of girls aged 14 was "a very common occurrence". Historian Stanley Hirshson also noted these practices and cites the New York Times and several other sources as support.
Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
himself attempted to stamp out the practice of men being sealed to excessively young girls. In 1857, he stated "I shall not seal the people as I have done. Old Father Alread brought three young girls 12 & 13 years old. I would not seal them to him. They would not be equally yoked together...Many get their endowments who are not worthy and this is the way that devils are made."
Shortage of wives caused by plural marriage
Richard Abanes argues that polygamy may have caused a shortage of brides in the early LDS community. The New York Times reported in 1860 that church leader Heber C. KimballHeber C. Kimball
Heber Chase Kimball was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement. He served as one of the original twelve apostles in the early Latter Day Saint church, and as first counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his...
stated (in an address to departing missionaries):
Brethren, I want you to understand that it is not to be as it has been heretofore. The brother missionaries have been in the habit of picking out the prettiest women for themselves before they get here, and bringing on the ugly ones for us; hereafter you have to bring them all here before taking any of them, and let us all have a fair shake.
Apologists dispute the accuracy of the quote, as it cannot be corroborated by a second source such as the extensive (though incomplete) record of discourses in the Journal of Discourses
Journal of Discourses
The Journal of Discourses is a 26-volume collection of public sermons by early leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . The first editions of the Journal were published in England by George D. Watt, the stenographer of Brigham Young...
.
On another occasion, Kimball said "You are sent out as shepherds to gather the sheep together; and remember that they are not your sheep: they belong to Him that sends you. Then do not make a choice of any of those sheep; do not make selections before they are brought home and put into the fold." Critics of Mormonism interpret this to be a statement of "selecting" converts for plural marriages. This interpretation is disputed by apologists.
Mormon apologists dispute that there was a shortage of women, and advocate that polygamy was used at least in part to care for women who did not have husbands or were widows. LDS Apologists George L. Mitton and Rhett S. James of FARMS cite Brigham Young as encouraging single men to marry, stating that the incidence of polygamy would thus be reduced.
The precise number who participated in plural marriage is not known, but studies indicate a maximum of 20-25% of LDS adults were members of polygamist households. One third of the women of marriageable age and nearly all of the church leadership were involved in the practice.
Coercion and deception related to plural marriage
Critics of polygamy in the early LDS church have documented several cases where deception and coercion were used to induce marriage, for example citing the case of Joseph Smith who warned some potential spouses of eternal damnation if they did not consent to be his wife. In 1893, married LDS church member John D. Miles traveled to England and proposed to Caroline Owens, assuring her that he was not polygamous. She returned to Utah and participated in a wedding, only to find out after the ceremony that Miles was already married. She ran away, but Miles hunted her down and raped her. She eventually escaped, and filed a lawsuit against Miles that reached the Supreme Court and became a significant case in polygamy case law. Ann Eliza YoungAnn Eliza Young
Ann Eliza Young also known as Ann Eliza Webb Dee Young Denning was one of Brigham Young's fifty-five wives and later a critic of polygamy...
, nineteenth wife of Brigham Young, claimed that Young coerced her to marry him by threatening financial ruin of her brother. However, LDS scholar Hugh W. Nibley disputed this claim, arguing that Ann Eliza and her mother had sought the marriage.
Mormon apologists claim that these were isolated cases, and the vast majority of wives consented willingly to plural marriage.
Incest
Critics of polygamy in the early LDS church claim that polygamy was used to justify marriage of close relatives that would otherwise be considered immoral. In 1843, Joseph Smith's diary records the marriage of John Bernhisel to his sister, Maria. In 1886, Lorenzo Snow said that brothers and sisters should be able to get married.Public opposition and anti-Mormon agitation
Opponents of the LDS Church found in polygamy a convenient cause célèbre. Opposition to the Church, especially among former Mormons, frequently focused, not upon the drawbacks of polygamy as a marriage system, but upon polygamy as a symptom of the depravity of Mormonism and Mormons in general. Former LDS church member and prominent critic Fanny Stenhouse wrote in 1875:It would be quite impossible, with any regard to propriety, to relate all the horrible results of this disgraceful system.... Marriages have been contracted between the nearest of relatives; and old men tottering on the brink of the grave have been united to little girls scarcely in their teens; while unnatural alliances of every description, which in any other community would be regarded with disgust and abhorrence, are here entered into in the name of God.
1890 Manifesto
In April 1889, Woodruff, then president of the church, began privately refusing the permission that was required to contract new plural marriages. In October 1889, Woodruff publicly admitted that he was no longer approving new polygamous marriages, and in answer to a reporter's question of what the LDS Church's attitude was toward the law against polygamy, Woodruff stated, "we mean to obey it. We have no thought of evading it or ignoring it." Because it had been Mormon practice for over 25 years to either evade or ignore anti-polygamy laws, Woodruff's statement was a signal that a change in church policy was developing.By September 1890, federal officials were preparing to seize the church’s four temples
Temple (LDS Church)
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord, and they are considered by Church members to be the most sacred structures on earth. Upon completion, temples are usually open to the public for a short period of time...
and the U.S. Congress had debated whether to extend the 1882 Edmunds Act
Edmunds Act
The Edmunds Act, also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882, is a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23, 1882, declaring polygamy a felony. The act is named for U.S. Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont...
so that all Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
s would be disenfranchised, not just those practicing plural marriage. The Supreme Court had already ruled in Davis v. Beason
Davis v. Beason
Davis v. Beason, 133 U.S. 333 , was a United States Supreme Court case affirming, by a 9-0 vote, that courts of the United States had jurisdiction to hear charges related to polygamy that is part of a religious belief, despite the free exercise clause of the First Amendment to the United States...
that a law in Idaho Territory
Idaho Territory
The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 4, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Idaho.-1860s:...
which disenfranchised individuals who practiced or believed in plural marriage was constitutional.
Woodruff would later recount that on the night of September 23, 1890, he received a revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
from Jesus Christ that the church should cease the practice of plural marriage. Woodruff announced the Manifesto on September 25 by publishing it in the church-owned Deseret Weekly in Salt Lake City. On October 6, 1890, during the 60th Semiannual General Conference of the church, the Manifesto was formally accepted
Common consent
Common consent is a democratic principle established by the Latter Day Saint movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., who taught in 1830 that "all things must be done in order, and by common consent in the church, by the prayer of faith." As it is most frequently used by the Church of Jesus Christ of...
by the church membership.
The Manifesto was the end of official church authorization for the creation of new plural marriages that violated local laws. It had no effect on the status of already existing plural marriages, and plural marriages continued to be performed in locations where it was believed to be legal. As Woodruff explained at the general conference where the Manifesto was accepted by the church, "[t]his Manifesto only refers to future marriages, and does not affect past conditions. I did not, I could not, and would not promise that you would desert your wives and children. This you cannot do in honor." Despite Woodruff's explanation, some church leaders and members who were polygamous did begin to live with only one wife. However, the majority of Mormon polygamists continued to cohabit with their plural wives in violation of the Edmunds-Tucker Act
Edmunds-Tucker Act
The Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887 was passed in response to the dispute between the United States Congress and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding polygamy. The act is found in US Code Title 48 & 1461, full text as 24 Stat. 635, with this annotation to be interpreted as Volume...
.
Aftermath, The Smoot Hearings, and the Second Manifesto
Within six years of the announcement of the 1890 Manifesto, UtahUtah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
had become a state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
and federal prosecution of Mormon polygamists subsided.
D. Michael Quinn
D. Michael Quinn
Dennis Michael Quinn is a historian who has focused on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a professor at Brigham Young University from 1976 until his resignation in 1988. At the time, his work concerned church involvement with plural marriage after the 1890 Manifesto, in which...
and other Mormon historians have documented that some church apostles covertly sanctioned plural marriages after the Manifesto. This practice was especially prevalent in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
because of an erroneous belief that such marriages were legal in those jurisdictions. However, a significant minority were performed in Utah and other western American states and territories. The estimates of the number of post-Manifesto plural marriages performed range from scores to thousands, with the actual figure probably close to 250. Today, the LDS Church officially acknowledges that although the Manifesto "officially ceased" the practice of plural marriage in the church, "the ending of the practice after the Manifesto was ... gradual."
However, Congress still refused to seat representatives-elect who were polygamists, including B.H. Roberts.
Rumors of post-Manifesto marriages surfaced and were examined in detail during a series of congressional hearings
Smoot Hearings
The Reed Smoot hearings were a series of Congressional hearings on whether the United States Senate should seat U.S. Senator Reed Smoot, who was elected by the Utah legislature in 1903...
on whether the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
should seat Mormon Apostle
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is one of the governing bodies in the church hierarchy...
Reed Smoot
Reed Smoot (U. S. Senator)
Reed Owen Smoot was a native-born Utahn who was first elected to the United States Senate from Utah in 1903, and served as a Senator until 1933...
, who was elected by the Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
legislature in 1903. The hearings began in 1904 and continued until 1907, when the Senate finally voted to seat him. During the hearings, Smoot was given a provisional seat on the Senate and was allowed to vote. Smoot's chief opponents in the Senate were Senators Fred Dubois
Fred Dubois
Fred Thomas Dubois was a controversial American politician who served two terms in the United States Senate from Idaho. He was best-known for his opposition to the gold standard and his efforts to disenfranchise Mormon voters....
of Idaho and Julius C. Burrows
Julius C. Burrows
Julius Caesar Burrows was a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan.-Early life and education:...
of Michigan, who heavily criticized the church for its practice of polygamy. However, the opposition against Smoot was not universal among the senators with Senators such as Boies Penrose of Pennsylvania making sympathetic remarks on the issue.
In response to the hearings, church president Joseph F. Smith
Joseph F. Smith
Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr. was the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
issued a "Second Manifesto
Second Manifesto
The "Second Manifesto" was a 1904 declaration made by Joseph F. Smith, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , in which Smith stated the church was no longer sanctioning marriages that violated the laws of the land and set down the principle that those entering into or...
" in 1904 which reaffirmed the church's opposition to the creation of new plural marriages and threatened excommunication for Latter-day Saints who continued to enter into or solemnize new plural marriages.
Apostles John W. Taylor
John Whittaker Taylor
John Whittaker Taylor was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was the son of John Taylor, the third president of the church...
and Matthias F. Cowley
Matthias F. Cowley
Matthias Foss Cowley , born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1897 until 1905. The town of Cowley in Wyoming is named after him. He was the father of Apostle Matthew Cowley by Abbie Hyde. ...
each resigned from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles due to disagreement with the church’s position on plural marriage. Plural marriage continues to be grounds for excommunication
Disciplinary council
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a disciplinary council is an ecclesiastical trial during which a member of the church is tried for alleged violations of church standards. If a member of the LDS Church is found guilty of an offence by a disciplinary council, he or she may be...
from the LDS Church. The cessation of plural marriage within LDS Church gave rise to the Mormon fundamentalist movement.
Fundamentalist reactions to the end of polygamy
The shift in doctrine regarding polygamy by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave rise to several sects of Mormon fundamentalism including the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day SaintsFundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is one of the largest Mormon fundamentalist denominations and one of the largest organizations in the United States whose members practice polygamy. The FLDS Church emerged in the early twentieth century when its founding members left...
(FLDS) and others.
Polygamy in the 20th Century
Currently the LDS church does not sanction polygamy and considers practitioners to be apostate and worthy of excommunication. The church still confirms that polygamy is a divine doctrine, but that observation of the practice is currently prohibited by God. The Community of ChristCommunity of Christ
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , is an American-based international Christian church established in April 1830 that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace"...
does not, nor has ever adhered to the practice of polygamy. Notably, the FLDS church still adheres to the commandment as practiced in the early days of the movement. The LDS church (Strangite) does not observe polygamy, but recognizes the historical doctrine. Other sects in the Latter Day Saint movement have various opinions on the doctrine.