Polygamy in the Territory of Utah

1. Chapter 11: The Struggle for Statehood Polygamy in the Territory of Utah

2. Bell Activity This is still a no gum class. Please dispose of it properly! • Your words are “confiscate” & “verdict” • Find the word on your tan study guide and complete the following information for the word. • Find the definition using a glossary. • Use your own knowledge and experience to complete the rest of the definition. • Where should your backpack be?

3. Does your work look something like this?

4. Does your work look something like this?

5. Does your work look something like this?

6. This is still a no gum class. Please dispose of it properly! Bell Activity • Take out a piece of paper. Put your name, hour, and today’s date on it. • Write the title “Utah: The Struggle For Statehood 5” on it. • Write “Brother Brigham (II)” on the first line. Then count down 5 more lines. • Add the rest of these titles following the same pattern: • The Principle • “I Will Obey God” • The Crackdown – 16:28 • The Worthy Men • The Underground • The Solution • The Lobby • The Raids • Heaven and Earth • Where should your backpack be?

7. Bell Activity This is still a no gum class. Please dispose of it properly! • Your word is “comply” • Find the word on your tan study guide and complete the following information for the word. • Find the definition using a glossary. • Use your own knowledge and experience to complete the rest of the definition. • Where should your backpack be?

8. Does your work look something like this?

9. Does your work look something like this?

10. Today we will learn… • History Objective – We will be able to describe some of the reasons why it took Utah nearly 50 years to become a state. • Language Objective – We will read a section of the book with a partner, and answer questions with the information we learn. • Behavior Objective – Work Ethic and Collaboration

11. Simple Summaries - • Look at question #2 in your study guide. • To complete this question, you need to write a simple summary of each paragraph you read. • Start with the key word for each topic. • After the key word, write what the Mormons thought about the topic you read about. • Then write a description of what non-Mormons thought about the same topic. • These should be opposite ideas. Work with your group on this activity for 15 minutes. If you finish #2, work on questions 1 & 3.

12. Example - Unity • Unity – (Mormon point of view) (non-Mormon point of view) • Work with your group on this activity for 15 minutes. If you finish #2, work on questions 1 & 3.

13. Bell Activity This is still a no gum class. Please dispose of it properly! • Your words are “suffrage” & “oppressed” • Find the word on your white study guide and complete the following information for the word. • Find the definition using a glossary. • Use your own knowledge and experience to complete the rest of the definition. • Where should your backpack be?

14. Does your work look something like this?

15. Does your work look something like this?

16. Today we will learn… • History Objective – We will be able to describe the role polygamy played in delaying Utah’s statehood, and the effects anti-polygamy laws had on the people of Utah. • Language Objective – We will listen to the presentation and write down the important details from it that will help us understand this topic. • Behavior Objective – Work Ethic

18. In the Court of Public Opinion • Victorian America was shocked and fascinated by stories of polygamy. • Many supposedly “true stories” about life in the polygamist Mormon society were published in books. • Even the first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, was about the scandalous subject. • Public personalities, like Mark Twain, traveled to Utah on the new railroad to see and write about the locals.

19. Punishing Federal Laws • When the Republican party came to power during the Civil War, they used their position to fulfill their campaign promises to eliminate the “twins of barbarism - slavery and polygamy” in the territory. • Over the next 25 years, legislation was passed to punish polygamists and the LDS Church.

20. The Laws • The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act (1862) made being married to more than one person at a time a crime. • It also limited the amount of property a church in the territories could own. • The Edmunds Act (1882) stated that polygamy was punishable by five years in prison and $500 fine. • Polygamists could not hold political office, serve on juries or vote. • The Edmunds-Tucker Act (1887) took away suffrage from all Utah women and polygamist men. • Abolished the militia and confiscated all the property of the LDS Church.

21. The Underground • When the Edmunds Act was passed, some polygamists went to prison. • The law caused many polygamist men and women to go into hiding through out the Utah Territory. • Others went to eastern states, Canada, Europe, and Mexico.

22. Polygamy Goes to Court • Members of the Mormon Church believed that polygamy was protected under the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. • The test was Reynolds v. United States. • The court ruled that, while religious beliefs were protected, religious practice was subject to the laws of the land.

23. Cohabs and Informers • Federal Officials were sent to Utah to conduct “cohab hunts.” • Informants were paid $20 for each polygamist who was arrested as a result of their information. • Many men went to prison rather than abandon their families.

24. The Passing of LDS Leaders • In 1877, Brigham Young died in Salt Lake City. • John Taylor became the president of the LDS Church. • He told polygamist men that it was better to go underground than go to prison. • Taylor died in hiding in 1887.

25. Woman’s Suffrage • People who heard the stories of polygamy, true and false, thought that Mormon women were oppressed. • Many believed that if Utah women could vote, they would end polygamy in Utah Territory themselves. • Only Wyoming women had the vote before Utahns.

26. Women’s Suffrage Revoked • When it became clear that the women of Utah were not turning on polygamy, the Edmunds-Tucker Act took away their right to vote. • Utah women remained actively involved in the women’s rights movement that eventually resulted in female suffrage at a national level.

27. The Manifesto • As the end of the 19th century approached, it became clear to the Mormon community that they would never be able to live their religion as they believed they should. • Church President Wilford Woodruff issued a Manifesto that advised LDS church members to not enter into any more polygamist marriages.

28. Polygamy and the LDS Church Today • The official LDS church has not practiced polygamy since the Manifesto. • A second Manifesto in 1904 made polygamy an excommunicatable action in the LDS church. • Splitter groups, such as the FLDS Church, still practice polygamy.

29. A Roadblock Removed • This eliminated one of the last roadblocks to Utah becoming a state. • However, Utah still needed to convince the rest of the nation that they were ready to become full citizens of the nation.