Mormonism, also known as the Church of Latter-day Saints (LDS), is a restorationist Christian movement that was founded by Joseph Smith in the 1820s and 1830s. The denomination believes that the Bible is made up of three parts instead of two: the Old and New Testaments, as well as the Mormons' own sacred text, the Book of Mormon, which was handed down to Smith in 1823.
History[]
Origin[]
The golden plates
During the 1820s, the young upstate New York farmer Joseph Smith experienced several angelic visions from God, Jesus, the apostles, and the angel Moroni. In 1823, the angel Moroni led him to the Hill Cumorah and told him to dig up a stone box containing gold plates, which contained the history of Moroni's people. The plates stated that a group of Jews led by Lehi left Jerusalem in 600 BC and eventually sailed to the "promised land" of the Americas at God's command, and that Jesus visited their descendants after his resurrection. Smith also had a vision in which he was given the "Melchizedek priesthood" by the apostles, and he became an evangelist during the Second Great Awakening. In 1829, Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and other early followers began baptizing new converts, and he translated the golden plates into the "Book of Mormon", which he claimed was a third part to the Bible. He also claimed that the Mormon church was the restored church of Jesus during the early days of Christianity.
From Ohio to Illinois[]
The city of Nauvoo
The Mormons later moved west to Kirtland, Ohio, which became a thriving community due to the arrival of new converts. There, they built the Kirtland Temple, but continued conflict with local non-Mormons forced the Mormons to once again relocate. This time, they settled in Missouri, and their number swelled to 10,000 people. They were expelled from Jackson County in 1833 and were militarily defeated in the 1838 Mormon War, during which Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs issued an executive order to exterminate the Mormons. The Mormons were forced to flee again, and Smith and his followers built the new colony of Nauvoo in Illinois. This, too, became a thriving town, and Smith sent out the first Mormon missionaries to attract new converts from abroad. Nauvoo's population was bolstered by immigration from overseas converts, runaway African-American converts, and by Mormon refugees from Missouri and other areas, and it soon had 12,000 residents. Tensions between the Mormons and non-Mormons remained high, and Smith was arrested for having his followers destroy an anti-Mormon newspaper. He was jailed in Carthage, Illinois, where he and his brother Hyrum Smith were killed by an angry mob.
Exodus[]
The Mormons travelling west
The largest group of Mormons, the LDS Church, accepted Brigham Young as their new leader, and they emigrated to what became the Utah Territory, where they founded Salt Lake City. There, the church began the practice of plural marriage, and vigorous moral opposition from the US Congress threatened the church's existence as a legal institution. In 1890, the church was forced to abolish plural marriage, leading to some fundamentalist offshoots being formed.
The Mormons also settled in Idaho and Arizona, and they soon posed a threat to the United States government, as the Mormons sought to create their own independent country of Deseret. From 1857 to 1858, the US Army fought against the Mormons in the Utah War, which led to Young being replaced as Governor of the Utah Territory and the Mormons' acceptance of US federal authority. Since then, the Mormons have become a large community in Utah, Idaho, and other Rockies states. The LDS Church extended its reach internationally with a vigorous missionary program, and it grew to have a membership of over 15 million people.