Than Faith: Latter-Day Saint Women As Politically Aware and Active Americans, 1830-1860 Kim M
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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Western Washington University Western Washington University Western CEDAR WWU Graduate School Collection WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship Spring 2017 More Than Faith: Latter-Day Saint Women as Politically Aware and Active Americans, 1830-1860 Kim M. (Kim Michaelle) Davidson Western Washington University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Davidson, Kim M. (Kim Michaelle), "More Than Faith: Latter-Day Saint Women as Politically Aware and Active Americans, 1830-1860" (2017). WWU Graduate School Collection. 558. https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/558 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in WWU Graduate School Collection by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. More Than Faith: Latter-Day Saint Women as Politically Aware and Active Americans 1830-1860 By Kim Michaelle Davidson Accepted in Partial Completion of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Kathleen L. Kitto, Dean of the Graduate School ADVISORY COMMITTEE Chair, Dr. Jared Hardesty Dr. Hunter Price Dr. Holly Folk MASTER’S THESIS In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at Western Washington University, I grant to Western Washington University the non- exclusive royalty-free right to archive, reproduce, distribute, and display the thesis in any and all forms, including electronic format, via any digital library mechanisms maintained by WWU. I represent and warrant this is my original work, and does not infringe or violate any rights of others. I warrant that I have obtained written permissions from the owner of any third party copyrighted material included in these files. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of this work, including but not limited to the right to use all or part of this work in future works, such as articles or books. Library users are granted permission for individual, research and non-commercial reproduction of this work for educational purposes only. Any further digital posting of this document requires specific permission from the author. Any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, is not allowed without my written permission. Kim Michaelle Davidson May 9, 2017 More Than Faith: Latter-Day Saint Women as Politically Aware and Active Americans 1830-1860 A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Western Washington University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts By Kim Michaelle Davidson May, 2017 Abstract I explore the political ideology and activity of female members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 1830 to 1860. Looking at personal sources such as diaries, letters, and poetry, this study posits Mormon women as intellectually active, politically engaged, and culturally aware in addition to religiously devout. This thesis first examines the ways in which early LDS women exhibited Democratic political ideology in the ways in which they viewed themselves and the ways in which they viewed the world around them. Looking at concepts such as “common woman” ideology, producerism, freedom rhetoric, Mormon-American exceptionalism, and Manifest Destiny within Mormon women’s personal writings, I demonstrate that many of these women joined countless other antebellum Americans in their embrace of Jacksonian political ideology. Finally, I explore early Mormon women’s political activity through Relief Society meetings, petitions, and patriotic celebrations, demonstrating that these women often prized democratic rhetoric while endorsing cultural and intellectual conformism to broader LDS policies and norms. By proposing that the Latter-Day Saint foremothers engaged in political thought and action in similar ways as LDS men and non-LDS Democrats, this thesis challenges historical views of Mormon women and the early LDS Church. iv Acknowledgements The origins of this thesis lie in the “needs and opportunities” section of my undergraduate capstone research paper, a passing comment by my advisor about the quality of my graduate school application writing sample, and the momentous growth of twenty-first century Mormon women’s political activity. My topic and arguments went through several iterations, and I owe a mountain of debt to the village of support whose inquiries, recommendations, and encouragement inspired this final product. None of this would have been possible without the feedback, suggestions, and vast knowledge of my committee members. Jared Hardesty believed in my work from the very beginning, coached me through archival research, and helped guide my panic into solid, well- evidenced research when a summer of reading nineteenth-century diaries took my thesis in new and entirely unanticipated directions. More than anything, Jared taught me what it meant to find the significance of my work, to value my academic voice amid the historiographical sea of PhDs, to feel indignation at the current state of the field, and to seek to change it through quality scholarship. For this, I will be forever grateful. Hunter Price’s work on the Second Great Awakening was a key factor in my decision to attend Western Washington University, and his expertise and insight shaped this thesis in countless ways. Hunter’s graduate seminars inspired the way I think and write about political culture and American religion, and every chapter of this thesis contains inquiries I developed in his seminars. Through hours of counsel and critique, Hunter patiently helped me craft fragmented streams of consciousness into historical arguments. This thesis and the future of my research is better for his wisdom. Holly Folk agreed to work with me at the last minute, and challenged my ideas in ways that I could not have conceived of alone. Her feedback and questions have particularly shaped the way I see Mormon women’s scholarship and faith in the academy. A special thanks also goes to the archivists and librarians at the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University and the Church History Library without whose assistance I could have never accessed critical sources, and to the WWU Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, who funded my research travels. Finally, I extend the greatest appreciation to my wonderful support system of family and friends. To my parents, who have supported my academic adventures even when they have taken me thousands of miles from home. To the ‘16, ‘17, and ‘18 history and ARM cohorts at WWU who listened patiently as I spoke endlessly of Mormon women and who sent me cat pictures when they sensed I was overwhelmed. And to James, whose brilliance, love, and endless conversation has made me a stronger thinker and a better person. This is for you. v Table of Contents Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………………... vi Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………. vii Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………... 1 “She prov’d her worth— She’s not the Queen of Earth”: Common Woman Ideology Among Latter-Day Saint Women…………………………………………………………………… 14 “The Love of Liberty… Inspires My Soul”: Latter-Day Saint Women’s Embrace of American Exceptionalism, Freedom Rhetoric, and Manifest Destiny……………………………………………………………………………. 43 “As Sisters in Zion, We’ll All Work Together”: Latter-Day Saint Women and Rugged Collectivity………………………………………… 70 Epilogue…………………………………………………………………………………… 100 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………. 109 vi Introduction Nancy Naomi Alexander Tracy left behind an invaluable document. Over fifteen thousand words, her autobiography is one of the only sources of her life which survived. Addressing the violence against Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois, she presented a view common east of the Mississippi, even among some of the Mormon detractors.1 Like many non- Mormon Americans who hailed the Jeffersonian vision of the incorruptible yeoman farmer, she echoed the popular view that a limited government in the hands of the people was superior to a large and potentially oppressive one, writing “The government could not possibly let us alone… our people knew they were strictly obedient to the laws of the land.” Still, U.S. troops “laid in ashes” “the hard-earned substance” of the Saints. 2 As she fled thirteen hundred miles from home, she inexplicitly embraced and perpetuated a democratic political ideology of self-rule, liberty, and willingness to employ violence to protect freedom. She was a “common woman,” one with few resources except for those provided by the Church, a limited education, and a poor background. Though her autobiography encapsulates the centrality of faith to her life, she also conveyed that Mormons in the west, most of whom had little or no political experience, could capably oversee the territory. Likewise, Tracy suggested that she, an ordinary woman, could competently judge their quality of governance. 1 Matthew Bowman, The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith (New York: Random House, 2012), 117. 2 Joseph Ellis writes that a central issue of identity in the early American republic was the paradigm of virtue and corruption. This idea effectively meant that those not within government have a civic duty to resist corruption and prevent corruption from occurring. One way to prevent personal corruption