Durham E-Theses Mormonism in Illinois 1839-1847: a study of the development of socio-religious conict Hampshire, Annette Pauline How to cite: Hampshire, Annette Pauline (1979) Mormonism in Illinois 1839-1847: a study of the development of socio-religious conict, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/8109/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 ABSTRACT This thesis is a sociological account of the development of conflict between a religious group, the Mormons, and the society which acted as their host, mid nineteenth century Illinois. It traces the deterioration of the relationship between the Mormons and their host from one of friendly sympathy to one of open warfare, and seeks to explain this decline with the aid of sociological concepts. It does not attempt to put forward a theory of conflict, nor to give a history of Mormonism in Illinois. Rather, it attempts to give as full an account as possible of one instance of conflict and place this particular sect in its social and historical context. The thesis first considers whether social-structural conditions in Illinois, prior to Mormon entry, in conjunction with the scapegoat theory of prejudice, can help to explain the generation of hostility. It then goes on to consider possible alternative explanations emphasising the interaction between Mormon and Gentile within the context of Illinois society. The analysis concerns itself with the reasons why the Mormons were welcomed into the state and the possible influence which Gentile expectations had on subsequent definition of the Mormons as deviant. The escalating effects of the failure of two strategies designed to win the struggle namely, the use of institutional facilities and mounting a moral crusade, are then examined. This is followed by an assessment of the reasons for the deterioration of the situation into violence and for the routinisation of this violent response. Finally, the effect of the conflict experience upon the development of the Mormons as a religious sect is considered. ii Mormonism in Illinois 1839-1847: A Study of the Development of Soeio-Religious Conflict Annette.Pauline. Hampshire. Ph.D. University of Durham, Department of Sociology, 1979. Copyright: The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without'her prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. iii Table of Contents Pages Introduction 1-18 (Notes for the Introduction begin on p. 17). Chapter 1: The Host Society, Social Change and ScapegoatIng 19-51 (Notes for Chapter 1 begin on p. 46). Chapter 2: The Welcome 52-90 (Notes for Chapter 2 begin on p. 84). Chapter 3: Disenchantment 1840-1841 91-135 (Notes for Chapter 3 begin on p. 127). Chapter 4: The Struggle for Control 1842-1843 136-193 (Notes for Chapter 4 begin on p. 184). Chapter 5: The Moral Crusade and the Enemy Within 1842-1843 194-225 (Notes for Chapter 5 begin on p. 22l). Chapter 6: The Eruption of Violence 1844 226-273 (Notes for Chapter 6 begin on p. 265). Chapter 7: The Triumph of "Mobocracy" 1844-1847 274-334 (Notes for Chapter 7 begin on p. 32l). Pages Chapter 8: Conflict and Sect Development 335-367 (Notes for Chapter 8 begin on p. 565). Appendices: 368- 393 Appendix 1: Anti-Mormon Personnel 369- 372 Appendix 2: Election Returns for Hancock County 373-384 Appendix 3: The Nauvoo City Charter 385-393 Bibliography 394-438 Map Map of Hancock County based on the Eiley, follows Hill, Campbell Survey circa. 1843. (Made p. 182 available and reproduced by the Geography Department, Brigham.Young University). List of Plates Following Page The Missouri Persecutions 64 (Made available and reproduced by the Historical Dept., Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) Joseph.Smith in the uniform of the Nauvoo Legion 113 (Made available and reproduced by the Historical Dept., Church of Jesus Ghrist of Latter-Day Saints) Thomas.Sharp, Editor of the Warsaw Signal 142 (Made available by the British Library, reproduced by Brigham.Young Univ.) Interior of the Mansion House, Nauvoo as it 215 has been restored today, showing a portrait of Emma.Smith, wife of Joseph.Smith. (Made available by Joseph.Smith Historic Centre, reproduced by Brigham.Young Univ.) Pen Sketch of Joseph.Smith signed and dated 1844 254 (Made available and reproduced by Brigham. Young Univ.) Nauvoo circa. 1845-1846 looking from the "flat" 311 towards the Temple. (Made available by the Illinois State Historical Library, reproduced by Brigham.Young Univ.) Declaration: This thesis is the individual work of the author. No part of the thesis has been submitted for any degree in this (Durham) or any other University. Acknowledgments This thesis has relied on the help of libraries and historical societies too numerous to mention individually. I should like to thank them all for so readily making material available to me. Acknowledgment of individual institutions is given via courtesy lines in the bibliography. Courtesy lines do not appear in Chapter end notes. In particular I should like to thank the Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints, Salt Lake City; Brigham.Young University; Paul. Edwards of the Reorganised Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and the inter-library loan staff of the University of Durham Library, Palace Green. Donald.Rateliffe of the History Department, University of Durham,, and Professor Robert.Sutton of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been especially helpful in reading draft Chapters, answering queries and offering encouragement. My greatest debt is to my supervisor, Jim.Beckford, for reading all the Chapters and for his patient encouragement and criticism. Introduction This study began with an interest in the conflict which often occurs between a religious group and the society which acts as its host. Numerous lines of inquiry suggested themselves concerning the origins of such conflicts - how they developed and how they came to an end. The role of doctrine in precipitating conflict was also an early topic of interest. In narrowing down such a broad interest into manageable proportions two very basic problems had to be dealt with. Firstly, some analytical decisions had to be taken as to what one would count as an instance of "conflict" and how one should approach a study of it. The nature and causes of human conflict have been debated so often that any student approaching the literature is overwhelmed by its volume and variety. Before any empirical analysis was possible, however, some rudimentary decisions had to be taken concerning the relative merits of the existing approaches to conflict in terms of their potential usefulness in studying such a conflict as was envisaged. The second problem was choosing a suitable instance of what could be identified as "conflict" between a religious group and its host society. This was no less formidable a task than the first, given the plethora of religious groups which have been at the centre of disturbances in their social environments. It is the aim of this Introduction to outline the answers that were found to these two methodological problems. Approaching the Study of Conflict Given the vastness of the literature on conflict it is obviously impossible, even if advisable, to present a systematic review of existing work. What is intended here is to place the thesis in the context of extant approaches to the study of conflict - to clarify which types of approach will be used and which avoided. Very generally, the literature on conflict shows that there cannot be one definitive approach. One can also clearly detect a tendency inherent in many studies to over-emphasise questions of how to define conflict and where to locate "the" cause of conflict within a given social structure. Such quests for all-embracing definitions and mono-causal explanations of conflict lead to a neglect of social processes which might influence the development or escalation of a conflict situation. At the macro-sociological level, two extreme approaches compete for acceptance as general theories of society and of social conflict, namely functionalism and endemic conflict theory. The debate at the level of general theory is concerned with whether conflict is inevitable and how consequential it is for society, as well as seeking to locate "the" basis of conflict within the fabric of society. Punctionalism projects a view of society in which conflict, if its existence is explicitly admitted, is never considered disruptive of an underlying social order. Society is formally conceived as composed of inter-acting subsystems which are mutually inter-dependent and symbiotic. This encourages the belief that society, on the whole, maintains itself in a state of static harmony. This tendency to view society as in a constant state of equilibrium has led to criticism of functionalist interpretation on the grounds that it can not deal with social change.