Mormon Polygamy and the Construction of American Citizenship, 1852-1910 by Jenette Wood Crowley Department of History Duke University Date: ___________________________ Approved: ___________________________ Sarah Deutsch, Supervisor ___________________________ Laura Edwards ___________________________ John Thompson ___________________________ Grant Wacker Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History in the Graduate School of Duke University 2011 i v ABSTRACT Mormon Polygamy and the Construction of American Citizenship, 1852-1910 by Jenette Wood Crowley Department of History Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Sarah Deutsch, Supervisor ___________________________ Laura Edwards ___________________________ John Thompson ___________________________ Grant Wacker An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History in the Graduate School of Duke University 2011 Copyright by Jenette Wood Crowley 2011 Abstract From 1852 to 1910 Congress labored to find the right instruments to eliminate polygamy among the Mormons and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints struggled to retain its claim as the most American of institutions. What these struggles reveal about the shifting role of religion in the developing definition of American citizenship is at the heart of this dissertation. Looking at developing ideas about citizenship in this particular frame exposes the social and political history of exclusion and inclusion comes and the role religion played in determining who could lay claim to citizenship and who could not, who tried and failed, who succeeded, and why. In the end, the coercive measures of the state and their own desire to join the body politic drove the Saints to abandon unquestionably the practice of polygamy, a central tenet of their faith, so that they could be accepted as American citizens. The battle over polygamy and the rights of polygamists was not limited to the floor of the U.S. Congress or the Supreme Court, although those sources are carefully examined here. Debates over polygamy and Mormons’ right to be Americans also took place in sermons, novels, newspapers, and popular periodicals. Official actions of the state and popular discourses simultaneously defined citizenship and influenced how Mormons understood their own citizenship. This dissertation is a history of the discourse generated by Mormons and their antagonists, laws passed by Congress, and court cases fought to defend or deny the civil, political and social rights of Latter-day Saints. iv To Matt, Tommy and Charlie. I love you. v Contents Abstract.............................................................................................................................. iv Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: A People Apart................................................................................................ 25 Theocracy and National Standing............................................................................... 28 1852 ............................................................................................................................ 38 Polygamy Enters National Politics ............................................................................. 45 Reformation ................................................................................................................ 51 More Trouble with Judges .......................................................................................... 55 Mountain Meadows .................................................................................................... 60 The Utah War.............................................................................................................. 62 Denouement ................................................................................................................ 74 Chapter 2: The Threat of Polygamy ................................................................................. 77 Mormonism Threatens Western Civilization.............................................................. 80 Polygamy Destroys the American Family and Home ................................................ 85 Domestic Fiction and its Influence on Anti-Mormon Literature................................ 90 True American Women, Consent, and Slavery .......................................................... 92 Orientalism of Mormons and the Creation of a New Race....................................... 106 Politics of the Written Word..................................................................................... 112 Chapter 3: Rapidly Diverging Understandings of Religion and Citizenship.................. 115 Legislators Make the Case that Mormonism is Not a Religion................................ 120 The Cullom Bill ........................................................................................................ 128 The Poland Act ......................................................................................................... 135 vi The United States vs. George Reynolds and the Centrality of Monogamy to American Citizenship ................................................................................................................ 143 A Change in Course.................................................................................................. 154 Chapter 4: The Political and Legal Reconstruction of Utah........................................... 157 The Cullom Bill and Radical Reconstruction ........................................................... 159 Anti-Mormon Hysteria ............................................................................................. 165 Edmunds Act of 1882 ............................................................................................... 169 Political Reconstruction of Utah............................................................................... 187 Legal Reconstruction of Marriage ............................................................................ 200 Chapter 5: Building a White, Monogamous, Protestant Nation ..................................... 215 Edmunds-Tucker Act................................................................................................ 217 Sexuality ................................................................................................................... 221 Immigration .............................................................................................................. 226 Civil Rights ............................................................................................................... 234 Property and Faith..................................................................................................... 251 Dreams of Statehood................................................................................................. 258 Chapter 6: Becoming American ..................................................................................... 262 Public Acquiescence and Private Continuance......................................................... 267 The Saints Join the Union......................................................................................... 277 The Price of American Citizenship........................................................................... 287 Continued Cohabitation ............................................................................................ 296 New Plural Marriages ............................................................................................... 300 Continuing Revelation and Loyalty to the Nation .................................................... 304 vii Acceptance................................................................................................................ 312 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 319 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 327 Biography........................................................................................................................ 365 viii Introduction In June 2008, authorities within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called on California Mormons to donate their time and money to the campaign for Proposition 8, a measure that if passed would overturn a state Supreme Court ruling permitting gay marriage. In response to the Church’s calling, Latter-day Saints gave more than $20 million to the effort to pass the measure, helping the initiative win narrow passage on election day. The Church’s role in Proposition 8’s success made the Mormons a political target of those who opposed the measure. Protestors gathered outside Mormon temples across the country; for every donation made to a fund to overturn Proposition 8, a postcard was sent to the President of the Church; supporters of Gay marriage proposed a boycott of Utah businesses; and someone burned a Book of Mormon outside a temple near Denver. Many called for the Church’s tax-exempt status to end because it had so involved itself in political matters. 1 In response to the political backlash, the First