Editing Mormonism and polygamy (section)

==== Wade, Cragin, and Cullom Bills ====
The Wade, Cragin, and Cullom Bills were anti-bigamy legislation that failed to pass in the US Congress. The bills were all intended to enforce the Morrill Act's prohibition on polygamy with more punitive measures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Toler |first=Lorianne Updike |date=October 2019 |title=Western Reconstruction and Women's Suffrage |url=https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1917&context=wmborj |journal=William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=147–170}}</ref> The Wade Bill of 1866 had the power to dismantle local government in Utah.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Poll |first=Richard D. |date=1986 |title=The Legislative Antipolygamy Campaign |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43042251 |journal=Brigham Young University Studies |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=107–121 |issn=0007-0106 |jstor=43042251 |jstor-access=free}}</ref> Three years after the Wade Bill failed, the Cragin Bill, which would have eliminated the right to a jury for bigamy trials, was introduced but not passed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Prior |first=David |date=2010-09-10 |title=Civilization, Republic, Nation: Contested Keywords, Northern Republicans, and the Forgotten Reconstruction of Mormon Utah |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/14/article/392714 |journal=Civil War History |language=en |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=283–310 |doi=10.1353/cwh.2010.0003 |s2cid=145660564 |issn=1533-6271}}</ref> After that, the Cullom Bill was introduced. One of the most concerning parts of the Cullom Bill for polygamists was that, if passed, anyone who practiced any type of non-monogamous relationship would not be able to become a citizen of the United States, vote in elections, or receive the benefits of the homestead laws. The leadership of the church publicly opposed the Cullom Bill. Op-eds in church-owned newspapers declared the bill as unjust and dangerous to Mormons.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women's History |publisher=Church Historian's Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-62972-150-7 |editor-last=Derr |editor-first=Jill Mulvay |at=3.12 |chapter=Minutes of 'Ladies Mass Meeting,' January 6, 1870 |editor-last2=Madsen |editor-first2=Carol Cornwall |editor-last3=Holbrook |editor-first3=Kate |editor-last4=Grow |editor-first4=Matthew J. |chapter-url=https://www.churchhistorianspress.org/the-first-fifty-years-of-relief-society/part-3/3-12?lang=eng}}</ref>

The introduction of the Cullom Bill led to protests by Mormons, particularly Mormon women. Women organized indignation meetings to voice their disapproval of the bill.<ref name=":0" />{{rp|xii}} The strong reaction of Mormon women surprised many onlookers and politicians. Outside of the church, Mormon women were seen as weak and oppressed by their husbands and the men of the church. The political activism in support of polygamy of Mormon women was unexpected from a group that had been portrayed as powerless.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kitterman |first=Katherine |date=2020-03-16 |title=How Utah Women Gained the Right to Vote in 1870 (Part 2) |url=https://www.utahwomenshistory.org/2020/03/how-utah-women-gained-the-right-to-vote-in-1870-part-2/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=Better Days 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=xii–xvi}}