Editing Mormons (section)

=== Beginnings ===
{{See also|History of the Latter Day Saint movement}}

[[File:Joseph Smith first vision stained glass.jpg|left|thumb|upright|A stained glass window of [[Joseph Smith|Joseph Smith's]] 1820 [[First Vision]]]]

The Mormon movement began with the publishing of the Book of Mormon in March 1830, which Smith claimed was a translation of [[golden plates]] containing the religious history of an ancient American civilization that the ancient prophet-historian [[Mormon (Book of Mormon)|Mormon]] had compiled. Smith stated that [[Angel Moroni|an angel]] had directed him to the [[golden plates]] buried in the [[Cumorah|Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2008|p=19}}.</ref> On April 6, 1830, Smith founded the [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].<ref>Scholars and eye-witnesses disagree as to whether the church was organized in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] at the Smith log home, or in [[Fayette, New York|Fayette]] at the home of [[Peter Whitmer Sr.]] {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=109}}; {{Harvtxt|Marquardt|2005|pp=223–23}} (arguing that organization in Manchester is most consistent with eye-witness statements).</ref> In 1832, Smith added an account of [[First Vision|a vision]] he had sometime in the early 1820s while living in Upstate New York.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2008|pp=1, 9}}; {{Harvtxt|O'Dea|1957|p=9}}; {{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5Zx9qOay304C&pg=PA30 |title = Joseph Smith and the Origins of the Book of Mormon |first = David |last = Persuitte |page = 30 |publisher = McFarland |date = October 2000 |access-date = January 25, 2012 |isbn = 9780786484034 }}.</ref> Some Mormons regarded this vision as the most important event in human history after the birth, ministry, and [[resurrection of Jesus]] Christ.<ref name="LDS Church 2010">{{cite web |author = LDS Church |title = Joseph Smith Home Page/Mission of the Prophet/First Vision: This Is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! |year = 2010 |url = http://josephsmith.net/article/the-first-vision |access-date = April 29, 2010 }}; {{Harvtxt|Allen|1966|p=29}} (belief in the First Vision now considered second in importance only to belief in the divinity of Jesus.); {{Cite journal |title = What Are People Asking about Us? |last = Hinkley |first = Gordon B. |journal = [[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]] |issue = November |year = 1998 |url = http://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/ensign/1998/11/what-are-people-asking-about-us |access-date = May 30, 2019 |archive-date = July 5, 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200705085517/http://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/ensign/1998/11/what-are-people-asking-about-us |url-status = live }} ("[N]othing we teach, nothing we live by is of greater importance than this initial declaration.").</ref>

The early church grew westward as Smith sent missionaries to proselytize.<ref>{{Harvtxt|O'Dea|1957|p=41}} (by the next spring the church had 1,000 members).</ref> In 1831, the church moved to [[Kirtland, Ohio]], where missionaries had made a large number of converts<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=97}} (citing letter by Smith to Kirtland converts, quoted in {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=111}});  {{Harvtxt|O'Dea|1957|p=41}}.</ref> and Smith began establishing an outpost in [[Jackson County, Missouri]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=154}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=162}}; {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=109}}.</ref> where he planned to eventually build the city of [[Zion (Latter Day Saints)|Zion]] (or the [[New Jerusalem]]).<ref>Smith said in 1831 that God intended the Mormons to "retain a strong hold in the land of Kirtland, for the space of five years." ([[Doctrine and Covenants]] 64:21); {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=122}}.</ref> In 1833, Missouri settlers, alarmed by the rapid influx of Mormons, expelled them from Jackson County into the nearby [[Clay County, Missouri|Clay County]], where local residents were more welcoming.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=222–27}}; {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=137}} (noting that the brutality of the Jackson Countians aroused sympathy for the Mormons and was almost universally deplored by the media); {{Harvtxt|O'Dea|1957|pp=43–45}} (The Mormons were forced out in a November gale, and were taken in by Clay County residents, who earned from non-Mormons the derogative title of "Jack Mormons").</ref>
After Smith led a mission, known as [[Zion's Camp]], to recover the land,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=141, 146–59}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=322}}.</ref> he began building [[Kirtland Temple]] in [[Lake County, Ohio]], where the church flourished.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=101}}; {{Harvtxt|Arrington|1992|p=21}} (by summer of 1835, there were 1500 to 2000 Saints in Kirtland); Desert Morning News ''2008 Church Almanac'' p. 655 (from 1831 to 1838, church membership grew from 680 to 17,881); {{Harv|Bushman|2005|pp=310–19}} (The Kirtland Temple was viewed as the site of a new [[Pentecost]]); {{Harv|Brodie|1971|p=178}}. Smith also published several new [[revelation (Latter Day Saints)|revelations]] during the Kirtland era.</ref> When the Missouri Mormons were later asked to leave Clay County in 1836, they secured land in what would become [[Caldwell County, Missouri|Caldwell County]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|O'Dea|1957|p=45}} (In December 1836, the Missouri legislature granted the Mormons the right to organize Caldwell County).</ref>

The Kirtland era ended in 1838 after the failure of a [[Kirtland Safety Society|church-sponsored anti-bank]] caused widespread defections,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=328–38}}; {{Harvtxt|Brooke|1994|p=221}} ("Ultimately, the rituals and visions dedicating the Kirtland temple were not sufficient to hold the church together in the face of a mounting series of internal disputes.")</ref> and Smith regrouped with the remaining church in [[Far West, Missouri]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1905|p=24}} (referring to the Far West church as the "church in Zion"); {{Harv|Bushman|2005|p=345}} (The revelation calling Far West "Zion" had the effect of "implying that Far West was to take the place of Independence.")</ref> During the fall of 1838, tensions escalated into the [[1838 Mormon War|Mormon War]] with the old Missouri settlers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=357–64}}; {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=227–30}}; {{Harvtxt|Remini|2002|p=134}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|pp=97–98}}.</ref> On October 27, the [[Lilburn Boggs|governor]] of Missouri [[Missouri Executive Order 44|ordered]] that the Mormons "must be treated as enemies" and be exterminated or driven from the state.<ref>{{Harv|Bushman|2005|p=367}} (Boggs' executive order stated that the Mormon community had "made war upon the people of this State" and that "the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace").  {{Harv|Bushman|2005|p=398}} (In 1976, [[Missouri]] issued a formal apology for this order) {{Harvtxt|O'Dea|1957|p=47}}.</ref> Between November and April, some eight thousand displaced Mormons migrated east into [[Illinois]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|O'Dea|1957|p=47}} ("the Saints, after being ravaged by troops, robbed by neighbors, and insulted by public officials from February to April, crossed over into Illinois").</ref>

[[File:Joseph Smith Preaching to the Indians by William Armitage.png|thumb|Joseph Smith preaching to the [[Sac and Fox Nation|Sac and Fox Indians]] who visited Nauvoo on August 12, 1841]]

In 1839, the Mormons purchased the small town of Commerce, converted swampland on the banks of the Mississippi River, renamed the area [[Nauvoo, Illinois]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=383–84}}.</ref> and began constructing the [[Nauvoo Temple]]. The city became the church's new headquarters and gathering place, and it grew rapidly, fueled in part by converts immigrating from Europe.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=409}}; {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=258, 264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|O'Dea|1957|p=51}} (noting the city growth and missionary success in England).</ref> Meanwhile, Smith introduced temple ceremonies meant to [[Sealing (Mormonism)|seal]] families together for eternity, as well as the doctrines of eternal progression or [[Exaltation (Mormonism)|exaltation]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Widmer|2000|p=119}} (Smith taught that faithful Mormons may progress until they become co-equal with God); {{Harvtxt|Roberts|1909|pp=502–03}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=497–98}} (the [[second anointing]] provided a guarantee that participants would be exalted even if they sinned).</ref> and plural marriage.<ref>Initially, Smith introduced plural marriage only to his closest associates.{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=334–36}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=437, 644}} The practice was acknowledged publicly in 1852 by [[Brigham Young]].</ref>
Smith created a service organization for women called the [[Relief Society]] and the [[Council of Fifty]], representing a future [[theodemocracy|theodemocratic]] "Kingdom of God" on the earth.<ref>{{Harvnb|Quinn|1980|pp=120–122, 165}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=519–21}} (describing the Council of Fifty).</ref> Smith also published the story of his [[First Vision]], in which the [[God the Father|Father]] and the [[Jesus|Son]] appeared to him when he was about 14 years old.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Shipps|1985|p=30}} The first extant account of the First Vision is the manuscript account in Joseph Smith, "[[Manuscript History of the Church]]" (1839); the first published account is [[Orson Pratt]], ''An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions and of the Late Discovery of Ancient American Records'' (Edinburgh: Ballantyne and Hughes, 1840); and the first American publication is Smith's [[Wentworth letter|letter to John Wentworth]] in ''[[Times and Seasons]]'', '''3''' (March 1842), 706–08. (These accounts are available in {{Cite book |title=Early Mormon Documents |publisher=Signature Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-56085-072-4 |editor-last=Vogel |editor-first=Dan |editor-link=Dan Vogel |volume=1 |place=Salt Lake City}}.) As the LDS historian [[Richard Bushman]] wrote in his biography of Smith, "At first, Joseph was reluctant to talk about his vision. Most early converts probably never heard about the 1820 vision." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=39}}.</ref> This vision would come to be regarded by some Mormons as the most important event in human history after the birth, ministry, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.<ref name="LDS Church 2010"/>

In 1844, local prejudices and political tensions, fueled by Mormon peculiarity, internal dissent, and reports of polygamy, escalated into conflicts between Mormons and "anti-Mormons" in Illinois and Missouri.<ref>{{Harvtxt|O'Dea|1957|pp=64–67}}</ref> Smith was arrested, and on June 27, 1844, he and his brother [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] were [[Death of Joseph Smith|killed by a mob]] in [[Carthage, Illinois]].<ref>''Encyclopedia of Latter-Day Saint History'', p. 824; {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=393–94}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=539–50}}; Many local Illinoisans were uneasy with Mormon power, and their unease was fanned by the local media after Smith suppressed a newspaper containing an exposé regarding plural marriage, theocracy, and other sensitive and oft misinterpreted issues. The suppression resulted in Smith being arrested, tried, and acquitted for "inciting a riot". On June 25, Smith let himself be arrested and tried for the riot charges again, this time in Carthage, the county seat, where he was incarcerated without bail on a new charge of treason. {{citation |contribution-url = http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/EoM/id/4208 |contribution = Smith, Joseph: Legal Trials of Joseph Smith |first = Joseph I. |last = Bentley |pages = 1346–1348 |editor1-last = Ludlow |editor1-first = Daniel H |editor1-link = Daniel H. Ludlow |title = Encyclopedia of Mormonism |location = New York |publisher = [[Macmillan Publishing]] |year = 1992 |isbn = 978-0-02-879602-4 |oclc = 24502140 |title-link = Encyclopedia of Mormonism |access-date = July 10, 2014 |archive-date = November 15, 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141115202830/http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/EoM/id/4208 |url-status = live }}.</ref> Because Hyrum was Smith's logical successor,<ref>Brigham Young later said of Hyrum, "Did Joseph Smith ordain any man to take his place. He did. Who was it? It was Hyrum, but Hyrum fell a martyr before Joseph did. If Hyrum had lived he would have acted for Joseph." ''[[Times and Seasons]]'', '''5''' [October 15, 1844]: 683.</ref> their deaths caused a [[Succession crisis (Latter Day Saints)|succession crisis]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|p=143}}; {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=398}}.</ref> and [[Brigham Young]] assumed leadership over most Latter Day Saints.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=556–57}}.</ref> Young had been a close associate of Smith's and was the senior [[Apostle (Latter Day Saints)|apostle]] of the [[Quorum of the Twelve]].<ref>Smith's position as [[President of the Church]] was originally left vacant, based on the sentiment that nobody could succeed Smith's office. Years later, the church established the principle that Young, and any other senior [[Apostle (LDS Church)|apostle]] of the [[Quorum of the Twelve]], would be ordained [[President of the Church (LDS Church)|President of the Church]] as a matter of course upon the death of the former President, subject to unanimous agreement of the Quorum of the Twelve.</ref> Smaller groups of Latter-Day Saints followed other leaders to form other denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|pp=198–211}}.</ref>