The Mormon Religion

The Second Great Awakening laid the foundations of the development of present-day religious beliefs and establishments, moral views, and democratic ideals in the United States. Beginning back in late eighteenth century and lasting until the middle of the nineteenth century,1 this Protestant awakening sought to reach out the un-churched and bring people to a much more personal and vivid experience of Christianity. Starting on the Southern frontier and soon spreading to the Northeast, the Second Great Awakening has also been associated as a response against the growing liberalism in religion - skepticism, deism, and rational Christianity.2 Although the movement is well-known to be

The Mormon faith dates back to the year 1830 when Joseph Smith, the founder along with 5 other men gathered together to form what they initially called The Church of Christ. This was later changed to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

A homegrown religion originating in the late 1820s, Mormonism arose as a rejection of the existing Christian sects and a return to what the Mormons considered to be pure Christianity. Similarly, the members believed their desire for a new kind of government stemmed from their disillusionment with what they believed was a corrupt government and a desire for the reestablishment of true American values and the original intent of the founding fathers. This sentiment is epitomized by Joseph Smith’s presidential platform, which states “No honest man can doubt for a moment, the glory of American liberty is on the wane; and that calamity and confusion will sooner or later destroy the

Mormonism was founded by Joseph Smith, a man who came from a family of poor New York state farmers that were involved in occult practices according to Malise Ruthven and Peggy Fletcher Stack. He claimed to have been visited by the angel Moroni after attending a revival in the New York area. During his visitation, he was given spiritual revelation from God, which Joseph claimed were written on “golden plates”, which he then translated using sacred stones . His translation of these golden plates was printed in 1830 with financial aid from a farmer by the name of Martin Harris who obtained a loan for the publication fees. Criticism of the book of Mormon was almost immediate, the Wayne Sentinel declared that “most people entertain an idea that the

Mormonism was founded in the 1820s’ by Joseph Smith. Smith, wanting to expand his religious following migrated to Illinois where he established a settlement that included a temple of worship and a village (Green 57). In Illinois the Mormon peoples’ were met with threats, violence, and occasionally they were even killed. This was the case for their leader Joseph Smith; Smith was met with disgust from non-mormons when he attempted to run for presidency and his church riddled with scandal when the word of polygamy got out. With his tarnished reputation, Smith was ultimately murdered by an outraged mob, who then threatened other Mormons that if they did not leave they would be met with the same fate (Mormons into the West). With that warning, the Mormons picked a new leader, Brigham Young, who wanted to flee the American Border. Young set for travel with his new followers to the Great Salt Lake, which at the time was located in Mexico.

The African Methodist Episcopal and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) were just two of the many important denominations that increased religious participation. The African Methodist Episcopal was appealing to the African Americans because of its simplicity and active recruitment for African Americans specifically. The image “Negro Methodists Holding a Meeting in Philadelphia” displays a gathering of Methodist Africans as they experience a physical religious service. Furthermore, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as argued by Shi and Tindall, was significant because of the introduction of the new practice polygamy. Both denominations helped change religious ideology and methods of worship through active religious services and polygamy, two concepts that display the notion of

He provided a good example due to the Market Revolution in the early 1800s. Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, or Mormonism, created another model of a religious utopia (Keene, 301). Smith grew up in western New York, where the fires of the Great Awakening burned hot. In Smith’s Christian Religion environment, had a revelation on which Mormonism was based (Keene, 301). The Book of Mormon was published in Palmyra, New York, in 1830 and this town became the site of one of the earliest Mormon communities (Keene 301). Smith was influenced by the widespread belief that the millennium was at hand, bringing with it an end to debt and the return of Christ and a new era of peace, happiness, and prosperity. Smith’s revelations detail struck a resonant chord with small farmers and etc whose experience with the expanding market economy had been largely negative (Keene 301). The revelation attracted thousands of followers. Joseph Smith members were popularly known as Mormons. With the exception of the first generation of Mormon converts, American society does not seem to have been receptive to him; they were pushed from one location to another, and eventually after Smith’s assassination, they moved to Utah. Prior to their exodus the Mormons endured a long period of internal dissension and harassment by their non-Mormon

8 & 9. The Methodists, the Baptists, and the Presbyterians were so successful on the frontier because Methodists which was founded by John Wesley, spread to America in the 1770’s and became a formal denomination in 1784 under the leadership of Francis Asbury. Authoritarian and hierarchical in structure, the Methodists Church sent itinerant preachers throughout the nation to win recruits; it soon became the fastest growing denomination in America. Almost as successful were the Baptists, who were relatively new to America; they found a fervent following in the South. The Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists were mushrooming. * The “message” and the impact of the Second Great Awakening was that

After its founder’s assassination ■ (Joseph Smith Jr. in June 1844) and facing harassment by their neighbors, the Church of Latter-Day Saints knew it needed to move its headquarters from Nauvoo [Illinois]. With several factions competing for the Church’s control, the faithful debated possible destinations, including Oregon, Vancouver Island, Texas, and México’s Alta California province. In February 1846, with Apostle Orson Pratt’s backing, Samuel Brannan (1819–1889) led 238 stalwarts and set sail for Alta California aboard the 404-ton Brooklyn. Brannan hoped to pave the path for the Church’s eventual overland exodus.

Mormons Moving to Salt Lake City During the nineteenth century there were many different types of people moving west over America. One of these groups was the religious group, the Mormons. The religion was originally founded by Joseph Smith in the early nineteenth century. He first started of with very few followers but quickly many people started to come round to Smiths way of thinking. After developing the religion in Palmyra, Joseph Smith and his followers moved to Kirtland.

On April 6, 1980, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka the Mormon Church) was founded. [It is interesting to note that according to Mormon doctrine (Doctrine and Covenants 20:1), April 6 is the birthday of Jesus Christ.] 10 years prior to this event, in 1820, fourteen-year-old Joseph Smith

Many websites use this feature to keep a few items in a list. Mormons.org has several sections throughout and offers answers from other Mormons. The section over the founding of the church tells the story of Joseph Smith. I have always been aware that Joseph Smith founded the church but I did not know the story. He was fourteen when he had his revelation. The answer from the site claims he was praying in the woods when God and Jesus came to him and told him that Jesus had originally founded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and that it was now his responsibility to restore the church. He translated the Book of Mormon throughout the years and was visited by “heavenly

Mormons believe that without Smith the true church would not have been restored on the Earth, if the church would have not been restored both religion and American history would have been changed. American history would have been changed because Joseph Smith became a candidate to be the president because mormon’s were being denied their religious rights and their civil rights. The one way Smith thought to give mormons their religious and civil rights back was to become the president. Smith was also chosen by the Lord to be prophet, Smith prayed in the woods in New York and asked to have the knowledge of which church was the true church. Smith said, “I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”

Simpson (2007) elaborates on the culture and faith of most polygamous. The author states that the history of Mormonism has involved to “highly complex contacts and negotiations with non-Mormons in their attempts to convert, resist, or appease outsiders. Mormons have engaged in a distinctive dialectic of secrecy and self-disclosure.”(p.11) In some cases, Simpson (2007) suggests Mormons feel they are being forced to be modernized. Non-Mormons in the Utah territory and the United States saw Utah 's acceptance of Mormonism and women as a “shameful attempt to solidify the church 's political power.”