Reactions to Polygamy
The Mormon Church officially announced its practice of polygamy in 1852, after the Saints were well-established in Utah Territory. Brigham Young was the prophet of the Church at the time. Polygamy, at that time, was practiced by 80% of the world’s population, but Mormon polygamy was introduced into European/American, Victorian culture, where the roles of men and women were clearly defined and monogamy well-entrenched. “The Principle,” as the Mormons called it, was a commandment from God, and a sort of “Abrahamic test” for all Mormons. To fulfill the commandment and uphold the prophet, the “Saints” had to risk persecution and ostracism from western society. The practice of polygamy went completely against their own standards of family life, as well as against those of the society into which the Church was born.
American politicians reacted against the practice in 1854, when the Republican party called for the abolition of the “twin relics of barbarism,” referring to slavery and polygamy. After the Civil War started, legislation was introduced to ban plural marriage in the territories. President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill, but he seemed inclined to leave the Mormons alone. No enforcement of the law occurred until after the Civil War ended. The Utah Territorial Legislature tried to get a repeal of the law, called the “Morrill Act,” in 1867. Instead, the U.S. government strengthened it. They passed the Poland Act in 1874 to enforce the Morrill Act.
Another act, called the Cullom Act, incited the reaction of Mormon women, who claimed that rather than being oppressive, plural marriage allowed them more independence, not less. In response, the Utah Territorial Legislature gave women the right to vote in 1870. (Utah was the second territory (after Wyoming) to grant women’s sufferage.) Non-Mormons thought Mormon women would use their votes to end polygamy, but that didn’t happen.
Brigham Young passed away in 1877, and John Taylor became the prophet and president of the Church. By then, the right to practice polygamy had been tested in the Supreme Court, which had found against polygamy as a religious right. John Taylor stated that the Mormons found themselves between the hands of God and the U.S. Government. He dared not appease the government, by turning against the Lord.
Non-Mormons appealed to the government to end polygamy, and in response, the government passed the Edmunds act in 1882. This act made the practice of polygamy a felony carrying a prison term of five years plus a hefty fine. Mormons who practiced polygamy were also disenfranchised—They lost the right to vote. The Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887, made things even tougher on Mormon polygamists. It required polygamous wives to testify against their husbands, did away with some of the programs and funds of the territory, and planned to put all the Church’s assets into receivership.
In order to stay true to the commandment of the Lord through His prophets, Mormon polygamist husbands went to jail, rather than abandon their family responsibilities. Others went into hiding. Some Mormons moved to western Wyoming, northern Arizona, or southern Idaho. Some went to Europe, Canada, or Mexico.
Prophet Wilford Woodruff, the fourth prophet of the Church, received a vision from the Lord that rescinded the practice of plural marriage. The practice had fulfilled its purpose and had become such a liability, that Utah never would become a state, men would not be able to lead and nurture their families or the Church, and temple use would be ended by the government. Wilford Woodruff issued a manifesto ending plural marriages in 1890, but the practice continued in part.
In 1904, Joseph F. Smith, who had succeeded Lorenzo Snow, after Wilford Woodruff as prophet of the Church, issued another manifesto which added a punishment for those who continued to practice plural marriage.
“If any officer or member of the church shall assume to solemnize or enter into such marriage he will be deemed in transgression against the church and will be liable to be dealt with according to the rules and regulations thereof and excommunicated therefrom” (Embry, Mormon Polygamous Families, 15).
This has been the policy of the Mormon Church ever since.
A few people felt that Wilford Woodruff was a fallen prophet when he ended polygamy.
“Until 1918 those who believed that polygamy should continue remained under the radar in the Mormon Church. However, in 1918, under the administration of new Church president Heber J. Grant, Church leaders, according to attorney Ken Driggs, ‘made concerted efforts to purge the Church of the most zealous advocates of plural marriage’ (Jessie L. Embry, Mormons and Polygamy: Setting the Record Straight, p. 60).
Excommunicated members formed a group under Lorin Woolley that continued to practice polygamy. In the early 1930’s all who would not sign an oath to forswear polygamy were excommunicated. This further isolated groups such as Woolley’s. Authority among polygamist, fundamentalist groups passed down, until in 1954, Rulon Allred took over the leadership of the Salt Lake City group. LeRoy Johnson headed the group located in what is now Colorado City, on the Utah-Arizona border.
Utah passed many bills making polygamy a felony. Fundamentalist groups were raided by police in 1944 and 1953. Rulon Jeffs took over the Colorado City group in 1986. In 1991, the residents of the Colorado City group incorporated under the name, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This added to confusion of non-members, since the Mormon Church, now 13 million members strong, is formally called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Rulon Jeffs died in 2002. His sons engaged in a power struggle, and Warren Jeffs declared himself a prophet.
Members of the FLDS Church have doctrines (other than polygamy) that would seem strange to the world’s population at large, but are also very strange to Mormons, the result of the insertion of the beliefs of uninspired leaders. Although no polygamous practice is allowed in the Mormon Church, under threat of excommunication, FLDS members consider themselves Mormons and part of the LDS Church. (Most, however, have never been members of the Mormon (LDS) Church.) They consider themselves as living in special priesthood groups living the complete gospel.
Other small polygamous groups have formed in rebellion to Mormon Church policy. Most of the leaders of these groups have felt they were more enlightened than the prophet of the Church from which they split. In 1994 James Harmston formed such a group in Manti, Utah. He and 50 families that followed him were excommunicated and formed the “True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of the Last Days (TLC).”
Most of the prosecution against polygamous families and groups does not concern the polygamous relationship, but concerns other breaches of the law. Such breaches include marriages of underage girls and abuse of the welfare system. FLDS leader Warren Jeffs was convicted in Utah of accessory to rape, and is also facing charges in Arizona. Tom Green was sentenced to jail for underage marriage, but was also guilty of welfare fraud. Suits were filed against the FLDS Church by “Lost Boys,” young men who were banished from the group to guarantee an abundance of females. The FLDS compound in Colorado City was raided in 2008 to free underage girls who might be forced into marriage. In 2009, some cases from the group were still under investigation.
