Convicting the Mormons
eBook - ePub

Convicting the Mormons

The Mountain Meadows Massacre in American Culture

  1. 240 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Convicting the Mormons

The Mountain Meadows Massacre in American Culture

About this book

On September 11, 1857, a small band of Mormons led by John D. Lee massacred an emigrant train of men, women, and children heading west at Mountain Meadows, Utah. News of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, as it became known, sent shockwaves through the western frontier of the United States, reaching the nation’s capital and eventually crossing the Atlantic. In the years prior to the massacre, Americans dubbed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the “Mormon problem” as it garnered national attention for its “unusual” theocracy and practice of polygamy. In the aftermath of the massacre, many Americans viewed Mormonism as a real religious and physical threat to white civilization. Putting the Mormon Church on trial for its crimes against American purity became more important than prosecuting those responsible for the slaughter.

Religious historian Janiece Johnson analyzes how sensational media attention used the story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre to enflame public sentiment and provoke legal action against Latter-day Saints. Ministers, novelists, entertainers, cartoonists, and federal officials followed suit, spreading anti-Mormon sentiment to collectively convict the Mormon religion itself. This troubling episode in American religious history sheds important light on the role of media and popular culture in provoking religious intolerance that continues to resonate in the present.

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Yes, you can access Convicting the Mormons by Janiece Johnson in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & North American History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. List of Illustrations
  7. Prologue: Crime Meets Punishment
  8. Introduction: A Mormon Massacre
  9. Chapter One: Mormon Savagery: Murder an’ Massacretion
  10. Chapter Two: Circumscribing Civilization: The White Hellhounds
  11. Chapter Three: Relinquished Manhood: Be Men
  12. Chapter Four: Prosecuting Mormonism: The Tyrant of the Mormon Church and Theocratic Despotism
  13. Chapter Five: One Punishment Is Not Enough: Lee’s Second Trial, Execution, and Aftermath
  14. Epilogue: Ex Uno Disce Omnes
  15. Acknowledgments
  16. Notes
  17. Bibliography
  18. Index