Reconstruction and Mormon America

267 Pages·2019·5.938 MB·English

by  Clyde A Milner, Brian Q Cannon

R ECONSTRUCTION

AND
M O R M O N
A M E R I C A
CLYDE A. MILNER II BRIAN Q. CANNON
EDITED BY AND
RECONSTRUCTION
AND
MORMON
AMERICA

RECONSTRUCTION
AND
M O R M O N
A M E R I C A
Edited by
CLYDE A. MILNER II
and
BRIAN Q. CANNON
University of Oklahoma Press : Norman
Publication of this book is made possible in part by a subvention from the
Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University.
Chapter 7, “Why Don’t Mormons Have a Lost Cause?” by Clyde A. Milner II, previously
appeared under the same title in Journal of Mormon History 44(2) (April 2018): 36–54, published
by the University of Illinois Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Milner, Clyde A., II, 1948– editor. | Cannon, Brian Q., editor.
Title: Reconstruction and Mormon America / edited by Clyde A. Milner II and Brian Q. Cannon.
Description: Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographic references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018059451 | ISBN 978-0-8061-6353-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Mormon Church—History. | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints—
History—19th century. | Mormon Church—History—19th century. | Reconstruction
(U.S. history, 1865–1877)
Classification: LCC BX8611 .R423 2019 | DDC 289.3/7309034—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018059451
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee
on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources, Inc. ∞
Copyright © 2019 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing Division of the
University. Manufactured in the U.S.A.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise—except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the United States
Copyright Act—without the prior written permission of the University of Oklahoma Press. To
request permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, University of
Oklahoma Press, 2800 Venture Drive, Norman, OK 73069, or email [email protected].
Contents
Preface
by Brian Q. Cannon and Clyde A. Milner II vii
I ntroduction
Measuring Reconstruction
by Elliott West 1
Part I: Background Issues
Interlude 1
Wrestling Practice
by Anne Hyde 15
1. Th ere Is No Mormon Trail of Tears
Roots, Removals, and Reconstructions
by Angela Pulley Hudson 19
2. C onstructing a National Marital and Sexual Culture
Reconsidering the “Twin Relics of Barbarism”
by Christine Talbot 52
3. Disciplinary Democracy
Mormon Violence and the Construction
of the Modern American State
by Patrick Q. Mason 88
vi Contents
Part II: The Context of Reconstruction
Interlude 2
Racial Dimensions
by Cathleen Cahill and Crystal N. Feimster 111
4. Th e Application of Federal Power in Utah Territory
by Brent M. Rogers 116
5. “ To Merge Them into More Wholesome Social Elements”
The Greater Reconstruction and Its Place in Utah
by Brett D. Dowdle 150
6. Th e Case for Containing Reconstruction
Rethinking and Remeasuring
by Rachel St. John 181
Part III: Aftermaths
Interlude 3
Reckoning with Lost Causes
by Brian Q. Cannon 195
7. W hy Don’t Mormons Have a Lost Cause?
by Clyde A. Milner II 202
8. W hither Mormons’ Lost Cause?
Collective Historical Memory in Comparison
by Eric A. Eliason 219
9. Th e Mormon Cause, Lost and Found
by Jared Farmer 235
List of Contributors 245
Index 249
Preface
Brian Q. Cannon and Clyde A. Milner II
Many generations of students at Yale University, including one of this book’s
coeditors, participated in Howard Lamar’s beloved two-semester survey of the
history of the American West. In one of his lectures, Professor Lamar advocated
the recognition of three examples of “reconstruction” in the post–Civil War
United States—reconstruction of the secessionist South through military occupa-
tion and political reform, reconstruction of American Indians through removal
to reservations and assimilation to Christianity and farming (also supported
by the military), and the reconstruction of Latter-day Saints (i.e. Mormons) to
force the end of polygamy through new laws and federal court actions with the
threat of disestablishing the church if necessary. These efforts sought to bring
rebellious white Southerners, uncontrolled American Indians, and nonconformist
Mormons into the American mainstream. The failures of the first two examples
of federal reconstruction are well known to scholars of the American South,
African American history, American Indian history, and American military
history, whereas the connections to Mormon history are not as well recognized.
In 2002 both coeditors participated in the Western History Association confer-
ence where Elliott West delivered his presidential address, “Reconstructing Race,”
published in the Spring 2003 Western Historical Quarterly. West talked about a
“Greater Reconstruction” that he dated from 1846 to 1877. His award-winning
vii
viii Preface
book, The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story, applied this concept more
extensively to American Indians after the Civil War. Elliott West, as will be
seen in this volume, also expanded his idea of the “Greater Reconstruction” to
Latter-day Saints. Inspired in part by Howard Lamar’s insights but most directly
influenced by Elliott West’s ideas, the purpose of the essays in this book is to
consider and debate the concept of “reconstruction” as it may apply to Latter-day
Saints with thoughtful comparisons in terms of what happened to white and
black Southerners as well as American Indians.
Some key questions stimulated our thinking. Why did the federal govern-
ment need to “reconstruct” Latter-day Saints, and when did such efforts begin?
Compared to what happened in the South and with American Indians, were
these initiatives successful? What did reconstruction mean for Mormon identity
and sense of history? For example, why do Latter-day Saints not have a Lost
Cause? Why are Latter-day Saints not like latter-day white Southerners? And
do Mormons share a resentment for the loss of sovereignty and demands for
“Americanization” that can be found among many American Indian peoples?
What of the racial dynamics of reconstruction in the South and toward American
Indians in terms of Mormons? Were nineteenth-century Mormons considered
to be on the “wrong” side of a religious “line,” but not a “race line”? Indeed,
beyond the period of federal policies directed at the South after the Civil War,
how useful is the term “reconstruction” in regard to federal actions toward
American Indians and Latter-day Saints?
The Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University played
a pivotal role in the creation of this volume. Not only was the center’s director
at the time one of the two coeditors, but the center also hosted a seminar for
the book’s contributors in June 2017. This occasion allowed a set of scholars to
consider both the central topic and the way key ideas could be explained. It was
an exciting two days of discussion that helped our authors focus their concepts.
In addition, our participants agreed that an “interlude” essay could help expand
the historical context at the start of each section of the book.
In our work on this project, the coeditors wish to acknowledge the following
people. John Mack Faragher and Thomas Alexander enriched both the seminar
and this volume through their incisive comments and recommendations. Chuck
Rankin of the University of Oklahoma Press provided vital encouragement
and support for this project, meeting with the coeditors at critical junctures
Preface ix
and representing the press at the seminar. Amy Carlin, office specialist at the
Redd Center, arranged for transportation, meals, and lodging for the seminar
participants and standardized the manuscript for submission to the press. Bren-
den Rensink, assistant director at the Redd Center, attended the seminar and
contributed to the discussion, offering suggestions and insights regarding the
papers. Two anonymous readers for OU Press provided very useful suggestions;
Kerin Tate did excellent copyediting of the full text; and Emily Schuster, our
manuscript editor, guided this work through to publication.
Because the term “reconstruction” has great importance in this book, our
authors have tried to distinguish between Reconstruction (with a capital letter)
in reference to the historical situation in the South after the Civil War and the
concept of reconstruction (with a lowercase “r”) outside that historical context.
Nonetheless, in recognition of Elliott West’s significant contribution to our
efforts, his term “Greater Reconstruction” retains its double capital letters, as
it assumes a direct conceptual linkage to the federal government’s program of
Reconstruction for the secessionist South.