Mormons

• Mormons


  Followers of Joseph Smith, who as a teenager had started having religious visions
• Book of Mormon


  Recorded the story of Mormon's people, which Joseph Smith claimed he had translated from ancient gold plates

  
• Joseph Smith's plans 


  • Did not allow anyone else to see the gold plates
  • Planned to set up a City of God in Kirtland, Ohio in 1831 with his 1000 followers
• Mormon movement


  1. Moved from Ohio to Missouri

  2. Then to Illinois

  3. Eventually moved west across the Plains
• The Mormons were a widely hated group, which led to them moving west
• A Mormon account: '"In 1838 we were attacked again by mobs. An exterminating order was issued by Governor Boggs, and organised bandits robbed us of our cattle, sheep, horses and hogs. Many of our people were murdered in cold blood, and we were forced to sign away property at the point of a sword."'
• Hatred of the Mormons


  Stemmed from the work of Joseph Smith and the threat they posed to non-Mormons (called 'gentiles')
• The general population thought negatively of Mormons due to their polygamy practices
• Mormons were forced to keep moving location due to the hatred towards them
• Brigham Young


  • Elected as the new leader of the Mormons after the death of Joseph Smith
  • Organised and led the Mormons west to land controlled by Mexico
• Mormon migration to Salt Lake Valley

  1. Brigham Young planned every part of the migration

  2. Used the start of the route set out by the Donner Party

  3. Cleared land to help other Mormon families

  4. Set up rest camps with people left behind to help repair wagons

  5. Thousands of wooden cabins built to survive winter

  6. Got help of experienced trail guides

  7. Divided people into manageable groups with right skills

  8. Insisted on strict discipline

  9. Taught migrants to form wagons in a circle at night
• Brigham Young was respected by the Mormons as a prophet sent by God
• Mormons


  A religious group founded in the 1830s by Joseph Smith in New York
• Joseph Smith


  • Claimed he had a religious vision where an angel (Moroni) told him about two buried gold plates
  • Smith dug up the plates, translated the ancient language on them and this became the Book of Mormon (1827)
  • The plates told Smith and his followers to start building God's Kingdom in America to prepare for the second coming of Christ
• By 1831 there were around 1000 members of the growing Mormon religion
• In 1831, the Mormons moved to Kirtland, Ohio, where Smith planned to set up a City of God
• The Mormons were successful and hard-working


  This made other Americans very jealous of them, especially when the economy suffered
• The Mormons believed they were God's chosen people


  This led to criticism from many Christian families
• The Mormons held a belief in polygamy


  This was shocking to many Christian families who saw it as a sin
• Joseph Smith was eventually attacked by a mob who murdered him in 1845
• Brigham Young


  The new leader of the Mormons in 1845
• By the end of 1847, around 2,000 Mormons had reached the Salt Lake Valley and began to settle there
• Over 70,000 Mormons followed Brigham Young's same trail to the Salt Lake Valley between 1847 - 1869
• Reasons for the success of the Mormon migration 1846-7

  • They used the start of the route set out by the Donner Party and cleared land to help other Mormon families
  • They set up rest camps with people left behind to help repair wagons
  • They built thousands of wooden cabins to survive the winter months
  • They got the help of experienced trail guides
  • They divided people into more manageable groups with the right variety of skills
  • Young insisted on very strict discipline and his decisions were well respected
  • They formed their wagons in a circle at night to keep in heat
• The Mormons had a range of skills to lead a community when they got to the Salt Lake Valley, such as blacksmiths, carpenters and millers