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Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890 by between 20 and 30 percent of Latter-day Saint families.
Reynolds had argued that as a Mormon, it was his religious duty as a male member of the church to practice polygamy if possible. The Court recognized that under the First Amendment, the Congress cannot pass a law that prohibits the free exercise of religion. But it held that the law prohibiting bigamy did not meet that standard.
Possibly as early as the 1830s, followers of the Latter Day Saint movement (also known as Mormonism), were practicing the doctrine of polygamy or "plural marriage". After the death of church founder Joseph Smith, the doctrine was officially announced in Utah Territory in 1852 by Mormon leader Brigham Young.
Outside of the church, Mormon women were seen as weak and oppressed by their husbands and the men of the church. The political activism in support of polygamy of Mormon women was unexpected as they had been portrayed as powerless. [16] [17]: xii–xvi Despite a Republican-dominated Congress, the Cullom Bill failed in the Senate in 1870.
Issued by Church President Wilford Woodruff in September 1890, the Manifesto was a response to mounting anti-polygamy pressure from the United States Congress, which by 1890 had disincorporated the church, escheated its assets to the U.S. federal government, and imprisoned many prominent polygamist Mormons. Upon its issuance, the LDS Church in ...
Before he undertook the Mormon practice of polygamy, Zebedee Coltrin's first marriage (1828) to Julia Ann Jennings (1812-1841) was a happy one, but as with the five children Julia ultimately bore him, she also died — at Kirtland, Ohio, at only 29 years of age. Zebedee's second wife, Mary Mott (1820-1886), gave birth to ten more children.
The rest of the world got another strange and fascinating glimpse into the secret lives of Warren Jeffs' sect of polygamist Mormons this week.
Likewise, when the "Mormon Question", polygamy, first appeared in national news, there was consistent denial of the practice of polygamy by Mormon publicists. [7] Years later, in 1862, an anti-polygamy act was intended to "punish and prevent the Practice of Polygamy."