Roadblocks to Statehood
Church and State
Framers of the Constitution wanted to keep government and religion separate.
In Territorial Utah, that separation was very thin.
What should be the role of the LDS church in day-to-day decisions?
Church leaders were also government leaders
Most judges were members of the church, and non-members felt like it was not fair.
Politics
There was a fear of members of the church voting in a block (all together), and controlling the majority vote.
They had done this in Illinois, so it wasn’t unfounded
Ended up having a non-Mormon party (Liberal Party) and a Mormon Party (People’s Party).
Neither party was associated with national parties
Economics
Brigham Young encouraged church members to only support businesses run by other members, in a goal of establishing a zion-like community
Everybody would share with each other.
In some degree, the church ran the economy, not businesses and business owners.
Very different than the rest of America.
Immigration
From early on, the LDS church sent out missionaries to convert people to the new faith, and encouraged them to travel to the U.S. to join with the other members of the church.
Many in Utah wanted to stop immigrants from coming, because they wanted to have access to more land, and wanted to put the wants and needs of American-born citizens first.
Because of the large immigrant population, Utah was commonly seen as un-American.
Polygamy
Having multiple wives, a practice the LDS church had been practicing for a short while at this point.
National Republicans at the time swore to eliminate the “twin relics of barbarism-slavery and polygamy”
The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act (1862)- Can only be married to 1 person, a church can only own $50,000 worth of property in a territory.
The Edmunds Act (1882)- Polygamy is punishable by five years in prison and a $500 fine. Polygamists could not hold political office, serve on a jury, or vote in elections.
The Edmunds-Tucker Act (1887)- Took away the right to vote from all Utah women and all polygamist men. Abolished local militia and confiscated property of the LDS Church.
The 1890 Manifesto
Wilford Woodruff (4th LDS prophet) announced the change in church policy, and encouraged all members to not engage in new marriages that were deemed illegal
Did not dissolve current polygamist marriages
After a couple of years, the church would agree to passing state laws that would ban polygamy entirely.
Final Hurdles
Congress wanted the state to adopt the national parties- Republican and Democrat
Most Mormons joined the Democratic Party because the Republican Party is the one that went after polygamy so harshly
In order to even out the parties, and give more validity to the state, leaders assigned some people to join the Republican Party, until it more naturally evened itself out.
They then set about writing a state constitution, and, if approved, would become a state.