The Mormon War: Zion and the Missouri Extermination Order of 1838 Rating :
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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
Fascinating and Surprising Read!
By Cerulean Stockings
I picked up this book with little knowledge about Mormon leaders, and had never heard of the Missouri Mormon War. It was a true page turner: seers, sheriff bribing, phony banks... I could go on! I especially enjoyed the background chapter of Joseph Smith's early life.
I grew up in Missouri, taking the requisite state history courses throughout my schooling. Beyond that, I've always considered myself a local history "buff". I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of new-to-me bits of Missouri history also included in this work.
This is a well researched book; history's facts are clearly laid out with minimal interpretation from the author. I couldn't put it down.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
The Mormon War
By William F. Bellais
Living in the region where the story takes place has increased my wish to learn more about the counties of North Centeral Missouri. Kinney's book is an excellent recounting of the anger the Mormons generated as they attempted to make Missouri the Garden of Eden of their new religion. Learning about Joseph Smith and the people who followed him into Missouri through this book helps me understand why the sites, now largely deserted, are places of sacred pilgrimage to the people of the Mormon Church. Kinney makes clear there was anger and intolerance on both sides of the issue of Mormon settlement in Missouri. Extermination seems to have been the goal of both sides in the war. It was a war of some magnitude with organized units of militia and armed forces. A very brutal conflict. Finally, Kinney's discussion of the origins of Mormonism and the life of Jospeh Smith provides and insight of which I had no knowledge. This is a book I recommend to all who live in North Central Missouri and should be placed on the reading list of any who are interested frontier history of the United States.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.For the armchair historian only.
By Lance B. Hillsinger
The Mormon War by Brandon Kinney primarily concerns a very narrow band of history, specfically the birth of the church in 1827 to Joseph Smith's death in 1844. Joseph Smith in particular and the Mormon Church in general, had many run-ins with the authorities and engaged in some very non-Christian behavior towards non-Mormons. The Mormons saw themselves as a persecuted people, that were just trying to enjoy religious freedom like any other American, but as Kinney well-documents they gave as good as they got.
In the frontier days of the early 1800s, firearms (to hunt) were an everyday fact of life and the Mormons were no exception. However, a group of men hunting can easily become an armed militia. Without an "agenda" to discredit the church, Kinney documents how Joseph Smith, and other leaders of the church, established militias, and otherwise ignored, took over, or manipulated state authority. State authorities pushed back and 1838 the Governor of Missouri, ignoring the rule of law himself, authorized the "extermination" and forced expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri.
The "armchair historian" will find the intricate of what Joseph Smith, other Mormon leaders, state governors, military leaders, and others did in the "Mormon War" fascinating. However, the general reader may find, despite the author's skilful efforts, the narrative too detailed to be worth the bother.
But if detail is what you like and if this period of history is of interest, by all means you should buy The Mormon War. However, because of the minutiae, use caution if you intend to buy "The Mormon War" as a gift. Extra caution should be used especially if the intended recipient is Mormon. There are some ugly truths about Joseph Smith and the early Mormon church that practicing Mormons might find difficult to accept.
Product Description
In 1831, Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Church of Christ—later to be renamed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints—revealed that Zion, or “New Jerusalem,” was to be established in Jackson County, Missouri. Smith sent some of his followers to begin the settlement, but they were soon expelled by locals who were suspicious of their religion and their abolitionist sympathies. Smith led an expedition to regain the settlement, but was unsuccessful. Seven years later, in January 1838, Smith fled to Missouri from Ohio to avoid a warrant for his arrest, and joined the Mormon community in the town of Far West, which became the new Zion. The same prejudices recurred and the Mormons found themselves subject to attacks from non-Mormons, including attempts to prevent them from voting. Despite his abhorrence of violence, Smith decided that it was necessary for Mormons to defend themselves, which resulted in a short and sharp conflict known as the Mormon War. A covert Mormon paramilitary unit, the Danites, was formed to pillage non- Mormon towns, while angry rhetoric rose from both sides. After the Missouri state militia was attacked at the Battle of Crooked River, Missouri governor Liburn William Boggs issued Executive Order 44, which called for Mormons to be “exterminated or driven from the State.” Non-Mormons responded by attacking a Mormon settlement at Haun’s Mill, killing men and boys and firing on the women. Following this massacre, the state militia surrounded Far West and arrested Smith and other Mormon leaders. Smith was tried for treason and narrowly avoided execution, but was allowed to go and join the rest of his followers who were forced from Missouri to Illinois, where they founded their next major town, Nauvoo. There, Smith would be murdered and the church would split into several factions, with Brigham Young leading the movement’s largest group to Utah.
In The Mormon War: Zion and the Missouri Extermination Order of 1838, Brandon G. Kinney unravels the complex series of events that led to a religious and ideological war of both blood and words. The Mormon War not only challenged the protection afforded by the First Amendment, it foreshadowed the partisan violence over slavery and states’ rights that would erupt across Missouri and Kansas. The war also fractured Smith’s Church and led ultimately to the unexpected settlement of a vast area of the West as a Mormon homeland. By tracing the life of Joseph Smith, Jr. and his quest for Zion, the author reveals that the religion he founded was destined for conflict—both internal and external—as long as he remained its leader.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #162390 in Books
- Published on: 2011-08-18
- Original language:English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.02" h x5.98" w x.98" l,1.25 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 288 pages
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