Joseph Smith on Slavery

In recent years, LDS apostle Quentin L. Cook has claimed that early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were persecuted because they were abolitionists and anti-slavery. Today leaders promote the narrative that latter-day saints of the day were driven out of Missouri in significant part because they were opposed to slavery. …

Leadership Suppress Dissenfecting Light – The Nauvoo Expositor

On June 7, 1844, a bold and short-lived newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor published its first—and only—issue in Nauvoo, Illinois. It was created by former Mormon insiders who could no longer remain silent. They leveled charges against Joseph Smith, including abuse of power, political tyranny, and most explosively, his secret polygamy. The Nauvoo Expositor printed …

Mormonism’s Legacy of Slavery

The history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in the 19th century is marked by moments of conflict, migration, and the formation of a new religious identity in the American frontier. LDS leaders suggest that early Latter-day Saints were persecuted for being abolitionists or for holding enlightened racial views, meanwhile, …

“In Missouri in 1833, our Latter-day Saint values were in direct conflict with the Missouri settlers not of our faith.... Our doctrine respected the American Indians and our desire was to teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ. With respect to slavery our scriptures are clear that no man should be in bondage to another.” - Quinten L. Cook, LDS Apostle, Princeton Theological Seminary, July 2017 | wasmormon.org
“In Missouri in 1833, our Latter-day Saint values were in direct conflict with the Missouri settlers not of our faith.... Our doctrine respected the American Indians and our desire was to teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ. With respect to slavery our scriptures are clear that no man should be in bondage to another.” - Quinten L. Cook, LDS Apostle, Princeton Theological Seminary, July 2017

Lilburn Boggs’ Extermination Order and Mormon War

The Mormon-Missouri War (1838) was a conflict between the Mormon settlers in Missouri and their non-Mormon neighbors, culminating in violent clashes, forced expulsions, and the infamous Missouri Executive Order 44, also known as the so-called “Extermination Order.” While the Mormon Church often portrays itself as the innocent victim of religious persecution, the historical reality is …