Polygamy among the Mormons.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was among the most distinctive American religious communities of the nineteenth century. The founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, claimed that an angel had revealed golden plates to him on which a religious history was written. These plates, Smith said, told the story of the appearance of Christ in the New World after his crucifixion. The church grew rapidly, both within the United States and in Europe. Between 1837 and 1846, for example, Mormon missionaries baptized nearly eighteen thousand people in England, of whom nearly five thousand immigrated to Nauvoo, Illinois, to join the Mormon community there. Smith was killed by a mob in 1844. His role as leader was taken by Brigham Young. Driven from Missouri, Ohio, and Illinois by hostile neighbors, the Mormons set out in 1846 for the West. In 1847 they established Salt Lake City...