Abstract

This study attempts to trace the efforts of the Mormon people to obtain redress from the national government for the losses of life and property which they had suffered and the hardships which they had endured while residing in the state of Missouri during the 1830's. The Mormon appeals to Congress and the President are considered and an evaluation is made of the Mormon view of the national government's responsibility for the protection of individual rights.

The information for this study was obtained from the Church Historian's Office, the Brigham Young University Library, the University of Utah Library, the Utah State Historical Society, and the Salt Lake City Public Library. Although the major sources that were used were the records of the Mormon Church, particularly the Journal History of the Church and Joseph Smith's History of the Church, an effort was made to understand through studying government documents and the writings of historians of the times why the national government did not give redress to the Latter-day Saints in response to their appeals. Consideration is given to limitations which were placed on the federal government by the Constitution, by a lack of precedent for the use of national authority to enforce state law, by certain decisions of the Supreme Court, and by the attitudes of the times.

Degree

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Political Science

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/