Keywords

Joseph Smith Jr. political activity, religious freedom, religious liberty, Nancy Naomi Tracy, Moses Tracy, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints political activity, missionaries, Utah Territory, Deseret, Latter-day Saint persecution

Abstract

This article examines the life of Nancy Naomi Tracy as a lens into the Latter-day Saint struggle for religious liberty in nineteenth-century America. Joining the Church in 1834, Tracy endured repeated persecution—from the Missouri expulsions and the 1838 Mormon War to the federal antipolygamy campaigns of the 1880s—yet actively fought for her faith’s constitutional protections. As the only known female electioneer missionary in Joseph Smith’s 1844 presidential campaign, she embodied the Saints’ bold blend of religious conviction and political engagement. Drawing on Tracy’s three personal reminiscences (1880, 1885, and 1896–99), the study explores how her experiences as a wife, mother, plural wife, and minor Church leader shaped a worldview that simultaneously revered the U.S. Constitution and condemned its failure to safeguard minority religious rights. Tracy’s narrative reveals the limits of American religious freedom for non-Protestant groups and illuminates the political philosophies (including theodemocracy) that emerged from the Saints’ Zion-building efforts. Ultimately, her story provides an intimate, female perspective on the Latter-day Saint quest for liberty “to worship as we please.”

Original Publication Citation

Derek R. Sainsbury "'We Have Not Been Allowed the Liberty...to Worship as We Please,' Nancy Naomi Tracy and the Denial of Latter-day Saint Religious Liberty," in John C. Thomas and Robert T. Smith editors, Religious Liberty and Latter-day Saints: Historical and Global Perspectives, (Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2023)

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2023

Publisher

Deseret Book and Religious Studies Center

Language

English

College

Religious Education

Department

Church History and Doctrine

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

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