In 1852, only eight years after Joseph Smith’s death, church leaders in Utah publicly announced to the astonished world what some had suspected: that Latter-day Saints did indeed practice the principle of plural marriage. But now that it was out there in the open, it could be openly challenged and attacked, and it was, relentlessly, for decades. In today’s episode of Church History Matters, we’ll walk through the history of how plural marriage came to a rocky end under the draconian legislation and crushing pressure of the United States government. We’ll dive into the George Reynolds trial, President Wilfred Woodruff’s Manifesto, the Reed Smoot Trials and Second Manifesto, the resignation of two members of the Quorum of the Twelve over this, the beginning of the FLDS church, and more.

This is the fifth episode of our 6-part podcast series on the history of Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For a full transcript of this episode, as well as show notes and additional resources, visit our website at https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.o...

You can also subscribe to our podcast via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and other platforms, and follow us on popular social media platforms. Visit https://linktr.ee/churchhistorymatters to connect with us.

Originally published June 20, 2023

DISCLAIMER: While we try very hard to be historically and doctrinally accurate in what we say on this podcast, please remember that all views expressed in this and every episode are our views alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Scripture Central or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.