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The Council of Fifty: What the Records Reveal about Mormon History
Three months before his death, Joseph Smith established the Council of Fifty, a confidential group that he believed would protect the Latter-day Saints in their political rights and one day serve as the government of the kingdom of God. The Council of Fifty operated under the leadership of Joseph Smith and then Brigham Young, playing a key role in Joseph Smith's presidential campaign and in preparing for the Mormon exodus to the West. The council's minutes had never been available until they were published by the Joseph Smith Papers in September 2016, meaning that the council has been the subject of intense speculation for 170 years.
In this book of short essays, fifteen leading Mormon scholars explore how the newly available minutes alter and enhance our understanding of Mormon history. The scholars narrate and analyze the contributions of the records of the council to key questions, such as Joseph Smith's views of earthly and heavenly governments; the presidential campaign; Mormon relationships with American Indians; explorations of possible settlements sites, such as Texas and California; the "lost teachings" of Latter-day Saint leaders of that era; and the leadership style of Brigham Young.
In this book of short essays, fifteen leading Mormon scholars explore how the newly available minutes alter and enhance our understanding of Mormon history. The scholars narrate and analyze the contributions of the records of the council to key questions, such as Joseph Smith's views of earthly and heavenly governments; the presidential campaign; Mormon relationships with American Indians; explorations of possible settlements sites, such as Texas and California; the "lost teachings" of Latter-day Saint leaders of that era; and the leadership style of Brigham Young.
206 pages, Hardcover
Published September 4, 2017
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September 3, 2017
What a surprisingly delightful find!
The value of this book is difficult to convey in a few words. The Council of Fifty is a topic that until recently has had little to no significant insight in. This has led people into speculation - and has led those critical to assume the worst and those faithful to assume the irrelevancy of it.
What we have found is that it gives significant insight into the LDS leadership thought at the time.
This small book takes the insight from leading LDS scholars and to help put these papers into perspective.
To be fair and transparent - like most of these "collected essay" books - some essays have much more value than others. About half of the essays are the scholars saying "hey these are neat and important and as a scholar we are excited...". But the other half actually take concepts from the papers and give them perspective! The new perspective gives depth to the challenges of the saints at the time - highlighting the reality of their struggles and the real complications of real life.
This is the perfect book for the curious on the Council of Fifty - and the perfect book for the serious on the Council of Fifty. After reading this the serious ones can then go and read the core material in the Joseph Smith Papers themselves.
The value of this book is difficult to convey in a few words. The Council of Fifty is a topic that until recently has had little to no significant insight in. This has led people into speculation - and has led those critical to assume the worst and those faithful to assume the irrelevancy of it.
What we have found is that it gives significant insight into the LDS leadership thought at the time.
This small book takes the insight from leading LDS scholars and to help put these papers into perspective.
To be fair and transparent - like most of these "collected essay" books - some essays have much more value than others. About half of the essays are the scholars saying "hey these are neat and important and as a scholar we are excited...". But the other half actually take concepts from the papers and give them perspective! The new perspective gives depth to the challenges of the saints at the time - highlighting the reality of their struggles and the real complications of real life.
This is the perfect book for the curious on the Council of Fifty - and the perfect book for the serious on the Council of Fifty. After reading this the serious ones can then go and read the core material in the Joseph Smith Papers themselves.
July 31, 2018
I picked this up the last time I was at BYU. I hadn't previously read the council of fifty minutes but this was a good over view to what they contained and what some of the themes seemed to be throughout the minutes. And consequently, I read over some of the minutes as I read my way through this book. The minutes were not made available to the public until 2016 when they were published by the Joseph Smith Papers. Each chapter of this book is an independent essay by different religious or historical scholars that take us through the minutes somewhat chronologically and by topic. While I find some of these authors and/or topics more interesting than others I generally enjoyed each chapter and their unique insights.
The council of fifty was organized not long before Joseph Smith was killed, held meetings during the years in Nauvoo following Joseph's murder, and met occasionally in Utah under Brigham Young and John Taylor. It was comprised of around 50 men (it fluctuates a bit), 3 of whom were not members of the church. The minutes give some great insights into not only the final days of Joseph Smith but also to the years that always seemed to be glossed over in Mormon history between the martyrdom and the arrival of Brigham Young and company in the Salt Lake Valley.
This book begins by giving a little background into the reasons behind the creation of the council of the fifty. Joseph Smith took things very literally at times. He and most of the Saints believed that the second coming was imminent. Joseph believed that in order to bring forth the second coming the kingdom of God needed to be established on earth. While most Mormons now view the kingdom as an eternal institution Joseph and associates thought of it as a physical world government. The saints at the time also felt very let down by their country's government. Some contributing reasons for the creation of this secret group were the protection of the saints and their leaders, writing a new constitution, and campaigning for Joseph Smith's presidential run.
Under Joseph Smith's leadership the council meetings seem to focus around their thoughts about national and local governments, the meaning of the "Kingdom of God", the relationship between church and state, the relationship between the church and the kingdom of god, the injustices they felt they had endured as United States citizens, and Joseph Smith's run for the United States Presidency. Many of these sessions are pretty philosophical in nature with not much concrete work getting done in terms of actually writing a constitution or moving Joseph Smith's campaign ahead. Patrick Mason writes an excellent essay on the term "Theodemocracy". As explained by Joseph Smith that is a government where power is held by God and by the people. Instead of the famous saying "The voice of the people is the voice of God" (thank you west wing!), theodemocracy is based on the idea that "The voice of God shall be the voice of the people" (as asserted by Brigham Young). How much power should be given to "Theos" and how much power to be given to "demos" is a topic of debate amongst the members of the council. With Joseph leaning toward demos and Brigham leaning toward theos.
Using this concept of a theodemocracy the council attempts to write a new constitution for the world. The saints at this time had been heavily persecuted and had also participated in violence themselves. They felt that local government and the federal government had failed to protect them or assert any form of justice in their behalf. Saints at this point had been beaten, raped, killed, stolen from, and driven out of several states. The council realizes that the U.S. constitution has some pretty large holes in it when it comes to minority rights and so they set out to form a constitution that is more inclusive to minorities (with their emphasis being on religious minorities). After Joseph Smith's murder the council's sense of injustice is increased even more and the discussion turns to ideas of justice, revenge, and even punishment for those who contributed to the martyrdom. I found this discussion interesting because the church today has so entwined patriotism with religious ceremony. I think it would be interesting for many members to learn about the true feelings many of the founding members of the LDS church had toward the United States and it's leaders. There are many statements from the minutes quoted in this book about how fallen the country is, ways in which the US constitution fails and needs revising, and more.
One of the authors even talks about a time when the Salt Lake Tribune was writing an article about the pioneers and asked him to supply 3 interesting things that the average church member wouldn't know about the pioneers. One of his facts was that they were pretty dissatisfied with the government and were actually seeking to leave the country when they came to Utah. He wrote that before these minutes were published and said that while he received a lot of hate mail at the time from people who declared that their ancestors loved this country and it's constitution, he has since been vindicated by the evidence as found in these minutes.
This leads us into the next topic that is discussed- moving the saints. Dissatisfied with their treatment under U.S. law they begin to look outside of the country to places like Utah, Alta California, Texas and Mexico. It is discussed somewhat under Joseph Smith and then detailed and decided upon under the guidance of Brigham Young. While California and the coast seemed to be most favored at first and favored by Joseph Smith, Utah is finally decided on. Having been driven out of several places already by "old settlers" they want to find a place where they can be the first settlers. They also want a place that isn't too desirable so that others wont fight them for it. Salt lake seems to meet both these requirements, cuts about 600 miles off of their trip to the coast, and it's also on the trail to California and Oregon so they can get some traffic coming through for trade.
Another theme discussed is that of Mormon and Native American relationships. The early saints believed Native Americans to be Lamanites and they saw it as their responsibility to convert these Lamanites back to the truth of their fathers. They also believed that once the Lamanites were converted and joined up with the Mormons they would help them take back the land and overthrow the government that had oppressed both the Mormons and the Native Americans. There are several campaigns and missionaries sent out from Nauvoo to accomplish this goal. They are for the most part unsuccessful but this idea is another reason pushing them to migrate west and live among the different tribes of Native Americans.
The minutes also cover development and construction both in Nauvoo (completion of the temple and Nauvoo house) and in Salt Lake as they begin to establish their vision of Zion. We see the minutes really change from discussing the philosophies and big pictures of the church to discussing the very tangible and day to day needs of the church.
This document also just gives us a window into some of what happened during that time. We see many brethren leave the church. We get a glimpse into some of the chaos that occurred after Joseph is martyred. We see that there were many people who claimed that Joseph had told them what should happen next and where the saints should go and that it wasn't just peacefully decided that Brigham Young would be the next leader. I was aware of some of the conflicts that arose between the high council and the quorum of the 12 apostles but this also highlighted that many of the members of the fifty thought that the governing power should lie with them.
For me the overall take away was how much some of these men persevered even when the things they thought were going to happen didn't. They thought the second coming was imminent, they thought Joseph Smith would be vindicated, they thought the U.S. would protect them, they thought there would be widespread conversions among the Native American's, they thought the council of the fifty was destined to become the new and greatest government the world had ever seen, they thought the Nauvoo house would be finished and that it would be a place where the dignitaries of the world would come to stay, and even when none of these things came true in the ways they'd hoped they still stayed dedicated to their prophet and religion and to moving the saints out of persecution.
This book and the minutes help dispel fables like the saints didn't know where they were going when they started their trek, Joseph Smith was running for president just to gain attention to the LDS movement, and that all decisions were mandated in perfect revelations from on high. They give us a glimpse into the fact that these were men with differing opinions, backgrounds, and ideas. It also shows us the nature of church councils and leadership. We often think that all the early church decisions were made in meetings where God just came down and told the saints exactly what to do. While they did claim to be inspired by God they also made choices by counseling and studying and doing what they thought was best. Sometimes they got things right and sometimes they didn't- much like today. The minutes and this book provide an interesting look at the evolution of thought amongst the Latter Day Saint movement.
The council of fifty was organized not long before Joseph Smith was killed, held meetings during the years in Nauvoo following Joseph's murder, and met occasionally in Utah under Brigham Young and John Taylor. It was comprised of around 50 men (it fluctuates a bit), 3 of whom were not members of the church. The minutes give some great insights into not only the final days of Joseph Smith but also to the years that always seemed to be glossed over in Mormon history between the martyrdom and the arrival of Brigham Young and company in the Salt Lake Valley.
This book begins by giving a little background into the reasons behind the creation of the council of the fifty. Joseph Smith took things very literally at times. He and most of the Saints believed that the second coming was imminent. Joseph believed that in order to bring forth the second coming the kingdom of God needed to be established on earth. While most Mormons now view the kingdom as an eternal institution Joseph and associates thought of it as a physical world government. The saints at the time also felt very let down by their country's government. Some contributing reasons for the creation of this secret group were the protection of the saints and their leaders, writing a new constitution, and campaigning for Joseph Smith's presidential run.
Under Joseph Smith's leadership the council meetings seem to focus around their thoughts about national and local governments, the meaning of the "Kingdom of God", the relationship between church and state, the relationship between the church and the kingdom of god, the injustices they felt they had endured as United States citizens, and Joseph Smith's run for the United States Presidency. Many of these sessions are pretty philosophical in nature with not much concrete work getting done in terms of actually writing a constitution or moving Joseph Smith's campaign ahead. Patrick Mason writes an excellent essay on the term "Theodemocracy". As explained by Joseph Smith that is a government where power is held by God and by the people. Instead of the famous saying "The voice of the people is the voice of God" (thank you west wing!), theodemocracy is based on the idea that "The voice of God shall be the voice of the people" (as asserted by Brigham Young). How much power should be given to "Theos" and how much power to be given to "demos" is a topic of debate amongst the members of the council. With Joseph leaning toward demos and Brigham leaning toward theos.
Using this concept of a theodemocracy the council attempts to write a new constitution for the world. The saints at this time had been heavily persecuted and had also participated in violence themselves. They felt that local government and the federal government had failed to protect them or assert any form of justice in their behalf. Saints at this point had been beaten, raped, killed, stolen from, and driven out of several states. The council realizes that the U.S. constitution has some pretty large holes in it when it comes to minority rights and so they set out to form a constitution that is more inclusive to minorities (with their emphasis being on religious minorities). After Joseph Smith's murder the council's sense of injustice is increased even more and the discussion turns to ideas of justice, revenge, and even punishment for those who contributed to the martyrdom. I found this discussion interesting because the church today has so entwined patriotism with religious ceremony. I think it would be interesting for many members to learn about the true feelings many of the founding members of the LDS church had toward the United States and it's leaders. There are many statements from the minutes quoted in this book about how fallen the country is, ways in which the US constitution fails and needs revising, and more.
One of the authors even talks about a time when the Salt Lake Tribune was writing an article about the pioneers and asked him to supply 3 interesting things that the average church member wouldn't know about the pioneers. One of his facts was that they were pretty dissatisfied with the government and were actually seeking to leave the country when they came to Utah. He wrote that before these minutes were published and said that while he received a lot of hate mail at the time from people who declared that their ancestors loved this country and it's constitution, he has since been vindicated by the evidence as found in these minutes.
This leads us into the next topic that is discussed- moving the saints. Dissatisfied with their treatment under U.S. law they begin to look outside of the country to places like Utah, Alta California, Texas and Mexico. It is discussed somewhat under Joseph Smith and then detailed and decided upon under the guidance of Brigham Young. While California and the coast seemed to be most favored at first and favored by Joseph Smith, Utah is finally decided on. Having been driven out of several places already by "old settlers" they want to find a place where they can be the first settlers. They also want a place that isn't too desirable so that others wont fight them for it. Salt lake seems to meet both these requirements, cuts about 600 miles off of their trip to the coast, and it's also on the trail to California and Oregon so they can get some traffic coming through for trade.
Another theme discussed is that of Mormon and Native American relationships. The early saints believed Native Americans to be Lamanites and they saw it as their responsibility to convert these Lamanites back to the truth of their fathers. They also believed that once the Lamanites were converted and joined up with the Mormons they would help them take back the land and overthrow the government that had oppressed both the Mormons and the Native Americans. There are several campaigns and missionaries sent out from Nauvoo to accomplish this goal. They are for the most part unsuccessful but this idea is another reason pushing them to migrate west and live among the different tribes of Native Americans.
The minutes also cover development and construction both in Nauvoo (completion of the temple and Nauvoo house) and in Salt Lake as they begin to establish their vision of Zion. We see the minutes really change from discussing the philosophies and big pictures of the church to discussing the very tangible and day to day needs of the church.
This document also just gives us a window into some of what happened during that time. We see many brethren leave the church. We get a glimpse into some of the chaos that occurred after Joseph is martyred. We see that there were many people who claimed that Joseph had told them what should happen next and where the saints should go and that it wasn't just peacefully decided that Brigham Young would be the next leader. I was aware of some of the conflicts that arose between the high council and the quorum of the 12 apostles but this also highlighted that many of the members of the fifty thought that the governing power should lie with them.
For me the overall take away was how much some of these men persevered even when the things they thought were going to happen didn't. They thought the second coming was imminent, they thought Joseph Smith would be vindicated, they thought the U.S. would protect them, they thought there would be widespread conversions among the Native American's, they thought the council of the fifty was destined to become the new and greatest government the world had ever seen, they thought the Nauvoo house would be finished and that it would be a place where the dignitaries of the world would come to stay, and even when none of these things came true in the ways they'd hoped they still stayed dedicated to their prophet and religion and to moving the saints out of persecution.
This book and the minutes help dispel fables like the saints didn't know where they were going when they started their trek, Joseph Smith was running for president just to gain attention to the LDS movement, and that all decisions were mandated in perfect revelations from on high. They give us a glimpse into the fact that these were men with differing opinions, backgrounds, and ideas. It also shows us the nature of church councils and leadership. We often think that all the early church decisions were made in meetings where God just came down and told the saints exactly what to do. While they did claim to be inspired by God they also made choices by counseling and studying and doing what they thought was best. Sometimes they got things right and sometimes they didn't- much like today. The minutes and this book provide an interesting look at the evolution of thought amongst the Latter Day Saint movement.
September 21, 2017
On October 3, 2016, the Joseph Smith Papers Project published a volume called Administrative Records: Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844-January 1846 (see my review of that volume for ore information about it). It is a massive tome of around 800 pages containing information that had never before been published or studied. It contains many insights that help fill in gaps in Mormon history during this period. The Council of Fifty: What the Records Reveal about Mormon History is an introduction to some of those insights, or it can also serve as a summary of them for those that would rather not peruse the vast source material.
This book contains 15 chapters, each of which is a separate paper written by historians (many of which have worked on the Joseph Smith Project) such as Richard Bushman, Richard Turley, Patrick Mason, Gerrit Dirkmaat, Matthew Grow, Matthew Godfrey, Richard Bennett, Jedediah Rogers, and Paul Reeve. Like a sacrament meeting where each speaker is given the same topic, there is some overlap among many of the papers, yet each writer brings their own perspective and expertise.
The introduction was very interesting, talking about the history of the minutes themselves, and how they finally came to be published. It also explains why this book came to be: “We knew that most individuals interested in Mormon history and theology would simply not have the time or inclination to wade through the nearly eight hundred pages in the published Joseph Smith Papers volume to gain an understanding of the Council of Fifty. In addition, we were convinced that the council’s minutes needed to be engaged by scholars to evaluate the question of how these minutes should change our collective understanding of the Latter-day Saint past… Furthermore, the minutes illuminate a crucial era in the Mormon past that has not received adequate attention from historians” (page xii-xiii.) The scholars who contributed to the book were asked, “How do the Council of Fifty minutes change our understanding of Mormon history? In other words, why do they matter?” (page xiii.)
In the first paper, Richard Bushman introduces the minutes, explaining that “Over the years, the council minutes attained almost legendary status, as a trove of dark secrets sequestered in the recesses of the First Presidency’s vault” (page 1.) But Paul Reeve later assures us that “some students of the Mormon past might be disappointed in the Council of Fifty minutes because they do not contain salacious evidence that might bring Mormonism to its knees” (page 182.) However, Bushman continues, “The minutes do shed light on questions about the last days of Nauvoo that could not be answered before” and they “reveal how desperate and angry the leaders were and how far they were willing to go” (page 1) due to the constant persecution they had faced, to which state and federal governments had turned a blind eye or made their own contributions. They had Joseph Smith run for president while also writing a new constitution. At the same time, they planned possible migrations that would eventually show the intention to leave the United States altogether.
Richard Turley speaks further of the injustices leading to the formation of the council and how it planned to resolve them. “In his candidacy for the presidency, [Joseph] strongly advocated for religious liberty for all Americans, not just for Latter-day Saints. In the Council of Fifty, he discussed the creation of a theocracy outside the borders of the United States that would be defined by its extension of religious liberty to all individuals” (page 7.) This was because “their appeals for protection from government went unheeded, in part because the officials who should have protected them either participated in the mobbings themselves or were sympathetic to those who did. The Saints then sought redress in the courts, only to face similar frustrations…. [B]ecause of their status as members of a despised minority faith, the law did not protect them from violence or provide redress after it occurred” (page 11.)
Nathan Oman tells us that “Contemporary Mormons often affirm that their scriptures teach about ‘the divinely inspired constitution’ of the United States. However, the revelations of Joseph Smith do not contain this exact phrase” (page 58.) By 1840, the Mormons’ faith in the constitution “had been shattered… In the end the federal Constitution was wholly inadequate as a mechanism for protecting Mormon rights, and in Mormon eyes ‘honest men and wise men’ were nowhere to be seen in high office. It was in this context of deepening disillusionment toward the United States and its legal institutions that the Council of Fifty embarked on its constitution-making project” (page 60.) This new constitution was written without copying from other constitutions because they were all seen as corrupt. It was written in revelatory language, but the writers do not seem to have felt it had been revealed. In the end, they were unsatisfied with it and it was abandoned. Joseph Smith instead received a revelation saying “Verily thus saith the Lord, ye are my constitution, and I am your God, and ye are my spokesmen. From henceforth do as I shall command you. Saith the Lord” (page 64).
Gerrit Dirkmaat’s paper, “Lost Teachings of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and other Church Leaders” is very similar to his August, 2017 FairMormon Conference presentation titled, “Lost Teachings of the Prophets: Recently Uncovered Teachings of Joseph Smith and Others from the Council of Fifty Record.” He provides insightful quotes from Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Hyrum Smith, and even Porter Rockwell.
Matthew Grow and Marilyn Bradford discussed how Brigham Young’s leadership developed after he reconvened the council following Joseph Smith’s death. He appears to have needed a little additional prodding from Orson Spencer: “When Joseph was here he was for carrying out his (Josephs) measures, he now wants pres Young as our head to carry out his own measures, and he believes they will be right whether they differ from Josephs measures or not. Different circumstances require different measures” (page 105.) It is pointed out that “Though the minutes of the Council of Fifty were published as part of The Joseph Smith Papers, they arguably provide more insights into Brigham Young than Joseph Smith” as nearly 70 percent of the minutes are from after Joseph’s death (page 106.) Under Brigham Young, the council became a shadow government after the Nauvoo charter was repealed, which included starting the storied whistling and whittling brigades. He also led the completion of the Nauvoo Temple and of course planned for the exodus west. Indeed, during a council meeting in the attic of the Nauvoo temple, Brigham Young said, “The Sayings of the Prophets would never be verified unless the House of the Lord should be reared in the Tops of the Mountains and the Proud Banner of liberty wave over the valley’s that are within the Mountains &c. I know where the spot is” (page 116.)
This is just a sampling of some of the papers that are contained in the book; there are many more. Whether or not you plan to spend some time with the actual minutes, this book has much to offer in understanding what they contain. Coincidentally, I was reading the book while this time period was covered in Gospel Doctrine over the last couple of weeks, and I was able to gain some new insights and took the opportunity to share some of them in class. I expect that this is just the beginning of much new scholarship that will come forth now that the minutes are publicly available.
This book contains 15 chapters, each of which is a separate paper written by historians (many of which have worked on the Joseph Smith Project) such as Richard Bushman, Richard Turley, Patrick Mason, Gerrit Dirkmaat, Matthew Grow, Matthew Godfrey, Richard Bennett, Jedediah Rogers, and Paul Reeve. Like a sacrament meeting where each speaker is given the same topic, there is some overlap among many of the papers, yet each writer brings their own perspective and expertise.
The introduction was very interesting, talking about the history of the minutes themselves, and how they finally came to be published. It also explains why this book came to be: “We knew that most individuals interested in Mormon history and theology would simply not have the time or inclination to wade through the nearly eight hundred pages in the published Joseph Smith Papers volume to gain an understanding of the Council of Fifty. In addition, we were convinced that the council’s minutes needed to be engaged by scholars to evaluate the question of how these minutes should change our collective understanding of the Latter-day Saint past… Furthermore, the minutes illuminate a crucial era in the Mormon past that has not received adequate attention from historians” (page xii-xiii.) The scholars who contributed to the book were asked, “How do the Council of Fifty minutes change our understanding of Mormon history? In other words, why do they matter?” (page xiii.)
In the first paper, Richard Bushman introduces the minutes, explaining that “Over the years, the council minutes attained almost legendary status, as a trove of dark secrets sequestered in the recesses of the First Presidency’s vault” (page 1.) But Paul Reeve later assures us that “some students of the Mormon past might be disappointed in the Council of Fifty minutes because they do not contain salacious evidence that might bring Mormonism to its knees” (page 182.) However, Bushman continues, “The minutes do shed light on questions about the last days of Nauvoo that could not be answered before” and they “reveal how desperate and angry the leaders were and how far they were willing to go” (page 1) due to the constant persecution they had faced, to which state and federal governments had turned a blind eye or made their own contributions. They had Joseph Smith run for president while also writing a new constitution. At the same time, they planned possible migrations that would eventually show the intention to leave the United States altogether.
Richard Turley speaks further of the injustices leading to the formation of the council and how it planned to resolve them. “In his candidacy for the presidency, [Joseph] strongly advocated for religious liberty for all Americans, not just for Latter-day Saints. In the Council of Fifty, he discussed the creation of a theocracy outside the borders of the United States that would be defined by its extension of religious liberty to all individuals” (page 7.) This was because “their appeals for protection from government went unheeded, in part because the officials who should have protected them either participated in the mobbings themselves or were sympathetic to those who did. The Saints then sought redress in the courts, only to face similar frustrations…. [B]ecause of their status as members of a despised minority faith, the law did not protect them from violence or provide redress after it occurred” (page 11.)
Nathan Oman tells us that “Contemporary Mormons often affirm that their scriptures teach about ‘the divinely inspired constitution’ of the United States. However, the revelations of Joseph Smith do not contain this exact phrase” (page 58.) By 1840, the Mormons’ faith in the constitution “had been shattered… In the end the federal Constitution was wholly inadequate as a mechanism for protecting Mormon rights, and in Mormon eyes ‘honest men and wise men’ were nowhere to be seen in high office. It was in this context of deepening disillusionment toward the United States and its legal institutions that the Council of Fifty embarked on its constitution-making project” (page 60.) This new constitution was written without copying from other constitutions because they were all seen as corrupt. It was written in revelatory language, but the writers do not seem to have felt it had been revealed. In the end, they were unsatisfied with it and it was abandoned. Joseph Smith instead received a revelation saying “Verily thus saith the Lord, ye are my constitution, and I am your God, and ye are my spokesmen. From henceforth do as I shall command you. Saith the Lord” (page 64).
Gerrit Dirkmaat’s paper, “Lost Teachings of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and other Church Leaders” is very similar to his August, 2017 FairMormon Conference presentation titled, “Lost Teachings of the Prophets: Recently Uncovered Teachings of Joseph Smith and Others from the Council of Fifty Record.” He provides insightful quotes from Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Hyrum Smith, and even Porter Rockwell.
Matthew Grow and Marilyn Bradford discussed how Brigham Young’s leadership developed after he reconvened the council following Joseph Smith’s death. He appears to have needed a little additional prodding from Orson Spencer: “When Joseph was here he was for carrying out his (Josephs) measures, he now wants pres Young as our head to carry out his own measures, and he believes they will be right whether they differ from Josephs measures or not. Different circumstances require different measures” (page 105.) It is pointed out that “Though the minutes of the Council of Fifty were published as part of The Joseph Smith Papers, they arguably provide more insights into Brigham Young than Joseph Smith” as nearly 70 percent of the minutes are from after Joseph’s death (page 106.) Under Brigham Young, the council became a shadow government after the Nauvoo charter was repealed, which included starting the storied whistling and whittling brigades. He also led the completion of the Nauvoo Temple and of course planned for the exodus west. Indeed, during a council meeting in the attic of the Nauvoo temple, Brigham Young said, “The Sayings of the Prophets would never be verified unless the House of the Lord should be reared in the Tops of the Mountains and the Proud Banner of liberty wave over the valley’s that are within the Mountains &c. I know where the spot is” (page 116.)
This is just a sampling of some of the papers that are contained in the book; there are many more. Whether or not you plan to spend some time with the actual minutes, this book has much to offer in understanding what they contain. Coincidentally, I was reading the book while this time period was covered in Gospel Doctrine over the last couple of weeks, and I was able to gain some new insights and took the opportunity to share some of them in class. I expect that this is just the beginning of much new scholarship that will come forth now that the minutes are publicly available.
September 24, 2017
Kudos for a handsome volume, abundant gilt, professional layout, slick cover and footnotes.
The content is fairly ridiculous. These are four-page mini essays on disparate topics that focus on small phrases without analyzing any larger context. Each felt like a high schooler trying to meet a minimum word count in an essay about why the principal is just such a really great, awesome guy.
This is a great Christmas gift for a guy who teaches the ward gospel doctrine class.
The content is fairly ridiculous. These are four-page mini essays on disparate topics that focus on small phrases without analyzing any larger context. Each felt like a high schooler trying to meet a minimum word count in an essay about why the principal is just such a really great, awesome guy.
This is a great Christmas gift for a guy who teaches the ward gospel doctrine class.
September 6, 2017
One of the greatest challenges new historical scholarship faces is that of accessibility. The old joke is that historians too often write only for other historians, using opaque prose that alienates non-specialized readers. There is more than a grain of truth to these observations, which is why this new volume from Brigham Young University’s Religious Studies Center and Deseret Book is so welcome.
The recent volume of the Joseph Smith Papers Project documenting the proceedings of the early Mormon Church’s “Council of Fifty” is a remarkable scholarly achievement. This volume, with its rich and careful deconstruction of the Council’s records, will serve scholars of Mormonism for years. The secrecy in which the Council originally convened, along with the Church’s restriction of the record for years afterward, make the volume especially rewarding for those seeking to understand the Church’s final and tumultuous years in Nauvoo, the desperate plans for finding refuge outside of the United States, and the Prophet Joseph Smith’s audacious political philosophies and ambitions prior to his assassination.
However, for non-specialists who have an interest in the Council of Fifty’s impact upon the developing Church, the Joseph Smith Papers volume presents significant obstacles. At over 700 pages in length, few average readers have the time to dedicate to its study. Furthermore, the historical context of the Council’s minutes is bogglingly complex, involving hundreds of characters, referring to thousands of other documents, and taking part in the larger social, religious, and political turmoil that engulfed the nation. For readers unfamiliar with these elements, the insights and benefits of the Joseph Smith Papers volume on the Council of Fifty falter under the burdens of its own strengths.
For this reason, editors Matthew J. Grow and R. Eric Smith have compiled a series of essays from some impressive Mormon Studies scholars into an anthology The Council of Fifty: What the Records Reveal about Mormon History. The essays in The Council of Fifty provide clear and concise highlights of some of the most important themes addressed by the Council and how these themes affected the later trajectory of the Mormon Church. Readers will quickly learn of Joseph Smith’s musings on establishing a “theodemocracy” as a means of remedying the failures of the nation’s state and federal governments to provide the Saints with redress. Other topics include the Church’s engagement and philosophy concerning American Indians, the role of revelation in guiding civil life, the evolution of Mormon record keeping, Mormon constitutionalism, the shifting Mormon perspective on being a “chosen people,” and more.
These essays are more than just informative; they are also riveting. To cite two examples, Spencer W. McBride and Patrick Q. Mason’s contributions highlight the conflicts the Council faced as they simultaneously laid claim to American liberties yet expressed a desperate, and sometimes painful, rage as they navigated the frustrations of court proceedings, rejected petitions, and broken promises of a government which had turned its back on them. At the same moment, while Joseph Smith enlisted the Council in his moonshot of a presidential campaign for “the privilege of enjoying our religious and civil rights as American citizens,” members of that same body derided the American government insisting that “the boasted freedom of these U. States is gone, gone to hell.” McBride and Mason carefully guide the reader through these conflicting positions and provide much food for thought for all readers, but perhaps especially to those who have assumed that the nationalist strains within American Mormonism are inherent and inviolable. In today’s political disharmony, such reflections are certainly worthwhile.
The recent volume of the Joseph Smith Papers Project documenting the proceedings of the early Mormon Church’s “Council of Fifty” is a remarkable scholarly achievement. This volume, with its rich and careful deconstruction of the Council’s records, will serve scholars of Mormonism for years. The secrecy in which the Council originally convened, along with the Church’s restriction of the record for years afterward, make the volume especially rewarding for those seeking to understand the Church’s final and tumultuous years in Nauvoo, the desperate plans for finding refuge outside of the United States, and the Prophet Joseph Smith’s audacious political philosophies and ambitions prior to his assassination.
However, for non-specialists who have an interest in the Council of Fifty’s impact upon the developing Church, the Joseph Smith Papers volume presents significant obstacles. At over 700 pages in length, few average readers have the time to dedicate to its study. Furthermore, the historical context of the Council’s minutes is bogglingly complex, involving hundreds of characters, referring to thousands of other documents, and taking part in the larger social, religious, and political turmoil that engulfed the nation. For readers unfamiliar with these elements, the insights and benefits of the Joseph Smith Papers volume on the Council of Fifty falter under the burdens of its own strengths.
For this reason, editors Matthew J. Grow and R. Eric Smith have compiled a series of essays from some impressive Mormon Studies scholars into an anthology The Council of Fifty: What the Records Reveal about Mormon History. The essays in The Council of Fifty provide clear and concise highlights of some of the most important themes addressed by the Council and how these themes affected the later trajectory of the Mormon Church. Readers will quickly learn of Joseph Smith’s musings on establishing a “theodemocracy” as a means of remedying the failures of the nation’s state and federal governments to provide the Saints with redress. Other topics include the Church’s engagement and philosophy concerning American Indians, the role of revelation in guiding civil life, the evolution of Mormon record keeping, Mormon constitutionalism, the shifting Mormon perspective on being a “chosen people,” and more.
These essays are more than just informative; they are also riveting. To cite two examples, Spencer W. McBride and Patrick Q. Mason’s contributions highlight the conflicts the Council faced as they simultaneously laid claim to American liberties yet expressed a desperate, and sometimes painful, rage as they navigated the frustrations of court proceedings, rejected petitions, and broken promises of a government which had turned its back on them. At the same moment, while Joseph Smith enlisted the Council in his moonshot of a presidential campaign for “the privilege of enjoying our religious and civil rights as American citizens,” members of that same body derided the American government insisting that “the boasted freedom of these U. States is gone, gone to hell.” McBride and Mason carefully guide the reader through these conflicting positions and provide much food for thought for all readers, but perhaps especially to those who have assumed that the nationalist strains within American Mormonism are inherent and inviolable. In today’s political disharmony, such reflections are certainly worthwhile.
September 8, 2017
Most of what I would say has already been written by other reviewers. Outside of Mormon history scholars, the best audience I can find for this book are those interested in Mormon theology and culture as it relates to politics. Were 1840's Mormons patriots or not? As Richard Bushman and Richard Bennett so well described, they were in that they believed in America's founding principles but were finished with the then-current government. Patrick Mason's essay on Theodemocracy is the best I've ever read on separatation of Church and State, or rather the union of the two, in Mormon thought. Joseph Smith's presidential campaign has been a long topic of discussion and speculation all of which is obsolete with the release of the Council of Fifty mintues. Spencer McBride tells us what the Council of Fifty minutes tell us about how serious Joseph was about winning the election and what he hoped to accomplish by running. Several of the essays discuss how Joseph believed the Constitution ought to guarantee the equal protection of minority groups and how the federal government was duty bound to intervene on their behalf when state and local governments would not.
As a collection of independent essays, reading this cover to cover feels repeatitive as many of the same quotes and concepts are shared over and over. Not of all the essays will appeal to everyone. I in particular enjoyed Eric Smith's paper on Mormon record keeping as it is a niche interest of mine, but I can see how layman would not particularly care for it. I also thoroughly enjoyed Christopher Blythe's paper on Lyman Wight as Wight and Mormon off shots is another niche interest of mine.
Richard Bushman said in his first essay that he had been wrong to think that he could properly analysis Joseph Smith in Rough Stone Rolling without having seen the Council of Fifty minutes. Indeed, this book shows how much of Mormon history as we understand it ought to be adjusted now that the minutes are available. I believe that there are areas that this book did not go into enough depth on such as the Last Charge or some of Joseph's more esoteric theological teachings. Other papers have addressed those. Again this book's greatest strength is applying new evidence to the area of politics and Mormon thought. Fortunately, that is an area the layman will find interesting and accessible.
As a collection of independent essays, reading this cover to cover feels repeatitive as many of the same quotes and concepts are shared over and over. Not of all the essays will appeal to everyone. I in particular enjoyed Eric Smith's paper on Mormon record keeping as it is a niche interest of mine, but I can see how layman would not particularly care for it. I also thoroughly enjoyed Christopher Blythe's paper on Lyman Wight as Wight and Mormon off shots is another niche interest of mine.
Richard Bushman said in his first essay that he had been wrong to think that he could properly analysis Joseph Smith in Rough Stone Rolling without having seen the Council of Fifty minutes. Indeed, this book shows how much of Mormon history as we understand it ought to be adjusted now that the minutes are available. I believe that there are areas that this book did not go into enough depth on such as the Last Charge or some of Joseph's more esoteric theological teachings. Other papers have addressed those. Again this book's greatest strength is applying new evidence to the area of politics and Mormon thought. Fortunately, that is an area the layman will find interesting and accessible.
September 15, 2017
Wonderful book, and incredibly informative.
September 13, 2017
Readers interested in Mormon history and Mormon studies will appreciate this important book. The collected essays take on a wide variety of topics, so readers can pick and choose what interests them the most.
December 29, 2018
This is a group of essays written by Church historians about some of their main takeaways from studying the Council of Fifty minutes that were recently released as a part of The Joseph Smith Papers project. Joseph Smith organized the Council of Fifty in Nauvoo in 1844, not long before he died. Brigham Young continued to meet with this group. They met for several purposes that changed over time, but it turns out that one of the most important purposes may have been in organizing the exodus to the west. I look forward to reading the actual minutes, but here were some of my favorite quotes from this book of insights:
"Joseph Smith had formed a confidential council consisting of roughly fifty men. The council, which became known as the 'Council of Fifty' or 'Kingdom of God,' was to 'look to some place where we can go and establish a Theocracy either in Texas or Oregon or somewhere in California.'.... Shortly before going to Carthage, he instructed Clayton to destroy or hid the records of the council. Joseph Smith feared that the candid discussions within the Council of Fifty--including the desire to establish a theocracy--could be used against him in either a court of law or, more likely, the court of public opinion. Clayton opted to bury the records in his garden (p. vii)."
"Historians have long known of the existence of the council and the minutes of its meetings. Until recently, though, the minutes had never been made available for historical research. Because of the inaccessibility--and because historians knew that they were made during a critical and controversial era of Mormon history--a mystique grew up surrounding the minutes (p. viii)."
"The minutes had never been previously available for at least two key reasons: first, because they were considered confidential during the council's meetings, and later stewards of the records wished to honor that confidentiality; and second, because once they were in the possession of the First Presidency, they were seldom used or read by Church leaders, and there was no pressing reason to make them available. The Church's commitment to publish all of Joseph Smith's documents as part of The Joseph Smith Papers provided the appropriate moment for their release (p. ix)."
"The minutes illuminate a crucial era in the Mormon past that has not received adequate attention from historians (p. xiii)."
"We asked each of the scholars in this volume to consider a question: How dot the Council of Fifty minutes change our understanding of Mormon history? In other words, why do they matter? (p. xiii)."
"The minutes do shed light on questions about the last days of Nauvoo that could not be answered before. None of the topics the council addressed are completely new. They all grew out of ongoing issues in the Church's history: protecting the Church from mobs, dealing with Indians, preparing for westward migration, establishing the kingdom of God in the last days. But the minutes reveal how desperate and angry the leaders were and how far they were willing to go (Richard Bushman, p. 1)."
"In the spring of 1844, Joseph Smith ran for the office of president, implying that the government and the Constitution were worthy institutions under which the Saints were prepared to dwell (p. 2)."
"The council was prepared to declare the Mormons' independence from the United States (p. 3)."
"In the end, the Saints gave way to the government. Under the pragmatic Wilford Woodruff, polygamy was abandoned, and theocratic government was dissolved (p. 4)."
"The experiences of Mormons during the 1830s indelibly shaped their mindset on the necessity of religious liberty, the failure of current governments to adequately protect it, and the need for a new type of government to defend the liberty of Latter-day Saints and other religious minorities (Richard E. Turley, Jr., p. 7)."
"No wonder the Saints grew frustrated. They were following the rules that were supposed to protect citizens, but because of their status as members of a despised minority faith, the law did not protect them from violence or provide redress after it occurred (p. 12)."
"Based on these experiences, the Saints figured that if they were to have fairness and justice, they needed to have their own government, their own courts, and their own state-sanctioned militia.... In late 1843, Joseph wrote the leading US presidential candidates, inquiring what they would do to protect the rights of Latter-day Saints. After getting unsatisfactory answers, he decided in early 1844 to run for president, with Sidney Rigdon as vice presidential candidate. Joseph's presidential campaign would be a way to draw attention to the plight of Saints, slaves, prisoners, debtors, and other downtrodden peoples (p. 17)."
"Was Joseph Smith serious about his presidential ambitions or was he merely a protest candidate running to raise awareness of the Mormons' plight?.... The Council of Fifty minutes reveal that Smith was more than a protest candidate--that is, that he and other Church leaders viewed an electoral triumph as possible, even if unlikely.... They appear to have believed that his candidacy would ultimately require some form of divine intervention (Spencer W. McBride, p. 21)."
"The campaign was merely one possible avenue by which Latter-day Saints could attempt to obtain federal redress and protection while awaiting the establishment of the political kingdom of God. Smith's run for the American presidency thus represents a nexus of idealism and pragmatism as well as an unusual combination of providentialism and contingency planning (p. 22)."
"The Council of Fifty assumed much of the responsibility for managing Smith's campaign (p. 23)."
"'I have not a doubt that he would govern the people and administer the laws in good faith, and with righteous intentions, but I can see no Natural means by which he has the slightest chance of receiving the votes of even a one state (James Arrington Bennett, p. 24).'"
"The Council of Fifty members anticipated that all their plans to remain in the United States on their own terms might fail. Accordingly, they planned for an exodus to a place where they could establish themselves as a sovereign people (p. 28)."
"A search of electronic databases containing early American imprints, newspapers, and other primary sources suggested that the word 'theodemocracy' was not in wide circulation at the time, and perhaps that the concept was original to Smith (or his ghost writer William W. Phelps). I wondered if theodemocracy might even constitute a uniquely Mormon contribution to political theory (Patrick Q. Mason, p. 31)."
"Mormons identified religious freedom as the first and most important freedom, and they sought a political theory and system that would prevent the abuses they had recently suffered in Missouri (p. 32)."
"Without discounting that positive strain of thought within the movement, the Council of Fifty minutes remind us that many early Mormons shared a rather dark view of the world that lay beyond gathered Zion, a pessimism founded upon Smith's millenarian revelations and fueled by the Missouri persecutions (p. 35)."
"'No line can be drawn between the church and other governments, of the spiritual and temporal affairs of the church. Revelations must govern. The voice of God, shall be the voice of the people (Brigham Young, p. 35).'"
"Not all council members were so enthusiastic about theocracy (p. 35)."
"Smith articulated a vision of God and the people working together to govern human affairs in righteousness (p. 37)."
"Joseph Smith tempered the more theocratic lenaings of his fellow council members not only by introducing demos into the equation but also in affirming that the kingdom of God and the church of Jesus Christ were two separate institutions, each with its own laws and jurisdiction (p. 37)."
"The nature of the council's governance, requiring that all decisions be made with full unanimity, can be interpreted in at least two ways: first, as a pragmatic response to democratic politics intended as a guard against the tyranny of the majority; or second, implying a naive belief that all people of goodwill, especially when guided by the Holy Spirit, would come to the same conclusions on any matter of import (p. 38)."
"The inclusion of three non-Mormons on the council was therefore a gesture not just of tokenism or religious liberality but also an expression of a sincere belief that spiritual difference would not impeded social harmony and political unity (p. 38)."
"Those who framed the United States' founding documents inaugurated a then-radical idea of religious liberty--in which there was a strict separation between political and ecclesiastical governance--over the more traditional practice of religious toleration, in which one religious institution would retain preference over others (even if all faiths received some form of liberty) (Benjamin E. Park, p. 46)."
"The Mormon constitution sought to solve the problem.. 'None of the nations, kingdoms or governments of the earth do acknowledge the creator of the Universe as their Priest, Lawgiver, King and Sovereign... neither have they sought unto him for laws by which to govern themselves.' The constitution's first article reaffirmed God's supremacy, the second proclaimed the authority of the prophet and priesthood, and the third validated priestly judgment (p. 47)."
"Council members tried to balance their allegiance to prophetic rule and democratic principles (p. 48)."
"Even while the intersections between the Church, the kingdom, and the American government were never fully fleshed out, the resulting ambiguity enabled a space for creative innovation and theorizing (p. 49)."
"To Smith, varying contexts and circumstances necessitated holy men who could appropriate ideas and practices as situations required (p. 51)."
"The Council of Fifty was, in an important way, a direct response to two issues central to American political culture, which was aptly embodied in Willard Richard's two questions: What is the proper relationship between church and state? And how should a government evolve in response to the circumstances in which it governs (p. 52)?"
"In the spring of 1844, Joseph Smith created a secret organization, the Council of Fifty, of high church officials, civic leaders, and others, and tasked it with establishing the kingdom of God, a political organization to be set up by the Mormons someplace on the North American continent in expectation of the imminent end times... On March 11, 1844...the council appointed a committee of John Taylor, Willard Richards, William W. Phelps, and Parley P. Pratt 'to draft a constitution which should be perfect, and embrace those principles of which the constitution of the United States lacked.'... On April 18, the committee reported a draft constitution.... A week later, Joseph Smith announced to the council a revelation abandoning the effort to draft a written constitution for the kingdom of God, and the council devoted the rest of its efforts to the more immediate problems facing the Saints, culminating in the relocation en masse of the Mormons to the Great Basin after Joseph Smith's murder (Nathan B. Oman, p. 55)."
"Contemporary Mormons often affirm that their scriptures teach about 'the divinely inspired constitution' of the United States. However, the revelations of Joseph Smith do not contain this exact phrase (p. 58)."
"By 1840, Mormon faith in this constitutional model had been shattered (p. 60)."
"The constitution of the kingdom of God was less an effort to construct a working legal system than to set forth a theory of government (p. 61)."
"The critique of existing governments begins with the assertion of the sovereignty of God (p. 61)."
"Almost exactly two months after reporting his revelation to the Council of Fifty, Joseph Smith was murdered (p. 65)."
"The political kingdom of God had been postponed to an ever-delayed millennium (p. 65)."
"'Joseph sought the Lord, and he told him: 'Ye are the constitution of my church.' And so it is; the priesthood, the living oracles, are the word of God unto us, and this constitutes the growth and strength of the kingdom of God (p. 66).'"
"'Pres. Smith said he wanted all the brethren to speak their minds on this subject and to say what was in their hearts whether good or bad. He did not want to be forever surrounded by a set of 'dough heads' and if they did not rise up and shake themselves and exercise themselves in discussing these important matters he should consider them nothing better than 'dough heads.'.... In their organization they never could agree to disagree long enough to select the pure gold from the dross by the process of investigation (Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, p. 74).'"
"Joseph insisted that any government formed by God and every member of the council should respect and protect the rights of every religious group (p. 77)."
"A man should be judged by the law independant of religious prejudice (p. 78)."
"'Joseph Smith can disagree with the whole church as he has a mind, and how? Because he is a perfect committee of himself.... He would rather have the pure revelations of Jesus Christ as they now stand to the nations, than any thing else (p. 80).'"
"One of the primary purposes of the Council of Fifty was to seek to establish the physical, or political, kingdom of God on earth. It planned for a government organization that would allow the Saints to worship God freely and construct a government on theocratic principles in whatever land they eventually settled upon (p. 82)."
"The council minutes are not the only Joseph Smith record containing material that Joseph and his associates viewed as confidential. The early editions of the Doctrine and Covenants, for example, used code words in some revelations to conceal the identities of Church leaders involved with Church businesses. In Joseph Smith's Nauvoo journals, his scribe Willard Richards used shorthand to record especially sensitive information, such as information about plural marriages (R. Eric Smith, p. 93)."
"God commanded the Church to keep a record (p. 94)."
"What can we learn by considering the Nauvoo Council of Fifty record not only as an institutional record but also as a personal record of William Clayton (p. 97)?"
"Do we leave our information that could be potentially embarrassing to a Church leader?... How much information do we include about activities of the Church's opponents (p. 101)?"
"Though the minutes of the Council of Fifty were published as part of The Joseph Smith Papers, they arguably provide more insight into Brigham Young than Joseph Smith (Matthew J. Grow and Marilyn Bradford, p. 106)."
"Young emphasized the primacy of revelation over written laws (p. 107)."
"'When God speake, he always speaks according to the capacity of the people (p. 108).'"
"'Republicanism is, to enjoy every thing there is in heaven, earth or hell to be enjoyed, and not infringe upon the rights of another (Brigham Young, p. 108).'"
"'We cannot carry out Josephs measures but by sustaining Brigham Young as our chairman, our head and successor of Joseph Smith (p. 110).'"
"Young encouraged robust debate and discussion among council members (p. 111)."
"Under Young, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles became more important to the Council of Fifty. On April 11, Young stated, 'Formerly one man stood at the head, now the Twelve stand there (p. 113).'"
"The final work of the Council of Fifty in Nauvoo involved final preparations for the exodus as the council met in the temple. Only when he was standing in the temple, as endowments and sealings occurred in nearby rooms, could Brigham Young announce with clarity the final destination of the Latter-day Saints' exodus (p. 117)."
"Smith's death eroded whatever positive feelings remained for the United States among the Mormons (Jeffrey D. Mahas, p. 123)."
"Under Brigham Young the anticipated conversion of the American Indians took on a much more central role in the council's deliberations (p. 124)."
"The Mormons' more global ambitions were put on hold in favor of the immediate mission to the American Indians (p. 125)."
"The minutes of the meetings of the Fifty reveal that Texas was only one of multiple locations considered (Christopher James Blythe, p. 142)."
"I have long been of the opinion that when the Saints began leaving Nauvoo, Brigham Young and the Twelve Apostles, at that time the united leadership of the Church, did not have a precise destination in mind (Richard E. Bennett, p. 154)."
"The truth is, the Latter-day Saints lost more lives to disease than to persecution! 'If we can find a healthy country we will go there,' Brigham Young said (p. 157)."
"The Council of Fifty was not a legislative or Church administrative body. Although the council did pass resolutions, they seemed not to have been binding, nor did the council determine ultimate Church policy. Likewise, the Council of Fifty did not attempt to define Church doctrines and beliefs. Deliberative in nature, it primarily gave counsel and advice (p. 164)."
"The formation of the Council of Fifty in the spring of 1844 came just as Americans were widely awakening to the idea of a westward empire extending to the Pacific (Jedediah S. Rogers, p. 168)."
"As appealing as Oregon appeared, however, Mormons clearly recognized that other Americans likewise coveted the region (p. 170)."
"Mormon leaders sought, at least initially, to shed the federal yoke and settle in a location outside of US jurisdiction (p. 171)."
"The Salt Lake Valley was for Young a blank canvas on which God could realize his handiwork: to organize a new society, to ensure that its citizens and the land conformed to the divine decree (p. 174)."
"Most Mormons today don't realize the depth of mistrust and resentment some Mormon pioneers harbored toward the United States in 1846 and 1847. When the Mormons arrived in the Great Basin, they were actually arriving in northern Mexico. They crossed an international border and were fleeing the United States (W. Paul Reeve, p. 181)."
"For Joseph Smith, it was not enough to merely tolerate people of other faiths or of no faith. Religious bigotry had no place in his worldview (p. 185)."
"My final impression from reading the minutes highlights the power that the American West (or what would become the American West) had over the imagination of members of the Council of Fifty.... a location that allowed the crowded cities and factories of the East to release the pressure of America's growing industrialization by offering free land and a new destiny in the West (p. 187)."
"Joseph Smith had formed a confidential council consisting of roughly fifty men. The council, which became known as the 'Council of Fifty' or 'Kingdom of God,' was to 'look to some place where we can go and establish a Theocracy either in Texas or Oregon or somewhere in California.'.... Shortly before going to Carthage, he instructed Clayton to destroy or hid the records of the council. Joseph Smith feared that the candid discussions within the Council of Fifty--including the desire to establish a theocracy--could be used against him in either a court of law or, more likely, the court of public opinion. Clayton opted to bury the records in his garden (p. vii)."
"Historians have long known of the existence of the council and the minutes of its meetings. Until recently, though, the minutes had never been made available for historical research. Because of the inaccessibility--and because historians knew that they were made during a critical and controversial era of Mormon history--a mystique grew up surrounding the minutes (p. viii)."
"The minutes had never been previously available for at least two key reasons: first, because they were considered confidential during the council's meetings, and later stewards of the records wished to honor that confidentiality; and second, because once they were in the possession of the First Presidency, they were seldom used or read by Church leaders, and there was no pressing reason to make them available. The Church's commitment to publish all of Joseph Smith's documents as part of The Joseph Smith Papers provided the appropriate moment for their release (p. ix)."
"The minutes illuminate a crucial era in the Mormon past that has not received adequate attention from historians (p. xiii)."
"We asked each of the scholars in this volume to consider a question: How dot the Council of Fifty minutes change our understanding of Mormon history? In other words, why do they matter? (p. xiii)."
"The minutes do shed light on questions about the last days of Nauvoo that could not be answered before. None of the topics the council addressed are completely new. They all grew out of ongoing issues in the Church's history: protecting the Church from mobs, dealing with Indians, preparing for westward migration, establishing the kingdom of God in the last days. But the minutes reveal how desperate and angry the leaders were and how far they were willing to go (Richard Bushman, p. 1)."
"In the spring of 1844, Joseph Smith ran for the office of president, implying that the government and the Constitution were worthy institutions under which the Saints were prepared to dwell (p. 2)."
"The council was prepared to declare the Mormons' independence from the United States (p. 3)."
"In the end, the Saints gave way to the government. Under the pragmatic Wilford Woodruff, polygamy was abandoned, and theocratic government was dissolved (p. 4)."
"The experiences of Mormons during the 1830s indelibly shaped their mindset on the necessity of religious liberty, the failure of current governments to adequately protect it, and the need for a new type of government to defend the liberty of Latter-day Saints and other religious minorities (Richard E. Turley, Jr., p. 7)."
"No wonder the Saints grew frustrated. They were following the rules that were supposed to protect citizens, but because of their status as members of a despised minority faith, the law did not protect them from violence or provide redress after it occurred (p. 12)."
"Based on these experiences, the Saints figured that if they were to have fairness and justice, they needed to have their own government, their own courts, and their own state-sanctioned militia.... In late 1843, Joseph wrote the leading US presidential candidates, inquiring what they would do to protect the rights of Latter-day Saints. After getting unsatisfactory answers, he decided in early 1844 to run for president, with Sidney Rigdon as vice presidential candidate. Joseph's presidential campaign would be a way to draw attention to the plight of Saints, slaves, prisoners, debtors, and other downtrodden peoples (p. 17)."
"Was Joseph Smith serious about his presidential ambitions or was he merely a protest candidate running to raise awareness of the Mormons' plight?.... The Council of Fifty minutes reveal that Smith was more than a protest candidate--that is, that he and other Church leaders viewed an electoral triumph as possible, even if unlikely.... They appear to have believed that his candidacy would ultimately require some form of divine intervention (Spencer W. McBride, p. 21)."
"The campaign was merely one possible avenue by which Latter-day Saints could attempt to obtain federal redress and protection while awaiting the establishment of the political kingdom of God. Smith's run for the American presidency thus represents a nexus of idealism and pragmatism as well as an unusual combination of providentialism and contingency planning (p. 22)."
"The Council of Fifty assumed much of the responsibility for managing Smith's campaign (p. 23)."
"'I have not a doubt that he would govern the people and administer the laws in good faith, and with righteous intentions, but I can see no Natural means by which he has the slightest chance of receiving the votes of even a one state (James Arrington Bennett, p. 24).'"
"The Council of Fifty members anticipated that all their plans to remain in the United States on their own terms might fail. Accordingly, they planned for an exodus to a place where they could establish themselves as a sovereign people (p. 28)."
"A search of electronic databases containing early American imprints, newspapers, and other primary sources suggested that the word 'theodemocracy' was not in wide circulation at the time, and perhaps that the concept was original to Smith (or his ghost writer William W. Phelps). I wondered if theodemocracy might even constitute a uniquely Mormon contribution to political theory (Patrick Q. Mason, p. 31)."
"Mormons identified religious freedom as the first and most important freedom, and they sought a political theory and system that would prevent the abuses they had recently suffered in Missouri (p. 32)."
"Without discounting that positive strain of thought within the movement, the Council of Fifty minutes remind us that many early Mormons shared a rather dark view of the world that lay beyond gathered Zion, a pessimism founded upon Smith's millenarian revelations and fueled by the Missouri persecutions (p. 35)."
"'No line can be drawn between the church and other governments, of the spiritual and temporal affairs of the church. Revelations must govern. The voice of God, shall be the voice of the people (Brigham Young, p. 35).'"
"Not all council members were so enthusiastic about theocracy (p. 35)."
"Smith articulated a vision of God and the people working together to govern human affairs in righteousness (p. 37)."
"Joseph Smith tempered the more theocratic lenaings of his fellow council members not only by introducing demos into the equation but also in affirming that the kingdom of God and the church of Jesus Christ were two separate institutions, each with its own laws and jurisdiction (p. 37)."
"The nature of the council's governance, requiring that all decisions be made with full unanimity, can be interpreted in at least two ways: first, as a pragmatic response to democratic politics intended as a guard against the tyranny of the majority; or second, implying a naive belief that all people of goodwill, especially when guided by the Holy Spirit, would come to the same conclusions on any matter of import (p. 38)."
"The inclusion of three non-Mormons on the council was therefore a gesture not just of tokenism or religious liberality but also an expression of a sincere belief that spiritual difference would not impeded social harmony and political unity (p. 38)."
"Those who framed the United States' founding documents inaugurated a then-radical idea of religious liberty--in which there was a strict separation between political and ecclesiastical governance--over the more traditional practice of religious toleration, in which one religious institution would retain preference over others (even if all faiths received some form of liberty) (Benjamin E. Park, p. 46)."
"The Mormon constitution sought to solve the problem.. 'None of the nations, kingdoms or governments of the earth do acknowledge the creator of the Universe as their Priest, Lawgiver, King and Sovereign... neither have they sought unto him for laws by which to govern themselves.' The constitution's first article reaffirmed God's supremacy, the second proclaimed the authority of the prophet and priesthood, and the third validated priestly judgment (p. 47)."
"Council members tried to balance their allegiance to prophetic rule and democratic principles (p. 48)."
"Even while the intersections between the Church, the kingdom, and the American government were never fully fleshed out, the resulting ambiguity enabled a space for creative innovation and theorizing (p. 49)."
"To Smith, varying contexts and circumstances necessitated holy men who could appropriate ideas and practices as situations required (p. 51)."
"The Council of Fifty was, in an important way, a direct response to two issues central to American political culture, which was aptly embodied in Willard Richard's two questions: What is the proper relationship between church and state? And how should a government evolve in response to the circumstances in which it governs (p. 52)?"
"In the spring of 1844, Joseph Smith created a secret organization, the Council of Fifty, of high church officials, civic leaders, and others, and tasked it with establishing the kingdom of God, a political organization to be set up by the Mormons someplace on the North American continent in expectation of the imminent end times... On March 11, 1844...the council appointed a committee of John Taylor, Willard Richards, William W. Phelps, and Parley P. Pratt 'to draft a constitution which should be perfect, and embrace those principles of which the constitution of the United States lacked.'... On April 18, the committee reported a draft constitution.... A week later, Joseph Smith announced to the council a revelation abandoning the effort to draft a written constitution for the kingdom of God, and the council devoted the rest of its efforts to the more immediate problems facing the Saints, culminating in the relocation en masse of the Mormons to the Great Basin after Joseph Smith's murder (Nathan B. Oman, p. 55)."
"Contemporary Mormons often affirm that their scriptures teach about 'the divinely inspired constitution' of the United States. However, the revelations of Joseph Smith do not contain this exact phrase (p. 58)."
"By 1840, Mormon faith in this constitutional model had been shattered (p. 60)."
"The constitution of the kingdom of God was less an effort to construct a working legal system than to set forth a theory of government (p. 61)."
"The critique of existing governments begins with the assertion of the sovereignty of God (p. 61)."
"Almost exactly two months after reporting his revelation to the Council of Fifty, Joseph Smith was murdered (p. 65)."
"The political kingdom of God had been postponed to an ever-delayed millennium (p. 65)."
"'Joseph sought the Lord, and he told him: 'Ye are the constitution of my church.' And so it is; the priesthood, the living oracles, are the word of God unto us, and this constitutes the growth and strength of the kingdom of God (p. 66).'"
"'Pres. Smith said he wanted all the brethren to speak their minds on this subject and to say what was in their hearts whether good or bad. He did not want to be forever surrounded by a set of 'dough heads' and if they did not rise up and shake themselves and exercise themselves in discussing these important matters he should consider them nothing better than 'dough heads.'.... In their organization they never could agree to disagree long enough to select the pure gold from the dross by the process of investigation (Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, p. 74).'"
"Joseph insisted that any government formed by God and every member of the council should respect and protect the rights of every religious group (p. 77)."
"A man should be judged by the law independant of religious prejudice (p. 78)."
"'Joseph Smith can disagree with the whole church as he has a mind, and how? Because he is a perfect committee of himself.... He would rather have the pure revelations of Jesus Christ as they now stand to the nations, than any thing else (p. 80).'"
"One of the primary purposes of the Council of Fifty was to seek to establish the physical, or political, kingdom of God on earth. It planned for a government organization that would allow the Saints to worship God freely and construct a government on theocratic principles in whatever land they eventually settled upon (p. 82)."
"The council minutes are not the only Joseph Smith record containing material that Joseph and his associates viewed as confidential. The early editions of the Doctrine and Covenants, for example, used code words in some revelations to conceal the identities of Church leaders involved with Church businesses. In Joseph Smith's Nauvoo journals, his scribe Willard Richards used shorthand to record especially sensitive information, such as information about plural marriages (R. Eric Smith, p. 93)."
"God commanded the Church to keep a record (p. 94)."
"What can we learn by considering the Nauvoo Council of Fifty record not only as an institutional record but also as a personal record of William Clayton (p. 97)?"
"Do we leave our information that could be potentially embarrassing to a Church leader?... How much information do we include about activities of the Church's opponents (p. 101)?"
"Though the minutes of the Council of Fifty were published as part of The Joseph Smith Papers, they arguably provide more insight into Brigham Young than Joseph Smith (Matthew J. Grow and Marilyn Bradford, p. 106)."
"Young emphasized the primacy of revelation over written laws (p. 107)."
"'When God speake, he always speaks according to the capacity of the people (p. 108).'"
"'Republicanism is, to enjoy every thing there is in heaven, earth or hell to be enjoyed, and not infringe upon the rights of another (Brigham Young, p. 108).'"
"'We cannot carry out Josephs measures but by sustaining Brigham Young as our chairman, our head and successor of Joseph Smith (p. 110).'"
"Young encouraged robust debate and discussion among council members (p. 111)."
"Under Young, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles became more important to the Council of Fifty. On April 11, Young stated, 'Formerly one man stood at the head, now the Twelve stand there (p. 113).'"
"The final work of the Council of Fifty in Nauvoo involved final preparations for the exodus as the council met in the temple. Only when he was standing in the temple, as endowments and sealings occurred in nearby rooms, could Brigham Young announce with clarity the final destination of the Latter-day Saints' exodus (p. 117)."
"Smith's death eroded whatever positive feelings remained for the United States among the Mormons (Jeffrey D. Mahas, p. 123)."
"Under Brigham Young the anticipated conversion of the American Indians took on a much more central role in the council's deliberations (p. 124)."
"The Mormons' more global ambitions were put on hold in favor of the immediate mission to the American Indians (p. 125)."
"The minutes of the meetings of the Fifty reveal that Texas was only one of multiple locations considered (Christopher James Blythe, p. 142)."
"I have long been of the opinion that when the Saints began leaving Nauvoo, Brigham Young and the Twelve Apostles, at that time the united leadership of the Church, did not have a precise destination in mind (Richard E. Bennett, p. 154)."
"The truth is, the Latter-day Saints lost more lives to disease than to persecution! 'If we can find a healthy country we will go there,' Brigham Young said (p. 157)."
"The Council of Fifty was not a legislative or Church administrative body. Although the council did pass resolutions, they seemed not to have been binding, nor did the council determine ultimate Church policy. Likewise, the Council of Fifty did not attempt to define Church doctrines and beliefs. Deliberative in nature, it primarily gave counsel and advice (p. 164)."
"The formation of the Council of Fifty in the spring of 1844 came just as Americans were widely awakening to the idea of a westward empire extending to the Pacific (Jedediah S. Rogers, p. 168)."
"As appealing as Oregon appeared, however, Mormons clearly recognized that other Americans likewise coveted the region (p. 170)."
"Mormon leaders sought, at least initially, to shed the federal yoke and settle in a location outside of US jurisdiction (p. 171)."
"The Salt Lake Valley was for Young a blank canvas on which God could realize his handiwork: to organize a new society, to ensure that its citizens and the land conformed to the divine decree (p. 174)."
"Most Mormons today don't realize the depth of mistrust and resentment some Mormon pioneers harbored toward the United States in 1846 and 1847. When the Mormons arrived in the Great Basin, they were actually arriving in northern Mexico. They crossed an international border and were fleeing the United States (W. Paul Reeve, p. 181)."
"For Joseph Smith, it was not enough to merely tolerate people of other faiths or of no faith. Religious bigotry had no place in his worldview (p. 185)."
"My final impression from reading the minutes highlights the power that the American West (or what would become the American West) had over the imagination of members of the Council of Fifty.... a location that allowed the crowded cities and factories of the East to release the pressure of America's growing industrialization by offering free land and a new destiny in the West (p. 187)."
December 9, 2025
This book presents a series of articles based on the recently released journal accounts of the meetings of this council established originally by the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, Joseph Smith, and continued intermittently by Brigham Young in frontier Utah. The council was designed by Smith to establish a governing structure to protect the religious liberty of church members and "gentiles" alike, during a time when opponents were trying to eradicate the church with politics, judiciary and mob violence, with 50 trusted men, three members who were not members. Young restricted it to members, and his council was more concerned with where the church could move to escape the persecutions and depredations and violence, away from the US, after the local and federal governments refused to protect the church members from their opponents.
Modern opponents have tried to make this semi-secret body the boogymen, ordering murders and vengeance. The actual records (first hand, detailed minutes of every meeting) show a body where the 50 expressed all kinds of opinions on their subjects at hand--some pretty treasonous, with lots of vitriol, but controlled by authorities and channeled into research and leadership and plans and preparations.
Modern opponents have tried to make this semi-secret body the boogymen, ordering murders and vengeance. The actual records (first hand, detailed minutes of every meeting) show a body where the 50 expressed all kinds of opinions on their subjects at hand--some pretty treasonous, with lots of vitriol, but controlled by authorities and channeled into research and leadership and plans and preparations.
February 6, 2018
Outstanding collection of essays examining the context and implications of the recently published Nauvoo Council of Fifty Minutes on the field of Mormon History. The final essay by Paul Reeve was probably my favorite, but all of them ranged anywhere from interesting to fabulous.
July 17, 2025
very good series of historical essays written about the minutes that were released from the 2 years that the council of 50 operated in the Nauvoo period. there was nothing major revealed, but it gives a very insightful look into the feelings of the saints during this very trying period of history.
October 21, 2017
I enjoyed learning about the council of 50. Portrays those in the council as humans and wanting what is best to the new church after and during the persecution that took place.
March 28, 2020
Good essays compiled into a book. A bit of them overlapped information but all in all a good, short, and comprehensive history of the Council.
Read
February 4, 2023KSKS
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
reference
June 25, 2023Historical essays.
January 26, 2024
Very interesting info
August 20, 2024
This is a bit of a rushed production, though the latter papers are more thought-out. Especially helpful was the chapter on councils. It's worth the read--I read it in 3 days.
February 6, 2022
The Council of Fifty is a collection of 15 essays that analyzes the the recent publication of the Council of Fifty minutes in the Joseph Smith Papers project.
For historians, these minutes were not available to the public and were highly anticipated.
Each essay is different but most authors analyze the minutes recorded in meetings held from 1844-1846, and highlight the distrust and anger the leadership of the church felt towards the United States government. These views were the prime reason the Saints fled the United States and settled in Utah (which was Mexican territory) at the time.
The essays were great, but it left me wanting to know more especially with minutes recorded after 1846. When I bought the book, I was expecting a narrative story created from the minutes. So a little disappointing, but I still enjoyed the essays.
The authors are primarily researchers from BYU and the Joseph Smith papers project. But there are a few authors outside the mainstream Church that had really interesting and fun insights about these minutes.
For historians, these minutes were not available to the public and were highly anticipated.
Each essay is different but most authors analyze the minutes recorded in meetings held from 1844-1846, and highlight the distrust and anger the leadership of the church felt towards the United States government. These views were the prime reason the Saints fled the United States and settled in Utah (which was Mexican territory) at the time.
The essays were great, but it left me wanting to know more especially with minutes recorded after 1846. When I bought the book, I was expecting a narrative story created from the minutes. So a little disappointing, but I still enjoyed the essays.
The authors are primarily researchers from BYU and the Joseph Smith papers project. But there are a few authors outside the mainstream Church that had really interesting and fun insights about these minutes.
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