Junius And Joseph: Presidential Politics and the Assassination of the First Mormon Prophet

by Robert Wicks, Fred R. Foister

Overview

"Junius and Joseph examines Joseph Smith's nearly forgotten [1844] presidential bid, the events leading up to his assassination on June 27, 1844, and the tangled aftermath of the tragic incident. It... establishes that Joseph Smith's murder, rather than being the deadly outcome of a spontaneous mob uprising, was in fact a carefully planned military-style execution. It is now possible to identify many of the key individuals engaged in planning his assassination as well as those who took part in the assault on Carthage jail. And furthermore, this study presents incontrovertible evidence that the effort to remove the Mormon leader from power and influence extended well beyond Hancock County [Illinois] (and included prominent Whig politicians as well as the Democratic governor of the state), thereby transforming his death from an impulsive act by local vigilantes into a political assassination sanctioned by some of the most powerful men in Illinois. The circumstances surrounding Joseph Smith's death also serve to highlight the often unrecognized truth that a full understanding of early Mormon history can be gained only when considered in the context of events taking place in American society as a whole."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874215267
Publisher:	Utah State University Press
Publication date:	09/26/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	5 MB

Table of Contents

Contents Illustrations000 Introduction: Assassination of a Candidate000 1 New World Eden: The Promise of America in Late Jacksonian Politics000 2 "Clear the Way for Henry Clay"000 3 "To Save the District for the Whigs"000 4 "Nauvoo is no place for rational people"000 5 The Third Party000 6 "Missourians seem determined not to let us alone"000 7 The Candidate000 8 Thy Kingdom Come . . . in Texas000 9 Two Conventions000 10 What Will Be the End of Things?000 11 Retributive Justice000 12 Gentlemen of Undoubted Veracity000 13 Carthage000 14 Distance Lent Enchantment to the View000 15 The Kingdom Delayed000 16 "Bound by common guilt and danger to commit almost any act to save them from infamy"000 17 Wolf Hunts000 18 The Campaign Continues000 19 "To avenge the blood that stains the walls of Carthage jail"000 20 How Wide the Conspiracy?000 Epilogue: Two Endings000 Biographical Profiles000 Abbreviations000 References000 Index000