The Story of a Forgotten Battle

Abstract:     
In her book THE MORMON QUESTION, Sarah Barringer Gordon offers the most sophisticated historical discussion to date of the massive legal battle fought in the nineteenth century between the federal government and the Mormon Church over the practice of polygamy. In this article, I offer a review of Gordon's work, identifying its important contributions and situating it within the literature of both American legal history and Mormon history. Finally, I suggest that Gordon's work offers Mormons an important opportunity to reassess their own legal history and the place of law in their religious thinking.

Keywords: Legal History, Mormonism, Law & Religion, First Amendment, Polygamy

Accepted Paper Series