watch the president's speech and congressional reaction in the u.s. capitol. these date of the union address live on the spam -->> each week american history tv sits in on a lecture with one of the nation's college professors. you can watch the classes here every saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. and midnight eastern. next, george mason university professor john turner talks about how the book of mormon in early america. he talks about how the book of mormon compares to other religious texts and how early mormons, under the leadership of joseph smith, attempted to create a “new zion” in the american west during the 1830's under the leadership of joseph smith. this class is about an hour and 15 minutes. >> good morning.

it seems to me we have spent a lot of time studying the great ism's of the world -- hinduism, buddhism. then we get to a couple of non-isms --christianity and islam. and now we begin mormonism. really the story begins at the end of the early chapter of mormon's history in the united states. we began on june 27, eight team 34. on that day -- 1834, on that day, the mormon prophet joseph smith sat in jail in carthage, illinois. this was just little bit east of this red dot in western illinois. it was near the mormon gathering place, headquarters of sorts, a

city in western illinois. joseph smith was the president and prophet of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. his followers were commonly known as mormon nights or mormons, known after the church's founding scripture, the the book of mormon. smith was the mayor of the city and the lieutenant general of the militia. he was in jail on the charge of inciting a riot. a group of mormon dissenters upset with his leadership of the church had published the first issue of a newspaper criticizing his leadership. smith had persuaded the city council to order the destruction of the newspaper's printing

press, which took place in the middle of june. normally, this would not have been a matter -- this june in illinois, it was. both political parties in illinois hated joseph smith and the mormons who, because of their numbers, controlled the politics in their county. and non-mormon settlers who lived nearby hated the mormons even more. they formed mobs and they were determined to kill joseph smith. after smith ordered the destruction of this critical newspaper, he was arrested, placed in jail put on trial. he was on the second floor of a

small, stone jail, imprisoned with his brother hiram and two close friends and associates. a small detachment of militia soldiers targeted the downstairs door of the jail. it was an incredibly hot afternoon in the early summer time. in the late afternoon, about 125 ,emen, members of another militia rode into town. they had their faces smeared with mud and gunpowder to disguise themselves. the troops guarding the jail offered no resistance, given this attacking force. so, the attackers entered the jail, climbed upstairs. joseph smith's brother hiram and

the other prisoners tried their best to hold the door shot to fend off the attackers but it was a flimsy wooden door. hiram smith was quickly shot through the skull and collapsed backwards, dead almost endlessly -- his delay. joseph smith had a gun and wounded three of the attackers as they fought their way in. he quickly ran out of bullets. he ran to the window, planning to try to jump out and escape outside, but he was shot repeatedly. several times in the back and also from the crowd of attackers who had gathered outside in front of the jail, and smith was dead by the time he hit the ground. many in illinois hoped that the mormon prophet's death would mean the end of the church he had founded.

this semester, we have talked about all sorts of religious leaders. buddha, abraham, moses, jesus, mohammed. all of them figures of ancient history. you can't read anything in their own handwriting. there aren't any newspaper clippings to tell you about their lives. there aren't any letters they wrote and left behind. in the cases of figures like abraham and moses, human history , outside of the bible, cannot give us any assurance that they even existed. in the case of the buddha, the first account of his life that we possess may have been written several centuries after his death. jesus and mohammed, i think we

can be quite sure existed. the first non-christian reference to jesus came about the extent days after his death. there's quite a lot of uncertainty, but at least we have christian writings dating to as early as 20 years after his death. the carranza seems to have assumed its present form no more -- the koran seems to have assumed its present form no more than 20 or 30 years after mohammed's death. information about mohammed, however, comes from oral traditions. for the conditions surrounding his life there is also a lot of uncertainty. we might look at parallels between joseph smith and these other religious founders. like jesus, joseph smith was

killed by political and religious opponents. like mohammed, he was not only a religious leader, but a political, even sometimes military leader to his people. also like mohammed, it claims to have received a new revelation from god via an angel and dictated messages that his followers accepted as divine revelations. 19th century americans noticed these parallels. they often called joseph smith and american mohammed. joseph also had more than one wife. mohammed mary 12 or 13 women after the death of his beloved khadijah.

joseph smith was sealed to -- that is the latter-day saint term -- 20 or 30 women. joseph smith was in the news as recently as last week for his marriages. this is the headline from the new york times from last monday. it was the front page of the new york times, i believe. i saw it on his webpage. which, i could not figure out how to take ineffective -- and effective screen shot. "it's official -- mormon founder had up to 40 wives. "" this is actually worldwide news. this is an article from the daily telegraph out of london also last monday. "mormon church finally admits founder joseph smith was polygamist with more than 40 wives." the church have long glossed over his marital history.

i noticed when i first looked at the telegraph's article last monday, it initially said " church had maintained he was monogamous for over 200 years." my first thought was, it must have been a really slow news day. this happened a long time ago. it's not new news. but more on that later on. joseph smith married a lot of women. it is probably what he is most well-known for historically. but the big difference between joseph smith and all of these other religious founding figures is timing. the others, the details of their lives, they fade into ancient history. their lives seem mythical. they live far away from us. joseph smith lived in the united states.

he published the book of mormon in 1830. that sounds like a long time ago, but compared to our other tesxts this semester, it isn't. he lived a day's drive from here. many people will are comfortable with god speaking to mosys and an ejection burning bush or to the prophet mohammed in an arabian case. the joseph smith in western new york? so, these are our questions about mormonism. first of all, how do we categorize mormonism? is the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints new religion, or is it a branch of christianity or is it something else? so, we will spend some time on

that. secondly, we have been discussing scripture especially the second half of this semester . so, what is scripture for latter-day saints? we spent a fair bit of time on that today. and finally, joseph smith introduced new rituals during the last several years of his life that became very significant for the identity and practice of his followers especially after his death. so we will spend time of those developments. we are going to begin with the book of mormon, which is how most americans encountered the church in the 1830's. this is how they would have encountered it. joseph smith introduced himself to the world when he published the book of mormon in 1830.

it was a very big and hefty book. i did not assign it all. you can probably be grateful for that. it's almost 600 pages when it was published originally. joseph smith, because of the financial support of one of his followers, printed 5000 copies. they planned to sell it for $2.50 a copy, which is a lot of money back in 1830. however, if you bought one in 1830 it would have been a tremendous investment. if you have an original 1830 look of mormon at auction, they sell for around $200,000, which is a very good rate of return. joseph smith's missionaries had a very small number of members

in this church initially. small number of followers. they went out and at first tried to sell copies of the books. almost nobody would buy them. $2.50 for a strange bible. hard to get people interested. so, they gave it away. latter-day saint missionaries by now had risen away hundreds of millions of copies of the book of mormon in scores of different languages. it might well be the most distributed, widely distributed piece of american literature. so, what is it? what's in it? it begins as the story of a family, a family of israelites with a father named lehigh. when the book begins, they are living in jerusalem. just prior to its destruction at

the hands of the babylonians. the babylonian empire conquers jerusalem and judah in 587 b c carries those who live there into exile. the formative moment of jewish monotheism. lehi's family is warned to leave. you need to leave. they leave. they leave and travel across the arabian peninsula. they are told to build a boat, which they do, and they travel to the land of promise, which is what we know of as the new world, in the americas. lehi's family has a lot of dysfunctional infighting.

it is centered between two of his sons. he has essentially a good, faithful, obedient son named nephi and a scheming devious unreliable son named leman and the descendents of those sons split into two factions and over time two peoples. the mostly righteous nephites and the mostly devious lamanites. and they are at war with each other as the book proceeds. throughout 100 years of history there are profits who predict -- prophets who predict the coming of a messiah. if you look at references, they

are rather vague, rather it secure. in the case of the book of mormon it's more specific. there is going to be a messiah named jesus christ. he will be born of a virgin named mary. he will die for the sins of humanity. he will be resurrected. he will have 12 apostles disciples. all very explicit prophecies. the good people in the story except those prophecies. and they are essentially ancient christians or pre-christian christians. followers of jesus christ before he was born on the earth. the climactic part of the book of mormon is the appearance of jesus christ to these people in the new world.

after jesus's birth, life, death, and resurrection he then appears to the people and ushers in a time of peace and prosperity. neophytes and lamanites --nephites and lamanites, for a couple hundred years, everybody gets along, society thrives, it's all wonderful. eventually, things fall apart again. some people begin falling away from the church, fighting with each other. you have the emergence of nephites and lamanites. it has a tragic ending. the lamanites wipe out the nephites. the last remaining nephites or among the last remaining nephites, are a man named mormon and his son moroni.

he is the editor of much of what is in the book of mormon. so, that's the book. i want to take a few minutes and discuss the excerpts that we read. you read the beginning, the end, and a few bits from the middle. first of all quite basically what did you think? what were your impressions? does what you read resemble any of the other scriptures we have read this semester? >> i drew very specific parallels with this and genesis. >> ok. >> what i found interesting, where it says the voice from heaven claims jesus --

>> ok. where the boys from heaven claims jesus -- >> -- where the voice from heaven claims jesus -- >> let me find where it was. >> ok. take your time. oh, and the part about the devil, too. and that god created everything. >> which passage are you in, karen? >> 214, pretty much all the way through 27 reminds me of genesis. 14 he is basically saying god created everything, which is what genesis says, right? >> sure. >> and 16 and 19 it is talking

about the fall of the devil, the fall of the angel that becomes the devil, like genesis, and then 19 through 22 is adam and eve, and it is adam and the great sin. what i found really interesting was at 22 when they start to speculate about what would have happened if adam had never sinned. >> all right. we encountered the story of the garden of eden and the fall in the early chapters of genesis. we did not look at them, but there are passages in the koran that discuss adam in the fall. the book of mormon does as well. and these are assertions that seem fairly standard. god created everything. there is a temptation of adam any. they eat the fruit. and what is the twist in the

book of mormon that is different from what we encountered in genesis? >> the what if? >> what is the what if? >> [indiscernible] they are showing what could have been. >> would that have been a good thing? >> we would not be here. >> we would not be here? [laughter] that's true. go ahead. >> maybe god had created the bold to perfect, if they had not eaten the apple the next one would have. [indiscernible] maybe -- >> maybe so. i think this suggests there would not have been a if they had not eaten the fruit. if you read the original

narrative in genesis, there are not many children introduced into the story until after eating the fruit. it is not suggested it will be a particularly pleasant thing. eve is told she will be cursed with painful childbirth. i think this is a great passage to explore. there are parts of the the book of mormon that i think her mind numbingly dull. mark twain once referred to the the book of mormon as chloroform in print. this passage i find to be a big exception to those comments. let's talk -- let's look at that together. it introduces the idea of satan or the devil as a fallen being. you can find that in other parts of the hebrew scriptures and the christian new testament.

not in the early chapters of genesis is self -- it's self. adam and eve eat the fruit. they are driven out of the garden of eden. without this, we would not be here. you're right. but then, there is a pretty explicit positive reinterpretation of these events . if adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of eaten. everything would have remained the same. maybe that's not too bad for adam and eve. but in reality, they would have had no children. therefore -- wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery, doing no good, for they knew no sin. and then adam saw that men might be and men are that they might have joy. i find that a rather beautiful passage. my daughter sometimes asks me

when she is sick, or question is, daddy, why did god create germs? i of course do not know why god created germs. but i actually sometimes -- this will strike you as somewhat zany -- i think of this passage in the book of mormon. if we were perfectly healthy all of the time, that would be wonderful, but we would place no value upon it because we would not know what it feels like to the crummy. at we may not value our lives as much if we did not know we would die. we might not know what it means to be happy if we didn't know what it means to be miserable. we might not know how to do good if we did not know that we have done wrong. it's a very different interpretation than you find in the early chapters of genesis. genesis, in a sense, this is a

fortunate fall. it is good this happened. we have the ability to express -- to experience great joy. any other similarities or differences with the bible that you noticed? >> we talked about how the trinity was not really defined after jesus is talking about -- talking in parables. it says, and all of my goods will bear record of the father in me -- father and me. that really defines the relationships compared to what we find in mark. >> it is more exquisite. i only gave you a few passages

but there are other that are similar to that. great. anna? >> there was a lot of less blame on eve in the the book of mormon. >> yeah, that's a good observation. although you may notice in the original genesis, god does not buy it when adam says he woman gave him the fruit. he take the pit -- he takes the punishment as well. but you are right. >> eve mentioned in this -- it says they would not have children and they would be in a state of innocence, it says that if adam did not eat it, but it does not say what if he did not

-- eve did not eat it. >> it would've been really bad i think, if only one of the maybe fruit. in marriage, you have to be united. kira? >> it was 11-7. behold my beloved son in whom i have glorified my name. hear ye him. it is god calling out to them -- check it out, it's jesus. >> that may be similar to the baptism of jesus right? that is the one you're looking for question mark the language is quite similar. there's a lot of language in the third book of nephitesi that closely resembles lingwood in the new testament, especially from the

gospel of matthew -- language in the new testament, especially from the gospel of matthew did. blessed are the poor in spirit. it's almost word for word identical to what you find in the gospel of matthew. the the book of mormon for latter-day saints was a new work of scripture regarded perhaps in a similar manner as the bible. we will talk about the coming forth of the the book of mormon a little later on, where joseph smith said it came from, the story of its translation, and so on. they probably read the bible more than the the book of mormon but they accepted the the book of mormon as a new revelation and a sign that god was speaking

to human beings again, in a manner akin to the bible. but for latter-day saints, new scripture did not end with the the book of mormon. joseph smith, beginning in the year 1828, dictated or wrote down messages that he said were from god. go ahead with your question. >> [indiscernible] someone thought that god talks to him twice. why would god give a watch if scenario -- a what if scenario? why would god create a what if scenario question how does that make sense? >> it's a great question. i'm trying to see --

i suppose first of all, we would have to look at the fuller passage in the second book of nephi. i think there are parts of the book of mormon -- depending on whether you see them coming from god or joseph smith -- that attempt to clarify things that christians found ok or did -- o paik or difficult to understand. i think one of the questions -- and this was originally for joseph smith, why did god create something good and allow a fall? how do we make sense of that? was it all part of god's plan? did god create something beautiful for human beings to mess it up right away? how do we make sense of that? i think what you have -- you have

this in second nephi, the words lehi the words of this patriarchal figure. it is his understanding. i think they are understood to be a divine expiration of what took place. i think it is a way of trying to make sense of the fall and say yes, this was part of god's plan. it was a tragedy that human mortality was actually a good thing. i think you can see this as a way of trying to make sense of that. does that help at all in terms of -- >> so, it is half man and half god's work? >> my own belief is that -- whatever scripture you take, there is a lot of humanity and it -- in it. the book of mormon presents this as the words of an ancient prophet.

it was up to joseph smith's followers to accept that as the case. most people who encountered the book of mormon did not. if you are a member of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, then yeah. it is something else. ok? scripture did not in with the book of mormon. joseph smith also dictated revelations, messages that he said were from god, initially given to him from jesus christ. sometimes joseph would pray, ask got a question, repeat an answer, tell it to his grad -- scribe. sometimes he would have a specific message for one of his followers. you, go on a mission to the indians. you, martin harris, use your

wealth to help publish the book of mormon. sometimes the message was for joseph himself. you have sinned and i am taking away the gift of translation for a time. you need to repent. some of smith's passages had more lasting significant messages for his followers. let me give you a few examples. because smith led his church in this way as a prophetic figure with revelations, is early followers frequently called him joseph the seer. that was more or less a synonym for profit. in 1832, smith dictated a long revelation known as "the vision"

to his followers. most contemporary christians thought about simply heaven and hell as the two possible estimations for human beings. for some branches of christianity, perhaps a stop in purgatory before heaven. in this revelation of joseph smith, heaven was quite different. smith's revelation described degrees of heavenly glory or separate heavenly realms or kingdoms. the highest of those being the celestial kingdom, whose glory was like that of the sun. this was reserved for members of christ's's true church. in other words, the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints.

the second tier of glory was identified as the terrestrial kingdom. glory like that of the moon. specifically interacting with a passage to one of paul's letters to the corinthians with that language of sun moon, and stars. the terrestrial kingdom was for ordinary people, decent christians, ordinary people with their fault and seins who did not belong to the true church. the lowest degree of glory, the revelation termed the to less steel -- telestial kingdom. these are pretty bad people. people leaving rotten lies. only a few people, called the

sons of perdition, were bound for help. so, ultimately all human beings would be saved to different degrees of glory. in terms of being one of the sons of perdition, i think it would be things such as murder, apostasy, using cell phones in class -- the really deadly sins that would cast 12 outer darkness. that's one example. the second example came the following year. another revelation, which presented itself as a word of wisdom to smith's followers. this is essentially a dietary code. we have encountered others this semester. we spent some time talking about being kosher in our unit on judaism. islam also has some dietary requirements. no alcohol, no pork.

the word of wisdom prescribed no hot drinks, later specified as coffee and tea, and also forbade the use of wine or strong drink which is today interpreted to mean no alcohol, and also forbade -- it also says not to eat much meat and to eat herbs in season. that does not get nearly as much discussion. other revelations talk about the need for the saints. the saints of the latter days. the members of the restored church of christ's to gather together at a place called zion, which in the bible is essentially a synonym for

jerusalem. to gather together to a new jerusalem to seek shelter from eminent divine judgment -- imminent them divine judgment and prepare for the second coming of jesus christ. joseph smith in the early 1830's identified zion as the city of independence in northwestern missouri. right on the borders of what was the american frontier at the time. and so, he called on his followers to begin buying property there and living there. smith himself actually remained in ohio at this time. he moved to ohio in the very early 1830's. he did not move to missouri yet but his followers began doing so . they moved to independence and

other neighboring parts of jackson county, missouri. from the start, joseph smith faced opposition from neighbors from some other ministers. it is when the latter-day saints began settling in independence that they began to have serious conflicts and clashes with other americans. and i think it is not too hard to figure out why. this is a relatively sparsely settled part of the american frontier. in 1832, 1833, hundreds of mormons began moving to independence, buying land, building houses, settling there. other settlers non-mormon

settlers, are worried they will sing the outnumbered. it's probably also a little offputting when a new religious movement starts buying up the property in your county and claiming that they will be sheltered from god's coming judgment. the non-mormons in jackson county had all sorts of complaints about incoming mormon settlers. they didn't like the fact that many of the latter-day saints during their gatherings spoke in spiritual tongs. that was considered a crazy practice, out of the christian mainstream at this time. the mormons -- a few of the mormons made statements in support of abolition. this was a slaveholding part of missouri. that generated some opposition. basically, the non-more months

-- the non-mormons they did know what to end of the minority. this is the united states in the 1830's. the majority really do rule, and no central government is going to step in and help persecuted minorities. a lot of americans believed communities have the right to expel unwanted minorities from their midst. think of what happened to native americans in the late teen activities -- late 1830's with the trail of tears removal to northwest mississippi. the summer of 1833, non-mormons began essentially harassing mormon settlers. roughing a few people up damaging property, burning homes, pressuring them to leave. with the clear indication, if

they do not agree to leave worse is coming. so the mormon settlers in jackson county agree they will go. they go to neighboring counties in missouri. joseph smith is still in ohio at the time. the loss of independence in jackson county was a huge setback for joseph smith and his followers. this was supposed to be zion. the site of the new jerusalem where the saints of the latter days would gather to await the return of jesus christ. instead, everything fell apart. go ahead. >> what if they choose independence as the main city? was there a vision that made him choose independence? >> it's a great question. i think it is connected to an early group of mormon missionaries that he sends just beyond this part of missouri

into what was then just called indian territory. there is a specific reason why smith and the mormons are interested in the missions to indians. i should have talked about this when we talk about the book of mormon, so thank you for asking. it allows me to get back to it. the book of mormon suggested that the lamanites would eventually return to the true church. but they would be redeemed. the early mormons believed that the indians of their day are the lamanites, the descendents of that book of mormon people. and they will soon return to the true faith. that tends not to happen when smith sends out indian missionaries. but from the group of missionaries that comes here and does missionary work in the indian territories, this part of missouri, you know, is on smith's mind. and it's also available land.

as smith presents it to his followers, this is a divine revelation. go here. so, i think most of his followers, it is that simple. >> it seems like a lot of the true followers with think god would not come get them if they were not in the place he told them to go. if they moved to another state and for some reason -- he said they would not, i guess. >> i think that is the belief. in the early 1830's, there is the mormons believe that the events of the last days are going to happen same. god is going to judge the nations of the earth and return to reign with his true followers . so, there is a place we need to gather and do this. that vision of jackson county,

of independence as zion, as that collapses, i think the latter-day saints begin thinking and longer terms and with less emphasis that these events of the last days are going to be soon or immediate. smith was still in ohio. after the loss of zion, many of his followers go there. others go to other counties in missouri hoping that independence and jackson county will be redeemed soon. i will show you again on the map . zion, independence, jackson county, fairly part of the west. smith is in northeastern ohio. he is there through the winter of 1837. a couple of important and one

somewhat humorous thing happens there. smith's followers build a temple in kirtland. there were revelations that commanded them to build a temple in zion. that did not come to fruition, but they built a temple in kirtland. smith talked a lot about restoring christ's true church. a lot of americans think about restoring the church as spoken about in the new testament. smith thinks in grantor and longer terms. he wants to not just restore the new testament church. he wants to restore all ancient practices and doctrines. so, his people built temples not churches. he talks of restoring a

priesthood, an ancient priesthood. especially when we get to polygamy or plural marriage, that actually fits in as well. smith promises his followers that if they complete this temple in ohio, they will receive an endowment of spiritual power that will empower them for missionary work and maybe for other sacred tasks. in the spring of 1836, his followers complete and dedicate this temple, and the dedication of the temple produces a series of wondrous events among his followers. they talk about seeing angels. some of them talk about seeing jesus christ. they utter prophecies. they speak in tongues. some of them sing songs in spiritual tongues.

under smith's leadership, many followers felt the veil between heaven and earth part. they feel like the veil is parting. heaven coming down to earth. that spiritual power they perceived is one reason why many will followed him fight setbacks, as what happened in missouri. joseph smith also committed some serious blunders. so, the spring of 1836 is a wondrous time for the latter-day saints temple. that had become a distant memory. from the beginning of the church , the dissension, internal disagreement was a problem for joseph smith and the mormons.

joseph smith sometimes doubted his prophetic authority. in early 1837, that issue became a crisis. and the crisis came from the misguided creation of a bank. and this is a little bit hard to understand outside of context in 1830's united states. mormon kirtland this town in ohio like many western american communities -- and ohio is still more or less western at this time. it was land rich and cash poor. people did not have much hard money and hard money essentially meant gold and silver coins. one solution for that for many

american communities was the printing of paper money. we are used to that today. it was a little bit more unusual in the 1830's. smith develops a plan to create a bank and issue banknotes that would rest on a small amount of gold and silver. but also on the larger amount of land that the latter-day saints owned in kirtland. so, in the followed 1836, smith sent an associate to philadelphia to purchase plates for printing banknotes. and he sent another follower to the capital of ohio, columbus to secure a charter for a bank, and the name was the kirtland

saving society bank. while waiting on the application for the bank charter, church leaders began renting and issuing banknotes and putting them into -- printing and issuing banknotes and putting them into circulation. there was a law in ohio against unchartered societies engaging in banking's. but these actions for the 1830's were not all that unusual. there were all sorts of unchartered banks and corporations issuing paper money in the united states. the american banking system as of 1837 was pretty much an unregulated chaos. many institutions issued bank notes backed by property and

there were all sorts of fraudulent banking operations as well. in the case of the mormons, the ohio state legislature turned down the church's application for a bank charter, so that was a problem. they already started printing and issuing paper money. joseph smith and his associates were undeterred. they came up with a pretty clever idea. instead of issuing notes of the kirtland safety society bank, bank officer stamped out that word "bank" and more creatively stamped out "ing" and " company" after it. so these were the notes of the anti-banking company.

do you think that was a good idea? it was not a good idea. you do not want to own money from an anti-bank, do you? that is not the kind of paper money you might feel greatly confident in. it seemed to invite the misfortune that followed. that is smith's signature at the bottom by the way and that is brigham young's signature. brigham young being joseph smith's successor who led the latter-day saints to utah. they actually used the notes for a time and utah, which is why he signed up at the top. this actually worked really well for a while. establishment of the kirtland safety society notes generated a burst of economic activity and confidence in the town. a short economic boom. men and women who liked joseph

smith mostly came from rather impoverished backgrounds and began to see the fulfillment of some of their economic dreams. willard richards, one of the three other men in the jail cell during smith's assassination commented early that winter, kirtland bills are as safe as gold. but that was not the case. once these were in circulation men and women who did not belong to the church would sometimes take the men as payment. they then tried to exchange them for gold or silver from the bank, and the bank quickly ran out of hard money. and there was a run on the bank. the value of the notes plummeted and the whole enterprise collapsed. the collapse of the bank caused

many of smith's followers to lose faith, not only in the bank , but also in joseph smith as a prophet. by the end of the year, there was fighting among different mormon factions in the kirtland temple. smith was hounded by creditors. he feared being prosecuted for violating bank charter law. so, by the end of the year he fled to missouri. so, what do we have so far? a church whose followers had to abandon the place that joseph smith had identified his zion. a church whose profits started a bank that failed. a prophet who essentially had to flee ohio for his life. the story was not over yet. smith joined a group of his missouri followers in a more

northern county and the mormon population began to grow their. -- there. at first when the mormons word justin caldwell county, things were ok for a short time. but especially as people came from ohio to join the misery settlement, they grew and expanded into other counties. that generated opposition from non-mormons in missouri, and opposition that became even more intense than it had been in 1833 . by the summer of 1838, there was fighting between mormons and

non-mormons in missouri again. fighting on election day that august. the growth of mob actions against outlying mormon communities. and a sense that missouri's state militias were prepared to take action against mormon settlements. by october, it looks like there was going to be open war between mormon settlers and non-mormons in missouri. and both sides having gauged in some acts of violence. there had been deaths on both sides. in october of 1838, the governor of missouri issued a rather remarkable order. that declared that the mormons

were in "open and about defiance of the laws and of having made war upon the people of this state." "the mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace." that is a rather remarkable statement. the governor from name was wilburn boggs. an american state governor issuing an order calling for the extermination or expulsion of a religious group. at about the same time, it before, i think, the extermination order was known there was a massacre of 19 mormon settlers at a place called honn's mill in missouri. most of those who were killed were killed after they had most of those killed were killed

after they surrendered including a 10-year-old boy. evidently, there was a discussion about whether to kill the 10-year-old boy. then it was decided he had to die as well. one of those involved in his death leader explains that myths will become life, and if he had lived, he would have become a mormon. i think there was an expectation on both sides that this conflict would be settled militarily. ultimately, smith saw his people were outnumbered and he surrendered to state authorities. he was arrested and imprisoned on charges of treason, was in jail for almost half a year, and then escaped. when smith escapes he, like the

rest of his followers, moved east from missouri to illinois. in some ways, the early history of mormonism is a story of moving from disaster to disaster. and yet, the movement did not collapse. you might think joseph smith would be chastened after the repeated disasters in ohio and missouri. not really. he wondered if the latter-day saints could or should continue to gather together, which was really the impetus for their conflict with other americans. because the mormons gathered together, they alarmed non-mormons. smith thought about whether this could should continue and

decided people had to continue to gather. that was a principle that could not be compromised. it was during these events, 1838 and 1839, that joseph smith approved the account of his early years that became his official history the history you read for today. we did not begin with it because smith wrote it later. i think this is the right time to stop and spend some time with this document. what did you learn about joseph smith's background from his history? what sort of family did he come from? go ahead. >> a quick question before we move on. what is the difference between a cold and a religion -- cult and a religion?

>> for a question. generally -- great question. generally, a colt is a religious group you do not like. that is my flip answer. >> the counties would think of mormonism as a cul at that timet? >> that is a good question. if you want to come up with a serious definition of a cult it would be a movement that demanded obedience of followers gathered around one individual. you could have a discussion about whether early mormonism fit that description because george smith -- joseph smith was a charismatic leader in that sense, and the movement did demand a lot from its followers. i don't like using the word cult has it suggests something -- because it suggests something sinister like jim jones in the 1970's.

i think mormonism did not function that way. joseph smith was a paramount figure within the group but there were a lot of people that joined this church without ever meeting joseph smith. they would read the book of mormon, conclude it was true, and convert. there was that principle of gathering, but there were also branches of the church in the northeastern united states and pretty quickly in england. joseph smith had a different -- as a self-understood profit, there was a different model of leadership within the group. but there was also a lot of commonality with different strands of american systems. i don't know. it would not be a word i would tend to employ because usually

it mostly means that religious groups. >> what about groups that start out as a cult and end up is a religion? >> a cult suggests a system of religious devotion. i think in common a mailing -- american parlance, it means a small group dramatically led by a leader that did really bad things. yes? >> i have a question. wouldn't all religions become a cult in some sense? when they get started, aren't they a cult and then manifest into a religion in some sense? >> it is such a loaded term. you could use the word "sect,"

which also means small, breakaway group as opposed to a larger church. you could use that term instead. i think in terms of if you want to define a cult is a small group organized around the tears is medically to ship of a single individual that might fit a lot of new religious movements -- organized around the charismatic leadership of a single individual, that might fit a lot of new religious movements. this would be hard to explain without a long excavation. -- explanation. but in many ways, it brought a lot of things from american methodism. organization, having regular conferences of the church, broad leadership. smith's model of leadership was not that everybody was under his immediate authority. it was you have been baptized.

let's ordain you as an elder and send you out or yes, we can use your talents. come help build houses and a temple. i don't know. i don't really see him as a tyrannical sort of leader. yes? >> i was going to say i also don't see this as much of a cult either. like you said in one of the definitions, it is like a complete devotion. every time smith messed up, i feel his followers were easily deterred by that and started doubting him quickly. i feel like it was -- if it was a cult even if he did mess up they would turn it around so whatever he was saying could happen in the end. >> surest.

i think for a lot of his early followers, they were not members of the church just because or even because of joseph smith. they believed in the principles of a restored church with prophetic authority with practices and offices akin to what might have been agent israel or in the early church -- ancient israel or in the early church. go ahead. >> it wasn't about joseph smith. it was about everything he preached. they were following him to illinois and stuff like that. in that sense, it is a cult. they could not say i am a woman and i live in washington -- they could not say i am a mormon and i live in washington. no, you are a mormon if you go

to caldwell county and live with the other mormons, so in that sense, it is a cult. >> i disagree. it is a newly formed religion so community is an important thing. i think a sense of community is really helpful. also the thing about the leader. you need a charismatic and tyrannical leader. warren jeffs was one, james jones -- jim jones was one. but i don't think he is too radical. -- but i don't think he is to radical -- tyrannical. >> let's see if we can come up with an agreed-upon definition of a cult and then we can debate whether or not --

>> mostly surrounded by methodists and baptists. that is where joseph smith started questioning things and led to his prayers and conversations with a higher power. >> great. what was his own family's religious background? presbyterian? >> yeah, presbyterian. but he preferred methodist, i believe. it was his father's religion which is mom and a few siblings joined, but he preferred the methodist, i believe. >> it is a strangely worded paragraph on page 270 of our handout. >> my father's family joined the

presbyterian faith. my mother and sisters -- blah blah blah. my mind became somewhat partial to the methodist sect. >>'s mother and a few sisters joined the presbyterian church. his father does not. it is confusing from that passage. his father is skeptical of existing churches of the day. he is a lutheran. joseph is at times partial to methodism, but he does not join any church. he's kind of observing all of these churches unsure of what to do and decides to pray about it. he's going to ask god what to do. i often said to myself, "what is to be done? who of these parties are right

or are they all gone together? if anyone be right, which is it and how shall i know it? " what happens according to this account after he prays, goes into the woods and praise, what happens? go ahead. >> he has a vision from god who says all those religions are wrong. and then joseph smith goes back until somebody all of your religions -- and tells somebody all of your religions are wrong and they were not stoked on it. >> to back up for a second, he has a vision. what is the vision of? >> two figures. >> who are they? >> [indiscernible] the other is an angel. >> hold on. two figures. the angel comes later in a subsequent vision. there is god the father, presumably, and who?

not run i -- not moroni yet. >> god calling him his beloved son. >> somebody find the passage. >> it says this is my beloved son. >> this is my beloved son, hear him. there is a personage of glory saying this is my beloved son, hear him. who is the beloved son? jesus, presumably. joseph smith asks the personages which of these sects was right and receives, "none of them. they are all far from me." there is no discussion about what else to do. a few years after this initial vision there is a vision of another personage understood as

an angel. subsequently understood as the angel moroni, that son of mormon from the end of the book of mormon the kind of last remaining the fight -- nephite who buries the records of his people and later reveals them to joseph smith. this returns us to the issue of scripture. for latter-day saints, this account of joseph smith's history is also scripture. it is part of a third volume of scripture -- excuse me, a fourth volume of scripture called "the pearl of great price." there is the bible, the book of mormon, the doctrine and covenants containing mostly joseph smith's revelations and a few of later church leaders. i think of "the pearl of great price" as miscellaneous scriptures.

as the joseph smith history and a couple of others which we won't have time to discuss. for latter-day saints, what is perhaps the greatest significance in terms of scripture is the principle of ongoing revelation, that god continues to speak through prophetic leaders. one such profit for them -- pro phet or them was joseph smith, but also joseph smith's successors. for instance, the current president and prophet of the church of latter day saints. for latter day saints, whether teachers tell them today is also binding in terms of scripture and revelation. we did not quite get to the end of joseph smith's story today.

we will talk about the events in illinois on thursday, and also talk about latter day saints rituals. see you then. >> join us each saturday evening at 8:00 and midnight for classroom lectures from across the country on different topics and eras of american history. lectures are also available as podcasts. visit our website or download them from itunes. >> each week, "reel america" brings you archival films that help to the story of the 20th century.

>> 3000 enthusiasts prepare for a new assault on the public treasury as they gather on capitol hill to do some mass lobbying. the plan, which had its birth birth birth -- its birth during the depression would guarantee 100 dollars monthly to each person over 60 to be financed by a 3% income tax. now the battle is on again. it is carried to the threshold of congress where the faithful whopop it up for a tax-and-spend economy they think will bring prosperity to america. the french national assembly wrestles with postwar problems and demonstrating radical members of labor unions. they are violently protesting government attempts to freeze prices and wages, and to stabilize the french economy. a series of strikes has been the answer of the large communist

plot. no holds are barred as the police really tangled with the demonstrator who doesn't know when he is licked. paris and europe torn by conflating ideologies, they are constantly tense and ready for everything. in the midst of turmoil, there is one stop that never changes. the river still has its fisherman. >> addressing a meeting in boston, the president of the less the chairman of president truman's commission tells why he believes in a program of preparedness for the united states. >> the united states will not be an aggressive nation. the place and time for war, if we should be engaged in one, would be set by the enemy. this means that any program of

of of military preparedness must be comprehensive because if there are weak elements in her armor those would be the point at which a skillful enemy would strike. only by assisting the universal military training and which every young citizen performs this service to his country, for preparation to meet his plausible needs, can we see any possibility for maintaining our armed forces with strength and reserves adequate to face the possibility of war. if we desire to secure peace, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war. it was in line with this principle that washington advocated a system for universal military training for our country. it is for the same reason we advocate it now coming we now -- -- now and believe the need for it is stronger than ever and military training will remain a component of any adequate system of military security, until such time as the

united nations have established an international police force with adequate powers and without weakening limitations. [applause] >> next on american history tv andrew wehrman discusses smallpox in revolutionary area america and the campaign to inoculate colonists promoted by john adams. adams, his wife, and children will all not related despite widespread fears of the new practice. this is from an event marking their 250th wedding anniversary and was cohosted by the massachusetts historical society . it is about 30 minutes.