"Zion on the Mississippi": The Dream of an American Prophet

Hello collective AH creators and admirers! I am creating my first ongoing AH timeline, and I will try to post regularly.

The premise regards Mormonism and its effect on the development of the United States. ITT the POD is that Joseph Smith, prophet of the LDS Church, does not introduce polygamy in 1841 as a doctrine. This highly controversial tenet in IOT sparked backlash that would result in the assassination of Smith in 1844. ITT Smith is not assassinated, and continues to lead the Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois. From there it butterflies in hugely impactful ways not just for the Church but the United States as well.

(In terms of format, I will be doing a year-by-year list of events pertinent to timeline, starting in 1841)

Stay tuned. :)
 
Bonus points if Douglas becomes President. Supposedly Joseph Smith prophesied that Douglas would, but only if he never turned on the Saints, which of course he did along with everybody else in Illinois in the mid 1840s.

Also, keep in mind that while polygamy may have been something of a causus belli, there were also political factors involved. The Mormons bloc voted for whichever political slate offered them the most goodies, so they had a pretty unique and powerful city charter and other privileges that were pretty irritating to everyone else, and especially to whichever political coalition had failed to buy the Mormon vote.

Also, the Mormons were far outside the mainstream and were able to get persecuted and burned out of Missouri without any polygamy at all. You don't need any actual basis in fact for rumors to start circulating about the unsavory practices of certain "cultish" outsiders.

Remember also that Missouri is still a factor. They are still trying to arrest Joseph Smith (one of the reasons for the unique privileges the city of Nauvoo had, by the way, so they could quash warrants) and Joseph Smith and the Saints are still agitating for some kind of federal intervention to either restore their homes or at least pay for their stolen property.

Finally there is the whole spiritual wifery bit. John C. Bennet was a scoundrel. The evidence is mixed whether Bennet knew about the practice of polygamy before he did his spiritual wifery thing, so you could probably say with your POD of no polygamy, the spiritual wifery scandal never happens ITTL. But he is still a scoundrel and on the make, so if he doesn't prey on people in one way, he'll do it in another. When he does, its going to play into leadership tensions with the Laws just like OTL, which in OTL led to that faction propagandizing in the surrounding communities against Joseph Smith, and their creation of an anti-Joseph Smith newspaper in Nauvoo, which the city smashed as a public nuisance, which was a big factor in precipitating the persecutions. Honestly, I think you're best off having Bennet get drunk and drown in a river or something.

Other factors to keep in mind: Joseph Smith's run for the Presidency and his call for compensated emancipation happened in 1844 OTL. Also the Prophet was turning to political ideas during the Nauvoo time period and settled on a semi-monarchical council type government (the Council of 50), but a lot of the sources on that are contradictory and you probably have room to go in the direction you want. Other political ideas that developed during that period were the idea of small relatively self contained communities that would be tiled across the continent--he had been developing this idea for more than a decade, so it can't easily be butterflied away--and also of the expansion of a government to first the Americas and then the world. This latter seems to have been part of his vision of tiling, either of his small selfcontained communities or federal states.

You probably already know all this, in which case apologies, but it still may be helpful background for your readers.
 
Bonus points if Douglas becomes President. Supposedly Joseph Smith prophesied that Douglas would, but only if he never turned on the Saints, which of course he did along with everybody else in Illinois in the mid 1840s.

Also, keep in mind that while polygamy may have been something of a causus belli, there were also political factors involved. The Mormons bloc voted for whichever political slate offered them the most goodies, so they had a pretty unique and powerful city charter and other privileges that were pretty irritating to everyone else, and especially to whichever political coalition had failed to buy the Mormon vote.

Also, the Mormons were far outside the mainstream and were able to get persecuted and burned out of Missouri without any polygamy at all. You don't need any actual basis in fact for rumors to start circulating about the unsavory practices of certain "cultish" outsiders.

Remember also that Missouri is still a factor. They are still trying to arrest Joseph Smith (one of the reasons for the unique privileges the city of Nauvoo had, by the way, so they could quash warrants) and Joseph Smith and the Saints are still agitating for some kind of federal intervention to either restore their homes or at least pay for their stolen property

Other factors to keep in mind: Joseph Smith's run for the Presidency and his call for compensated emancipation happened in 1844 OTL.

You probably already know all this, in which case apologies, but it still may be helpful background for your readers.

No need to apologize! My plan was to let some of these details appear subtly throughout, but I think it's good for the readers to tell them what occurred in OTL so they can understand what is different.

Also, Missouri and Smith's politics will come to play a big role...
 
1841
- February 1st - 4th: Nauvoo, IL holds its first general election under the charter granted by the state. City Council is formed, with John C. Bennett as Mayor. The council votes in favor of Joseph Smith's proposal to establish a University of Nauvoo and a Nauvoo Legion to defend the city.

- March 4th: William Henry Harrison is inaugurated as the 9th President of the United States.

- April 4th: William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia after having served only 1 month as President, an unprecedented crisis for the country.

- April 6th: The cornerstones of the Nauvoo Temple are laid in a public ceremony. VP John Tyler is sworn in as the 10th President of the US.

- June 5th - 10th: Joseph Smith is arrested to be extradited on order of Liliburn Boggs, governor of Missouri, who views Smith as a cultish fugitive.
At a hearing in Monmouth, Justice Stephen A. Douglas rules the arrest warrant illegal and allows Smith to walk free.

- October 24th: Apostle Orson Hyde dedicates Palestine to the Church.

- Novemebr 8th: The baptismal font of the Nauvoo Temple is dedicated.
 
As noted, it isn't like the LDS not having polygamy will make them acceptable (it helps, but still). But I'd assume any early Mormon POD without polygamy means Joseph Smith is a bit more conventional--I think if he hadn't died, he would've gone into some pretty "out there" territory and alienated even more of his followers. A more "normal" Joseph Smith who survives means the LDS church has some serious force to acquire followers and play a role in politics.
 
1842 (Part 1):
- March 17th: The Relief Society is established by Joseph Smith. This organization, led by his wife Emma Smith, works towards charity and welfare efforts for the Church and its followers.

- April 16th: The first edition of The Wasp newspaper is published in Nauvoo. While sympathetic to the Church, it is the first independent paper in the city.

- May 6th: Liliburn Boggs, former governor of Missouri and architect of the Saints' expulsion from that state, is attacked at his home in Independence by an assassin. Boggs is shot and critically wounded, but survives. Suspicion immediately falls upon the Mormons, who detest Boggs.

- May 14th: Nauvoo receives word of the assassination attempt. The Wasp praises the intent of the assassin.

- June 20th: Liliburn Boggs makes a sworn statement that his would-be killer was directed by Joseph Smith. Missouri Governor Thomas Reynolds requests the extradition of Smith and his bodyguard Orrin Porter Rockwell from Illinois.

- June 21st: Illinois Governor Frank Carlin permits Rockwell's extradition but denies Smith's, fearing a backlash in Nauvoo. Reynolds accepts this, but Boggs is enraged.

- June 28th: Rockwell is arrested by the county sheriff, provoking something of an outcry among the Saints. Smith urges calm and cooperation with the Illinois authorities

- June 29th: A posse of men supportive of Boggs attacks the Adams County, IL jail, kidnapping and killing Rockwell. The vigilantes then head to Nauvoo, intending to capture Joseph Smith. Smith manages to flee the city, but his brothers Hyrum and Samuel are killed along with 18 other Saints (including five women and one boy). The posse flee across the Mississippi when the Nauvoo Legion and county police come to the city's aid.
 
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1842 (Part 2):
- June 30th: A day of mourning in Nauvoo is declared by Joseph Smith. The citizens are at a loss as to how the city's Legion didn't intervene sooner.

- July 1st: The Wasp publishes a report stating that Mayor John C. Bennett was hungover at the time of the raid, thus delaying the response to the attackers. The Saints are outraged by Bennett's ineptitude.

- July 2nd: The Nauvoo City Council votes unanimously to remove Bennett from the office of Mayor. That evening, Bennett hangs himself. In his suicide note he claims responsibility for the deaths of his citizens.

- July 3rd: Joseph Smith is elected Acting Mayor of Nauvoo.

- July 7th: Word of the June attack on Nauvoo has begun to reach the rest of the country. The massacre provokes an outcry in the North, with papers in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and New York denouncing the attacks as cowardly and un-Christian. Missouri and several of the Southern states remain ambivalent. Sympathy for the Saints increases across the nation.

- July 14th: A delegation from Nauvoo arrives in Springfield to petition Governor Carlin for the extradition or punishment of the June marauders. Carlin says that his hands are tied, as he has no way of knowing who committed the attacks and doesn't want to risk a potential border war with Missouri.

- July 18th: The delegation returns to Nauvoo and informs Joseph Smith of Carlin's decision. Smith enters the partially-built Nauvoo Temple and prays for eight hours.

- July 19th: In what would come to known as the "Country of Zion" speech, Joseph Smith makes 2 announcements. First, he has received revelation that the consumption of hard liquors is now totally proscribed, as it causes nothing but tragedy and destruction upon its abusers. Many interpret this doctrine in light of John C. Bennett's alcoholism. Second, he has decided in order to protect the livelihoods and rights of the Saints, he must run for federal office:

"After much prayer and reflection upon the subject, I find it is my duty to my Heavenly Father and to you, his Saints, to ensure we have a voice in the government of this land. If we are to build God's Kingdom on earth, we must do it with what tools we're given. The ballot box will be our way to ensure our survival and to make our land the true "Country of Zion." I today announce that I shall run for the House of Representatives, and shall vacate the office of Mayor as is expedient and timely.
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Joseph Smith
- July 22nd: Joseph Smith files for candidacy in the US House of Representatives race in his Illinois district. There is some criticism from local Democrats and Whigs, fearing Smith's demographic advantage over their respective candidates.

- August 7th: In spite of minimal campaigning outside Nauvoo and its environs, Joseph Smith wins a seat in the US House with a plurality of the votes. Nearly all of these are Mormons from Nauvoo, although they are joined by several sympathetic voters. The Wasp declares Smith's victory an excellent opportunity for redressing Nauvoo's grievances and ensuring the city's safety. Meanwhile in the other House districts, Democrats make significant gains.

The Illinois congressional delegation now stands at Democrats - 5, Whigs - 1, and Independent - 1.

- August 10th: Smith receives word of his victory. There are triumphant celebrations in Nauvoo, with much oratory by Smith. A new Mayor of Nauvoo, Chancy Robison, is elected by popular acclaim.

- August 14th: Smith's victory makes headlines across the US. Papers in Missouri decry him as a snake-oil peddler and wannabe theocrat, while Northern papers are cautiously supportive, interested in what his tenure will be like.

- September 16th: The Nauvoo Temple is now half-complete.

- October 30th: The first sabbath meeting in the Nauvoo Temple is held.
 
Yeah, this is starting to get interesting...hope this goes far...

Having a more mainstream LDS religion would be interesting, too...
 
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