Joseph Smith

Important religious figure who

founded Mormonism.

Faithful, driven, and a strong

speaker, but was easily tempered.

Smith experienced a vision from an

angel, who told him that a book
written upon gold plates was
deposited. The book gave accounts,
and the angel told Smith where to find
the book.
Book of Mormon- The book gave a
different story from the Bible.
According to the book, lost Israeli
tribes migrated to America before
the birth of Christ. There they
fought each other until Christ was
born and established his Church.
Then the fighting began again,
and one of the survivors,
Mormon, wrote down records of
his people on the plates. The
person who found these plates
was to restore the Church of
Christ in America.
Smith would not let anyone check the
plates to check his honesty. Smith
published a translation of the plates in
1930. He started with just five
followers.
His speaking and persuasion skills
were very strong, so by the end
of 1830, he had several hundred
followers.

Mormons were very unpopular in

New York State because people
claimed that Smith was only
trying to make money and his
book was offensive. His house
attacked and followers shot. He
then took his followers to
Kirtland, Ohio.

Brigham young
After the death of Smith, Young
became the new leader. Decided that
Mormons would move from Nauvoo
to Great Salt Lake in 1846.
Young was very organised and
down-to earth, and very
determined. He also married 8 of
Smiths former wives, so he was very
considerate.
Young had total control over his
community; they trusted and believed
in him, and so although he had many
challenges to overcome, he knew hed
be able to build a Mormon City.
Everything was going well, but in
1848 the US gained parts of the Great
Salt Lake. Young decided to form a
Mormon state called Deseret, but the
US government refused and a
compromise was made and the
territory of Utah was created, and
Young was governor. Young
organised and developed Utah very
well.

Young also sent out missionaries to

convert people, and got an amazing
result. There was an immigration fund
set up to help converts pay for their
passage to Salt Lake and organise it.
The Mormons werent very selfsufficient (like he expected) and still
didnt have enough workers or
money for industrial development.
Education wasnt much of an
achievement either.
Tension also grew between the
Mormons and the outsiders when
converts began to move to Utah.
Many bad rumours spread about the
Mormons. It was suspicious to the
outsiders that the Mormons had
converted some of the Indians, and so
rumours spread that they were
planning to kill all non-Mormons
together.

In Kirtland, the Mormon movement

flourished greatly, reaching a
thousand followers by 1831. Even had
some people in Missouri.

They worked very hard and soon

had a store, bank, printing press
and a mill. They soon
outnumbered the non-Mormons.
However their success increased
the envy and hatred of the
others.
Very unfortunately for the
Mormons, in 1837 there was an
economic crisis, making many
banks collapse. Many nonMormons had put their savings
into the Mormon bank, and when
it collapsed (1837), they were
chased out of Kirtland.
Smith then took them to Missouri,
but this did not increase their
popularity. They were declared by
the government as public
enemies and they were blamed
for everything.
In 1838, the Mormons were
released from prison, and moved
to a small town in Illinois, called
Nauvoo.
The Mormons, now at 35,000
were trying to create an ideal
society with no poor, homeless,
smoking or drinking. Many of the
poor converted, promised
salvation. The Mormons were
finally settled.
However this was ruined by
Smith, he said that the idea of
polygamy was right, leading to
many Mormons calling him false
and criticism in the newspapers.
Smith was put into prison, and
non-Mormons shot him in prison
once they heard the news about
polygamy. And Mormons were
hunted down by mobs.

After a big fight between the Mormons

and the US government, the US
government offered them a full
forgiveness if they accepted the US
authority. They agreed, a governor
was appointed, and they were allowed
to develop in peace.
However polygamy was still a
disagreement. When Utah applied to
become a state, the US offered to let
them become a state if they accepted
the ban of polygamy. They agreed,
and Utah was made a state in 1896.

SUMMARY
Joseph Smith
He was very driven and
determined and would not accept
defeat.
He was a great public speaker
with a lot of charisma, and
thereby converted many people
into Mormonism.
He was a business man and
established banks.
Smith was very intelligent
because he created a thriving
business and a new religion.
He was also a great leader before he
was jailed. He was also clever to
establish colonies in Missouri, to which
the Mormons fled out of Kirtland.
Joseph Smiths strong temper got
him into jail twice. He was also
too pushy, and his ideas of
polygamy ruined the Mormons
peace in the land they were
finally free in (Nauvoo).
When his banks collapsed, this
added tension to the Mormons
relationship with the outside
world even more, and made them
seem unreliable.
Smith had minimal achievements
compared to Young, and died in
shame and disapproval unlike
Young, who left a great impact
after his death.

Brigham Young
He was a great leader, and his
people believed in him and trusted
him.
Young was very organised and more
down-to earth than Smith. He
managed to organise the long and
difficult journey to the Great Salt Lake.
He also had total control over his
community and established a thriving
city in the Great Salt Lake.
He also negotiated well with the US
government, eventually receiving the
land of Utah.
His missionaries to convert people
were a big success, and he built new
towns in Utah, as well as making
faming and wheat-production a
success.
Young also established a great
immigration fund for immigrant
converts.

He made a right and down-to earth

decision when he accepted antipolygamy, finally making Utah a
State.
He was also very considerate; he
had the answers to the Mormons
problems, carried them through after
the death of Smith, and married all of
Smiths wives.
Although his planning for the Great
Salt Lake journey was good, they still
faced challenges and people died on
the way.
The Mormons also werent as selfsufficient as he planned, and they lost
money, they also didnt achieve
much in the education area.
Overall, Brigham Young definitely left
a bigger positive impact on the
Mormon movement. He was much
more down-to-earth than Smith, and
his people remained believing in
him until his death. Young managed

to make Utah a state where

Mormons continued to live after his
death. Also, Young didnt get the
Mormons into jail or disappoint them
like Smith did.

New
York
State

Kirtland

Missour
i

MORMON MOVEMENT

Nauvoo
, Illinois

Great
Salt
Lake

Utah