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The Vox Populi Is The Vox Dei: American Localism And The Mormon Expulsion From Jackson County, Missouri, Matthew Lund
The Vox Populi Is The Vox Dei: American Localism And The Mormon Expulsion From Jackson County, Missouri, Matthew Lund
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023
In 1833, enraged vigilantes expelled 1,200 Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri, setting a precedent for a later expulsion of Mormons from the state, changing the course of Mormon history, and enacting in microcosm a battle over the ultimate source of authority in America's early democratic society. This study will reexamine the motives that induced Missourians to expel Mormons from Jackson County and explore how government authorities responded to the conflict. Past studies contend that Mormon communalism collided with the Jacksonian individualism of Missouri residents, causing hostility and violence. However, recent studies have questioned many of the conventional notions of law …