Mormonism and slavery

Slavery
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The Latter Day Saint movement has had varying and conflicting teachings on slavery. Early converts were initially from the North and opposed slavery,^[1] and were supported by Mormon scripture.^[2] After moving to the slave state of Missouri and gaining southern converts, church leaders began justifying slavery^[3] and new scriptures were revealed giving credence to the pro-slavery interpretation of the Curse of Ham^[4] and teaching against interfering with the slaves of others.^[5] A few slave owners joined the church, and took their slaves with them to Nauvoo.^[6]

After Joseph Smith's death, the church split. The largest contingent followed Brigham Young, who supported slavery but opposed abuse,^[7] and a smaller contingent followed Joseph Smith III, who opposed slavery.^[8] Brigham Young led his contingent to Utah, where he led the efforts to legalize slavery in Utah.^[9] Brigham Young taught that slavery was ordained of God and taught that the Republican's efforts to abolish slavery went against the decrees of God and would eventually fail.^[10] He also encouraged members to participate in the Indian slave trade.^[11]

Teachings on slavery

Mormon scripture simultaneously denounces both slavery and abolitionism in general, teaching that it was not right for men to be in bondage to each other,^[2] but that one shouldn't interfere with the slaves of others.^[5] However, slavery of black Africans was justified through both the Curse of Cain and the Curse of Ham.^[3] While these justifications were common in America at the time,^[12] Mormon scripture canonized several aspects of the curses that is now rejected by other Christian religions. While promoting the legality of slavery, the church consistently taught against the abuse of slaves and advocated for laws that provided protection,^[7] though critics said the definition of abuse was vague and difficult to enforce.^[13]

Curse of Cain and Ham

Joseph Smith justified slavery using the Curse of Ham.

Both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young referred to the Curse of Cain and the Curse of Ham to justify slavery.^[3][10] According to the Bible, after Cain killed Abel, God cursed him and put a mark on him.(Genesis 4:8-15) The Bible does not state the nature of the mark. In another biblical account, Ham discovered his father Noah drunk and naked in his tent. Because of this, Noah cursed Ham's son, Canaan to be "servants of servants".(Genesis 9:20-27) While nothing explicitly supports enslaving black Africans, one interpretation that was popular in the United States during the Atlantic slave trade was that the mark of Cain was black skin and it was passed on through Canaan's descendants, who they believed were black Africans. They argue that because Canaan was cursed to be servants of servants, then they were justified in enslaving Canaan's descendants. By the 1800s, this interpretation was widely accepted in America,^[12][14] including among Mormons. This view was exemplified in a letter written by an assistant president of the church, W. W. Phelps, who theorized that Ham's wife was a descendant of Cain, and that the Canaanites were black Africans and under both curses.^{[15][16][17][18]}

In June 1830, Joseph Smith began translating the Bible. Parts of it were canonized into the Book of Moses and accepted as official scripture in 1880. It states that "the seed of Cain were black". (Moses 7:22) This is the only place in LDS scripture that defines the mark of Cain as being black. The Book of Moses also discusses a group of people called the Canaanites, who were also black.(Moses 7:8) These Canaanites lives before the flood, and hence before the Biblical Canaan. Later, in 1835, Joseph Smith produced a work called the Book of Abraham. It relates the story of Pharaoh, a descendant of Ham, who was also a Canaanite by birth. Pharaoh could not have the priesthood because he was "of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood",(Abraham 1:27) and that all Egyptians descended from him.(Abraham 1:22) The Book of Abraham also says the curse came from Noah.(Abraham 1:26) This book was later canonized into Mormon scripture.

In 1836, Smith taught that the Curse of Ham came from God, and that it demanded the legalization of slavery. He warned those who tried to interfere with slavery that God could do his own work.^[3] While Smith never reversed his opinion on the Curse of Ham, he did start expressing more anti-slavery positions. As part of his presidential platform, he proposed a gradual freeing the slaves by purchasing them into freedom.

After the succession crisis, Brigham Young consistently argued slavery was a divine institution, even after the Emancipation Proclamation, and used these curses to justify his position.^[7] He also used these curses to justify banning blacks from the priesthood, from interracial marriage, from voting and from holding public office.^[19] After Brigham Young, the curse of Cain was no longer used to justify slavery, but continued to be taught by President John Taylor,^[20] Bruce R. McConkie,^[21] and is currently part of the official Old Testament student manual for LDS institutes.^[22] The Book of Abraham is still considered scripture by the LDS Church.

Most modern scholars now believe Canaanites refer to people of Semitic origin, not black African, and most modern Christian religions reject this interpretation.

Legality of slavery

Young taught the Emancipation Proclamation went against the decrees of God and predicted it would eventually fail

While Mormon scripture taught against slavery, it also taught the importance of upholding the law. Both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young stated that the Mormons were not abolitionists.^[7][23]

In the Book of Mormon, slavery was against the law.(Mosiah 2:13 & Alma 27:9) The Doctrine and Covenants teaches that "it is not right that any man should be in bondage to another." (D&C Section 101:79), but that they shouldn't interfere with slaves against the will of their masters, since it would cause unrest. (D&C Section 134:12) In general, Mormons believed in obeying, honoring and sustaining the laws of the land. (Articles of Faith 1:12)

However, in 1836, Joseph Smith started teaching that the Curse of Cain and Ham required the legalization of slavery, and warned that those who tried to teach against it went were going against the commands of God. He taught that Northerners had no right to tell Southerners not to have slaves. During this time the Mormons were in the slave state of Missouri, and some scholars believe that Smith started promoting slavery to appease hostile Missourians.

After the move to the free state of Illinois, Smith began expressing more abolitionist ideals. He argued that blacks should then be given equal employment opportunities as whites.^[24] He believed that given equal chances as whites, blacks would be like whites.^[25] In his personal journal, he wrote that the slaves owned by Mormons should be brought "into a free country and set ... free—Educate them and give them equal rights."^[26] Smith also ran for president of the United States. The anti-slavery plank of his platform called for a gradual end to slavery by the year 1850 . His plan called for the government to buy the freedom of slaves using money from the sale of public lands.

“My cogitations, like Daniel's have for a long time troubled me, when I viewed the condition of men throughout the world, and more especially in this boasted realm, where the Declaration of Independence ‘holds these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;’ but at the same time some two or three millions of people are held as slaves for life, because the spirit in them is covered with a darker skin than ours.” (History of the Church, Vol.6, Ch.8, p.197 - p.198)

Smith was killed during his presidential bid, resulting in a schism. After the schism, the Community of Christ embraced abolitionist ideals, with Joseph Smith III being friends with Abraham Lincoln and supporting the Republican charge to end slavery.^[8]

Under Brigham Young, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continued to teach that slavery was ordained of God. After he helped institute slavery in Utah, he taught "inasmuch as we believe in the ordinances of God, in the Priesthood and order and decrees of God, we must believe in slavery".^[27]:26 He argued that blacks needed to serve masters because they were not capable of ruling themselves,^[28] and that when treated right, blacks were much better off as slaves than if they were free.^[27]:28 Because of these benefits, Young argued that slavery brought the true liberty which God had designed.^[9]:110 He taught that because slavery was decreed of God, he was not able to remove it.^[27]:27 He criticized the Northerners for their attempts to free the slaves contrary to the will of God and accused them of worshipping blacks. He opposed the American Civil War, calling it useless and that the "cause of human improvement is not in the least advanced" by trying to free the slaves.^[10] After the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, he prophesied that the attempts to free the slave would eventually fail:

Will the present struggle free the slave? No... Can you destroy the decrees of the Almighty? You cannot. Yet our Christian brethren think that they are going to overthrow the sentence of the Almighty upon the seed of Ham. They cannot do that, though they may kill them by thousands and tens of thousands.^[10]

Relationship between master and slave

Church leaders taught against abuse and warned the white race would be cursed for their abuse of slaves.

Slave owners complained that the Mormons were interfering with slaves, but the Church denied such claims.^[29]:27 In 1835, the Church issued an official statement indicating that because the United States government allowed slavery, the Church would not "interfere with bond-servants, neither preach the gospel to, nor baptize them contrary to the will and wish of their masters, nor meddle with or influence them in the least to cause them to be dissatisfied with their situations in this life, thereby jeopardizing the lives of men." (D&C Section 134:12).

However, they also taught against the mistreatment of slaves. In March 1842, Smith began studying some abolitionist literature, and stated, "it makes my blood boil within me to reflect upon the injustice, cruelty, and oppression of the rulers of the people. When will these things cease to be, and the Constitution and the laws again bear rule?" ^[30]

Under Brigham Young, the Church also opposed mistreatment of slaves. Young urged moderation, not to treat Africans as beasts of the field, nor to elevate them to equality with the whites, which was against God's will.^[9]:109 He criticized the Southerners for their abuse of slaves, and taught that mistreating slaves should be against the law: "If the Government of the United States, in Congress assembled, had the right to pass an anti-polygamy bill, they had also the right to pass a law that slaves should not be abused as they have been; they had also a right to make a law that negroes should be used like human beings, and not worse than dumb brutes. For their abuse of that race, the whites will be cursed, unless they repent."^[7]

Slavery in Early Mormonism

Most of the early converts of the Church came from the northern United States and tended to be anti-slavery. These attitudes came into conflict after they moved to Missouri.^[1] In the summer of 1833 W. W. Phelps published an article in the church's newspaper, seeming to invite free black people into the state to become Mormons, and reflecting "in connection with the wonderful events of this age, much is doing towards abolishing slavery, and colonizing the blacks, in Africa."^[31] Outrage followed Phelps' comments, (Roberts [1930] 1965, p. 378.) and he was forced to reverse his position, which he claimed was "misunderstood", but this reversal did not end the controversy.^[32] Missouri citizens accused Mormons of trying to interfere with their slaves. The Church denied such claims and began to teach against interfering with slaves and more pro-slavery rhetoric. Some slaves owners also joined the church during this period. However, this did not end the controversy, and they were forcibly expelled from Missouri.

By 1836, the church already had some slaves and slave owners. The rules established by the church for governing assemblies in the Kirtland Temple included attendees who were “bond or free, black or white.” ^[33] When abolitionists tried to solicit support from the Mormons, they had little success.^{[34][34][35][36]} Even though slavery was illegal in Illinois, members who owned slaves brought them with them to Nauvoo. Nauvoo was reported to have 22 black members, including free and slave, between 1839-1843 ^[37]

One slave-owning family in Nauvoo was the Flake family. They owned a slave by the name of Green Flake. While building the Nauvoo temple, families were asked to donate one day in ten to work on the temple. The Flake family used slave labor to fulfill their requirement.

While in Nauvoo, the church went through a succession crisis, and split into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which later became the Community of Christ.

Slavery in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

After Smith's death, the main body of the church followed Brigham Young who was significantly more pro-slavery than Joseph Smith. Young led the Mormons to Utah and formed a theocratic government, under which slavery was legalized and the Indian slave trade was supported. Young promoted slavery as essential doctrine, teaching that blacks had been cursed to be "servants of servants" and that Indians needed slavery as part of a process of overcoming a curse placed on their Lamanite ancestors.

Slavery during Westward migration

Green Flake, one of the first African slaves in Utah, served as Young's slave after he was donated as tithing

When church leaders asked for men from the members of Mississippi to help with the westward emigration, they sent four slaves, with John Brown given the task to "take charge of them". Two of the slaves died, and Green Flake later joined the company, making three slaves arriving in Utah.^[38] More slaves arrived in later companies. By 1850, 100 blacks had arrived, the majority of which were slaves.^[39] Other slaves were able to escape along the trek. One large contingent was able to escape from the Redds during the night in Kansas,^[40] but six were not able to escape and continued on to Utah.^[41] When William Dennis stopped in Tabor, Iowa, members of the Underground Railroad were able to help five slaves escape, and despite a man hunt, were able to make their way to Canada.^[42][43]:39

Ambiguous Period (1847-1852)

Mormons arrived in the middle of the Mexican-American War and ignored the Mexican ban on slavery. Instead, slavery was recognized by custom, naturally coming from the Mormon view on blacks.^[44] After the Compromise of 1850, Congress granted Utah the right to decide slavery based on popular sovereignty. Many prominent members of the church were slave owners, including Abraham O. Smoot and Charles C. Rich.^[45]

Apostle Charles C. Rich, a prominent Mormon slave owner

Still, no laws were passed defining the legality of slavery, and the Church tried to remain neutral. In 1851, apostle Orson Hyde said:

We feel it to be our duty to define our position in relation to the subject of slavery. There are several in the Valley of the Salt Lake from the Southern States, who have their slaves with them. There is no law in Utah to authorize slavery, neither any to prohibit it. If the slave is disposed to leave his master, no power exists there, either legal or moral, that will prevent him. But if the slave chooses to remain with his master, none are allowed to interfere between the master and the slave. All the slaves that are there appear to be perfectly contented and satisfied.

When a man in the Southern states embraces our faith, the Church says to him, if your slaves wish to remain with you, and to go with you, put them not away; but if they choose to leave you, or are not satisfied to remain with you, it is for you to sell them, or let them go free, as your own conscience may direct you. The Church, on this point, assumes not the responsibility to direct. The laws of the land recognize slavery, we do not wish to oppose the laws of the country. If there is sin in selling a slave, let the individual who sells him bear that sin, and not the Church.^[46]

Once in Utah, Mormons continued to buy and sell slaves as property. Church members would use their slaves as tithing.^[38][43]:34 Young and Heber C. Kimball used the slave labor that had been donated in tithing before granting their freedom.^[38][43]:52

In San Bernardino (1851-1856)

Biddy Mason was one of 14 blacks who sued for their freedom after being illegally held captive in San Bernardino

In 1851, a company of 437 Mormons under direction of Elders Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles settled at what is now San Bernardino. This first company took 26 slaves,^[47] and more slaves were brought over as San Bernardino continued to grow.^[48] Since California was a free state, the slaves should have been freed when they entered. However, slavery was openly tolerated in San Bernardino.^[49] Many slaves wanted to be free,^[50] but were still under the control of their masters and ignorant of the laws and their rights. Judge Benjamin Hayes freed 14 slaves who had belonged to Robert Smith.^[51] Other slaves were freed by their masters.^[47]

Indian slave trade

Mormons also found themselves confronted with the Indian slave trade, which was very prevalent in the area. As they began expanding into Indian territory, they often had conflicts with the local residents. After expanding into Utah Valley, Young issued the extermination order against the Timpanogos, resulting in the Battle at Fort Utah, where many Timpanogos women and children were taken into slavery. Some were able to escape, but many died in slavery.^[52] After expanding into Parowan, Mormons attacked a group of Indians, killing around 25 men and taking the women and children as slaves.^[53]:274

A statue of Chief Walkara, a Mormon slave trader.

At the encouragement of Mormon leaders, the Mormon pioneers started participating in the Indian slave trade.^[13][54] Chief Walkara, one of the main slave traders in the region was baptized in the church. In 1851, Apostle George A. Smith gave Chief Peteetneet and Walkara talking papers that certified "it is my desire that they should be treated as friends, and as they wish to Trade horses, Buckskins and Piede children, we hope them success and prosperity and good bargains."^[55]

As in other regions in the Southwest, the main justification for enslaving Indians was for teaching them Christianity. When Young visited the members in Parowan, he encouraged them to "buy up the Lamanite children as fast as they could". He argued that by doing so, they could educate them and teach them the gospel, and in a few generations the Lamanites would become white and delightsome.^[11] Mormons often referred to Indians as Lamanites, reflecting their belief that the Indians were descended from the Lamanites, who were a cursed race discussed in the Book of Mormon.

However, the Mormons strongly opposed the New Mexican slave trade.^[56] Young sought to put an end to the Mexican slave trade.^[57] Many of Walker's band were upset by the interruption with the Mexican slave trade. In one graphic incident, Ute Indian Chief Arrapine, a brother of Chief Walkara, insisted that because the Mormons had stopped the Mexicans from buying these children, the Mormons were obligated to purchase them. In his book, Forty Years Among the Indians, Daniel Jones wrote, "[s]everal of us were present when he took one of these children by the heels and dashed its brains out on the hard ground, after which he threw the body towards us, telling us we had no hearts, or we would have bought it and saved its life."^[58]

Legal period (1852-1862)

Brigham Young made promoting slavery a matter of faith

One of the Mexican slave traders, Don Pedro Leon Lujan, was charged with trading with the Indians without a license, including Indians slaves. His property was seized and his slaves distributed to Mormon families in Manti. He sued the government, charging that he received unequal treatment because he wasn't Mormon. The courts sided against him, but noted that Indian slavery had never been officially legalized in Utah.^[59]

On January 5, 1852, Young, who was also Territorial Governor of Utah, addressed the joint session of the Utah Territory legislature. He discussed the ongoing trial of Don Pedro Leon Lujan and the importance of explicitly indicating the true policy for slavery in Utah. He explained that although he didn't think people shouldn't be treated as property, he felt because Indians were so low and degraded, that transferring them to "the more favored portions of the human race", would be a benefit and relief. He said this was superior to drudgery of Mexican slavery, because the Mexicans were "scarcely superior" to the Indians. He argued that it is proper for persons thus purchased to owe a debt to the man or woman who saved them,^[60] and that it was "necessary that some law should provide for the suitable regulations under which all such indebtedness should be defrayed". He argued that this type of service was necessary and honorable to improve the condition of Indians.^[61]

He also supported African slavery. However he urged moderation, not to treat Africans as beasts of the field, nor to elevate them to equality with the whites, which was against God's will.^[9]:109 He said that this was the principle of true liberty according to the designs of God.^[9]:110 With these directions, the Utah legislature passed an Act in Relation to Service, which officially legalized slavery in Utah Territory, and a month later passed an Act for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners, which specifically dealt with Indian slavery.

The acts had a few special provisions unique to slavery in Utah, reflecting Mormon beliefs. Masters were required by law to correct and punish their slaves, which particularly worried Republicans in Congress.^[13] Black slaves brought into the Territory had to come “of their own free will and choice”; and they could not be sold or taken from the Territory against their will. Indian slaves just had to be in possession of a white person, which Republicans in Congress complained was too broad.^[13] Indian slavery was limited to twenty years, while black slavery was limited to not be longer "than will satisfy the debt due his [master]." Several unique provisions were included which terminated the owner’s contract in the event that the master neglected to feed, clothe, shelter, or otherwise abused the slave, or attempted to take them from the Territory against their will. Black slaves, but not Indian slaves, were freed if the master had sexual intercourse with them. Some schooling was also required for slaves, with blacks requiring less schooling than Indians. Despite the unique provisions in Utah, many black slaves received the same treatment as in the South. According to former slave Alexander Bankhead, the slaves were "far from being happy" and longed for their freedom.^[38][40]

Justin Smith Morrill attacked the Mormon belief in slavery

Mormons continued taking Indian children from their families long after the slave traders left and even began to actively solicit children from Paiute parents. They also began selling Indian slaves to each other.^[62]:56 By 1853, each of the hundred households in Parowan had one of more Paiute children.^[62]:57 Indian slaves were used for both domestic and manual labor.^[63]:240 In 1857, Representative Justin Smith Morrill estimated that there were 400 Indian slaves in Utah.^[13] Richard Kitchen has identified at least 400 Indian slaves taken into Mormon homes, but estimates even more went unrecorded because of the high mortality rate of Indian slaves. Many of them tried to escape.^[53]

The church opposed slaves who wanted to escape their masters.^[64] When Dan, a slave, tried to escape his master, William Camp, the courts upheld that Dan was Camp's property and could not escape. Dan was later sold to Thomas Williams for $800 and then to William Hooper.^[38]

The Mormon position of slavery drew the attention of abolitionists of the day. In 1856, the key plank of the Republican Party's platform was "to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery".^[65] While considering appropriations for Utah Territory, Representative Justin Smith Morrill criticized the Mormon church for its laws on slavery. He said that under the Mormon patriarchy, slavery took a new shape. He criticized the use of the term servants instead of slaves and the requirement for Mormon masters to "correct and punish" their "servants". He expressed concern that Mormons might be trying to increase the number of slaves in the state.^[13] Horace Greeley also criticized the Mormon position on slavery and general apathy towards the welfare of black people.^[34]

Emancipation (1862-present)

When the American Civil War broke out, Utah sided with the North and many Mormon slave owners returned to Southern States because they were worried that they would loose their slaves.^[40] On June 19, 1862 Congress prohibited slavery in all US territories, and on January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The slaves of the Mormons were incredibly joyful when the news reached that they were free, and many left Utah for other states, particularly California.^[38][40]

After the slaves were freed, Young gave several discourses on slavery. He characterized himself as neither an abolitionist nor a pro-slavery man.^[7] He criticized both the South for their abuse of slaves and the North for worshipping of blacks. He opposed the American Civil War, calling it useless and that the "cause of human improvement is not in the least advanced" by trying to free the slaves. He predicted the Emancipation Proclamation would fail.^[10]

Community of Christ

Joseph Smith III, son of Joseph Smith, founded the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1860, now known as the Community of Christ. Smith was a vocal advocate of abolishing the slave trade, and followed Owen Lovejoy, an anti-slavery congressman from Illinois, and Abraham Lincoln. He joined the Republican party and advocated for their antislavery politics. While he was a strong opponent of slavery, he still viewed whites as superior to blacks, and held that they must not “sacrifice the dignity, honor and prestige that may be rightfully attached to the ruling races.”^[8]

Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints emerged in the early 20th from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although it emerged well after slavery was made illegal in the United States, there have been several accusations of slavery. On April 20, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor assessed fines totaling $1.96 million against a group of FLDS church members, including Lyle Jeffs, a brother of the church's controversial leader, Warren Jeffs, for alleged child slave labor violations during the church's 2012 pecan harvest at an orchard near Hurricane, Utah.^[66] The church has been suspected of trafficking underage women across state lines, as well as across the US–Canada^[67] and US–Mexico borders,^[68] for the purpose of sometimes involuntary plural marriage and sexual slavery.^[69] The FLDS is suspected by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of having trafficked more than 30 under-age girls from Canada to the United States between the late 1990s and 2006 to be entered into polygamous marriages.^[67] RCMP spokesman Dan Moskaluk said of the FLDS's activities: "In essence, it's human trafficking in connection with illicit sexual activity."^[70] According to the Vancouver Sun, it's unclear whether or not Canada's anti-human trafficking statute can be effectively applied against the FLDS's pre-2005 activities, because the statute may not be able to be applied retroactively.^[71] An earlier three-year-long investigation by local authorities in British Columbia into allegations of sexual abuse, human trafficking, and forced marriages by the FLDS resulted in no charges, but did result in legislative change.^[72]

See also

• Christian views on slavery
• Catholic Church and slavery
• History of slavery in Utah
• The Bible and slavery

References