HIST 105-03, The Mormons in the American West

Abstract

One-hundred and seventy years ago, Mormons set up a communal society in a capitalist economy; a theocracy in a republic that mandated the separation of church and state; and polygamous marriage in defiance of civil law throughout the United States. It would be easy to dismiss Mormonism as a curious outlier, a novelty on our cultural landscape, except that it remains the fastest-growing religious denomination on the planet today. Moreover, there is something decidedly American about the Mormons. What elements of United States history and culture gave rise to this group? Why, given their unusual social, economic, and political organization, did the Mormons take root so firmly on U.S. soil? This course will explore the Mormon historical experience within the larger contexts of American gender and religious history, and the history of the American West.