A lot of people know that early Mormons practiced polygamy,
or plural marriage, but they may not know much about it.
And they may be afraid to ask questions.
So let's start with an overview.
When did plural marriage start in the Church,
and how long did it last?
Plural marriage started with Joseph Smith
and lasted for about 50 years until the end
of the 19th century.
And how many people, roughly, were involved?
It varied quite a bit over time.
In the early period when Joseph was introducing polygamy,
by the time he died, it was a very small group--maybe
a hundred people that were involved with plural marriage.
A couple of decades later when it was at its height
during the Utah period, estimates
are that maybe 50 percent of the membership
of the Church in Utah was involved
in plural marriage in one form or another as a wife,
as a husband, as a child.
By the time President Woodruff announces
the manifesto in 1890, the practice
was already declining quite a bit.
And from there, it declined quite a bit
and just faded out as the generation that
had been involved passed on.
Over time, many people have associated plural marriage more
with Brigham Young, the Church's second prophet,
than with Joseph Smith.
Why is that?
I think it's because Joseph Smith introduced the practice
very quietly and very gradually and among a very small group
of people in Nauvoo.
And it wasn't until the Saints got to Utah
that Brigham Young publicly announced and acknowledged
the practice of polygamy.
What can you tell us about Joseph Smith and the beginnings
of a plural marriage?
Where did the idea come from?
We know that Joseph received a revelation
while he was working on the inspired revision,
or translation, of the Bible very soon after the Church was
organized based on questions that he
had about the Old Testament and the practice of polygamy,
or plural marriage, among the patriarchs.
He began introducing the practice of plural marriage
when the Saints were in Nauvoo.
And he said that he had been commanded multiple times
that it was time for that practice
to be implemented and restored among the Latter-day Saints.
In general, when he taught the principle to someone,
he invited them, encouraged them,
to pray about it, to receive their own witness
and confirmation.
And while most of the people who he taught plural marriage to
during this period initially were very shocked and maybe
even resistant, we also have many accounts of men and women
receiving manifestations, receiving testimonies
for themselves, that this was something that they should do.
So it's introduced confidentially.
And Joseph invites people to seek
their own spiritual confirmation before entering the practice.
How does the experience of living in a plural marriage
change once the Saints come to Utah?
The biggest change is probably with the growth of numbers
of people that are involved in plural marriage
and with the openness with which it is lived.
Plural marriage was always controlled and authorized
by the President of the Church through the keys that he held.
And so it was something that had to be approved
through the appropriate priesthood channels,
wasn't something that anyone could just do by themselves.
People were free to reject it or to accept plural marriage.
Many people chose not to enter plural marriage
and remained faithful members of the Church.
What can we say about a typical polygamous family?
It's hard to say that there was a typical polygamous family.
But statistically speaking, what we can say
is that most plural families involved a husband and perhaps
two or three wives at most.
The very large plural families were not the norm.
Some families lived all together in the same household.
Others maybe lived in close proximity to each other.
And some lived in completely different communities.
So the living arrangements varied quite a bit.
People who practiced plural marriage
were human beings just like we all are.
And some did find a lot of joy--were very loving
and generous and happy in their relationships.
At other times, it didn't work out so well.
And in those cases, and especially because leaders
knew that plural marriage could be very difficult for women,
there was quite a lot of leeway and provision for divorce
among polygamists.
The practice of plural marriage by the Mormons
was very controversial during the 19th century.
What can you tell us about that national context?
When they first announced that they
were practicing plural marriage, they were here
in Utah relatively isolated.
And so it took a while for the controversy to build.
And at first, there weren't even any laws against polygamy,
or plural marriage.
But over the following decades, the national government
passed a series of increasingly strident or punitive laws
against plural marriage and began
enforcing them aggressively.
The Latter-day Saints' response at first
was to say, "This is a religious practice.
This is protected by the Constitution
under the free exercise of religion."
Finally, the Supreme Court ruled against that.
And that brought in a period during the 1880s
that became known as the Raid, when the federal government
aggressively pursued and prosecuted those who were
practicing plural marriage.
So, we know over time that there's
a lot of pressure put on the Latter-day Saints who
are practicing plural marriage.
What happens to the Latter-day Saints to get them to a point
where they're willing to give up this principle?
By 1890, they were faced with a very simple choice:
They could continue to practice plural marriage.
But if they did, they would lose the temples
because the government was going to confiscate
all of the Church's property, including the temples.
And that would stop the work of salvation for the dead.
How does President Woodruff go about resolving
what he should do?
It was something that he prayed and considered and counseled
with the other brethren about for quite some time.
But finally, in the fall of 1890,
he did receive a revelation that resulted in a statement known
as the manifesto.
And that began the process of ending plural marriage
although it took some time for the full implications
to be made clear.
Interesting.
So that's been well over a century since the Church has
taught plural marriage.
And most of that time, our main message as a people
has been to say, "We don't do that anymore.
That's not us."
And maybe that's stopped us from thinking a lot
about the legacy of plural marriage for the Church,
for Latter-day Saints as a people.
What would you say that legacy is?
Well, I think first and foremost it's
a legacy of sacrifice for families and commitment
to covenants.
It was something that forged the Latter-day
Saints into a cohesive and close-knit community.
And it was something that produced a large generation
of faithful Latter-day Saints who have continued
to bless the Church themselves and their descendants
for generations.