But to come out, he survives and points his finger but i have evidence he is behind it. So he signs the requisition order the illinois governor signs in order to move joseph to missouri and then he freaks out once again. The problem is that the city charter like any city charter it can only issue the writ of habeas corpus related to cases that originate in their jurisdiction nauvoo was only on charges that are originated from nauvoo. Does that make sense . But the day he was arrested , the city court passes a new resolution that grants nauvoo authority to write the writ of habeas corpus on those outside of nauvoo. Second the city court or city council to try the merit of those cases. So the arresting officers and hands them the writ of habeas corpus ha ha too bad. In the arresting officers are befuddled. How can they respond to that crack so they go talk to the governor meanwhile he goes into hiding that even he realizes the City Council Resolutions for the writ of habeas corpus will not hold water actually once again elected officials try to get support decide we will ignore the city council so smith is taken before the city court with the Circuit Court judge it but they find a loophole and he grabs joseph for his freedom. The story is not even over after that. That summer the missouri governor come you can imagine how frustrated officials must be by this point. We will try this again so they send another requisition order to remove joseph to missouri he goes into hiding the arresting officer poses as a woman missionary knocks on the door were joseph and emma are trying to have a quiet vacation arrest joseph smith and are going to missouri the Mormon Prophet seemed to be out of luck finally. But an aspiring politician a lawyer nearby says i am running for the new Congressional District maybe this is my chance to earn the mormon vote so he gathers together the county sheriff and these officials arrest the arresting officers for false imprisonment and as you can imagine they say what the heck is going on so while they tried to figure out what to do the nauvoo intercepts the group and marches them back to nauvoo with a receiver military escort and a grandstand performance as these dressed ladies who are celebrating they then have a big banquet for the two arresting officers are put at the head of the table who are befuddled by the whole situation and then nauvoo courts grant joseph smith another writ of habeas corpus but this time the state authorities just ignore that through the proper mechanism this time the governor decides we dont want to lose the mormons because the lawyer had enabled him but we want that support back so he says if you support the democrats in the selection we will allow your habeas corpus to stand then the mormons are left in a dilemma because joseph smith permit is one actually promised but now the democratic governor goes even further. Joseph smith tries to find a way to satisfy and ends up alienating both a couple weeks before the election joseph smith confuses everyone and says im sorry im no longer a profit my brother has the birthright look into him. He later said he just said that ironically which happens that when something turns out to be unpopular. But the day before the election there is another general where getting up the front one in front of thousands to say ive had a revelation that you should vote for the democrats joseph smith stands up and says i will vote for walker because i have a close personal friendship with him but let me tell you this i rather have a revelation and it turned out to be wrong. So through that mechanism joe maintains the personal promise to walker and they move the election to the democrats according to accounts the nauvoo votes were 1200 90 so they get into the office. After that point however the Democratic Party is really mad at nauvoo. Even though they may not come out ahead on that escapade they realize that could change at a moments notice. So they are no longer willing to support him. But then the following winter they are worried the same Political Parties will no longer support them and their mission they do a number of radical provisions and said federal petitions to the government including my favorite episode where he asks for them to raise an army of 100,000 soldiers with the charge to protect nauvoo. Congress does not go for that. Then joseph announces the campaign for the presidency when they promised to give nauvoo support. But eventually feeling that the walls are closing in that it will no longer protect their interest, they come up with a contingency plan. That doesnt capture the radicals. They gathered together in early march and if they are kicked out of america where do we go and what do we do . We will establish a bureaucratic government to return gods voice to earth because they look at the world around them and they see only chaos and disaster and violence and division but that could bring stability to this world again only the voice of god. And with that constitution. But i do want to circle back there were cultural sentiments so then in the 18 forties and 18 fifties is a very divided setting and senators hitting each other upside the head like they did in the 18 fifties but as they are falling apart you see an increasing number of people whether anti suffrage or anti slavery because they are no longer listening to divine law or the dictates. I you are familiar with john brown. He writes a provisional constitution to replace the american constitution the american constitution he declared was a path of the devil and his that was to replace it everybody said it is based on the laws of god. The Confederate States of america the next year would create their own country and write their own constitution what is the first line . These laws are based on design providence. You see this argument especially those that believe the american nation is falling apart. The mormons tried to exercise and they go to the ninth degree but i want to emphasize that nauvoo in general capture a lot of the broader sentimental much larger story. Im running out of time so i dont have much time to dig into another issue. But these political and legal issues is what is driving the external opposition. If joseph smith the ideological proposals within nauvoo that cause internal division among those most notable is the proposal of polygamy for a chance for men to be married to multiple women. While it is impossible to precisely identify the origins i try to argue in the book late fall 1840 early spring 1841 connected to the other ideas. Of course we can find human origins of deep desires and urges but im also interested in the theology that joseph presents that defends and justifies and expands the doctrine of this domestic experimentation. And what struck me in reading the book the same language that he uses is the same language he and his followers use. So let me use one example. And to become very female voice in the tradition of polygamist wife in the summer of 1842 a very controversial time where he was quieting down some of his actions and doesnt actually talk about polygamy bit in her diary she gives around about example and compares the chaos in the tumult of the world around us that failed democratic experiment that failed to protect those most destitute and vulnerable to what is offered by the priesthood couple polygamy seemed to be the way to offer redemption and a correction to the world. There is a lot of domestic experimentation going on in america you have the shakers and oneida and their proposal of shared marriage you are finding people all over america that think that the domestic situation has run its course and we need something new. You also see at the same time groups were terrified. A conservative backlash the only way to bring stability is a more patriarchal order. For those of you who are not familiar with robert the site matthias Robert Matthews named messiah read kingdom of the science it will blow your mind. Both the experimentation is where is the patriarchal retrenchment. I want to give that perspective but one of the things that stood out to me is a lot of these women have a lot of different reasons. I also dont want to emphasize that everyone accepted it they saw it as a betrayal of their religious ideas. None were more adamant then Joseph Smiths own brother when rumors of polygamy start to seep out 1841 he sent to root out what he saw sexual improprieties and to do so he marshaled the most enthusiastic body known as the high council. This high council is operating at the same time joseph smith is doing his polygamist activities so you have two brothers joseph smith and his experiments trying to shore up traditional morals, morals, then hiring for we can finally converse to polygamy in the instantaneous although confusing but i can talk about some of these, when he converts to polygamy he had already created a machine to eradicate the principle he now embraces. In fact shortly after he converts to polygamy he takes the doctrine to the high council the vehicle he was using and says sorry to break it to yo you, this is the new doctrine of the left by the way three of the men sitting on the high council had either wives or daughters that were secretly sealed and this may have been used to them. A number of men in august 1843 when he breaks the news to them, that core group of men become the core of a new resistance will eventually create their own church and dissenting newspaper when those walls are crumbling is when Joseph Smiths wife opposes polygamy march 1844 another issue i wish i had more time to delve into but the walls collapsing i need for more radical intervention. We have these two trajectories the political experimentation and domestic that finally culminate in spring of 1844 when those dissenters join together to pose the biggest threat to joseph smith vision and to nauvoo sovereignty that everything comes apart resulting in his death is at the result of a mob. I have talked to more than i have planned i want to give sure i have enough time for questions i want to open it up anything that you heard that you want to correct or have more questions or other issues that may strike you i would love to start a conversation. So did you have any insight of Adult Children . Why did he deny polygamy to his children . We dont know what he fully finds out. Joseph kept a secret from her for quite a while. I imagine she learns over time a little whisper here or there i assume that is him presenting the doctrine. All we know may 1843 emma smith not only knows about polygamy but grant smith the opportunity for those two young sisters that already lived at home but there were two problems. Number 11 sister had artie been sealed and then they go through another ceremony they were already sealed to joseph. The other issue is i am pretty sure when emma finds out she only knows it is the internal issue with no ramification of everyday life because the same day she witnesses her husband she catches joseph and eliza behind a locked door in their home to her it is eyeopening it isnt just eternal. [laughter] so she rejects it again. So she had accepted theoretically the doctrine the same week hyrum smith so to become a permanent defender and to become quite reckless in sharing that doctrine in their relationships hours over the next few months. At one point she agreed to take her husband of her own. At one point joseph smith tried to get her to sign over 60 lots of land and then he seemed to have a cooling. But then the next march emma smith goes on the fire path again and holds the series of meetings and nauvoo and more explicitly than she had ever done so before to say things like i dont care what you hear them private only trust the things that he says from the stand. That is about as clear as you can get i am a fan of the public not the private that same week he gives a public declaration thats one of the prerequisites for anyone to enter they will not share anything outside of counsel even to their wives. And that is the setting in which he died. Im not sure the relationship i wonder a little bit but im a smith after joseph dies polygamy falls apart and suffered immensely for the cause of the church for polygamy was a source part Brigham Young represented the tradition he is expanding polygamy and he has sealed themselves i speculate he may have made a similar proposal to emma just like he does the other wives. Emma and brigham have a falling out. They hate each other thats an understatement and when Brigham Young explicitly tells the mormons none of you are to invite emma to go with us. She says that is cool with me. So when they leave trying to remember the best of times so when she is teaching her children she would rather imagine the joseph that she had loved and the image that she cared for so that was a decision that that is not the part of the memory of joseph i wish to carr carry. With regards to the constitution is there anything you would like to see in the american constitution . [laughter]. First of all the mormon constitution when they first gathered one of the first thing joseph asked for i want you to write a new constitution to replace the american constitution is a lot easier said than done because every week he says how is that constitution going that they are saying we will have something for you next week. They finally propose a very rough draft of a rambling preamble in several articles they basically boil down to article one god is the originator of all laws. Article two these laws will be dictated through the profit article three there will be judges to make sure they are applied correctly. There is a lot left to be considered. [laughter] but one of the arguments even not found in the constitution but in the political rhetoric that i found quite striking is his argument looking at the groups in america under the majority of democracy the only way is to strengthen the federal government. We cannot rely on states to cut down on law because what happens when the governor is the head of the law . So when joseph smith runs for the presidency was to protect the rights of individuals and even has a correspondence with calhoun the South Carolina senator known as the most prominent voice for the states rights doctrine he writes calhoun and says what we do to support the mormons and he responds that is a state issue we have no authority to interfere in smith response to say i am surprised to have such a weak view of the constitution that a state can dictate with the federal government can do that is the tail wagging the dog and the child governing the apparent. And dont preserve the right of individual citizens. This is jacksonian america they believe the higher you get a Political Office the closer you are to corruption so the best government is at the local level. But the mormons are the only people making this argument the abolitionist primary argument is this is a state issue so 131415 amendment to makes them the arbiter of individual rights and i do want to qualify him answer a little bit i am not convinced smith was a political thinker with the nuances of federal sovereignty. I think they are mostly reactive. Or that they are not in favor of a strong federal government. [laughter] but the problem is anxiety. And i would like to think there is an irony there and no less tradition that disapproves the idea of a federal government to protect the minority vote. Talked to the council. The original name was the kingdom of god and the filters through prophetic authorities. Like a pr firm would have hated it. So actually it was like 55 or 56 they speak as if they are about to rule the world. But there are no practical steps to actually do so. Now they do do some practical things. They end up overseeing the settlement options and coordinating a response to the state government. And there is where Brigham Young starts flexing his new muscle. And those Practical Applications and then to operate. We are not sure what to the extent even after they leave nauvoo that is only that portion. And then there is the record that is quite revealing. But how did joseph smith elevate the conmen and the crooks and Joseph Jackson and the second counselors in the fondness for such characters. Now to focus on John C Bennett he is the most importan important. Focus on Joseph Jackson. [laughter] he is a fascinating vagabond slides into nauvoo sets everything on fire and leaves. But joseph smith was is smitten by a kilt colorful and charismatic he was very pragmatic in those terms. A number of men those illinois men that were connected to political and military establishments will present themselves to smith and he is anxious not only to embrace them but to empower them because they are evidence they are not just from the dregs of society. He had already had a chaotic life from those situations to burn many bridges leaving his family behind by the time he joined the lds church he was the quarterback for the illinois militia so guess what . Embracing John C Bennett not only gives stature because he had a reputation among illinois he also could arm the nauvoo militia and accumulates a lot of affairs and its impossible to know how much but when word start spreading and womanizing John C Bennett hyrum smith that is the origin and number two to be terrified any investigation would also reveal private polygamists. So over a dozen disciplinary meetings and joseph smith goes to these meetings to say maybe we should simmer down a little bit. The John C Bennett could quiet that so to get to your question. But that is what resembles him and thats what causes him trouble. In the nauvoo kingdom to the difficult tension of the american and democracy that you talk about that means the democratic ideal of the majority leaving on leading to the tyranny of the majority but that tension of nauvoo for american democracy , do you think that better example is found in the nauvoo city charter and counsel . Is it more of a crisis attempt . So what what i am getting at is the democracy. City council. But a moral contribution to define democracy do you see the Nauvoo City Council . Thats a great question do we see the better reflection with the anxiety of political culture we see that with the Nauvoo Charter if we want to see the mormons as a mainstream reflection peripheral and radical the city council does but the <