Since the 1840s followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — more commonly known as Mormons — had followed the practice of “plural marriage” — more commonly known as polygamy — in which male members of the Mormon faith could take multiple wives. It is generally believed the practice began when the founder of the Mormon faith, Joseph Smith, began taking additional wives in 1841, and he is believed to have had around 50 wives.
The practice was originally kept a secret, but in 1852, after the Mormons had created their theocratic state of Utah with its capital in Salt Lake City, church leaders publicly stated that polygamy was an accepted tenet of the faith.
There was, of course, a double standard between Mormon men and women. In theory, the former could take as many wives as he wanted; the latter could only take one husband. But it was also true that only a small percentage — maybe 10 – 15 percent — of Mormon men practiced polygamy, because it was permitted only if the man was considered an especially spiritual member of the faith and had the financial means to support multiple wives.
Still, after this practice became known, polygamy put the Mormons in the Utah territory — it was not yet a state — at odds with the U.S. government. Mormons claimed polygamy was protected under the religious freedom language in the First Amendment, but the federal government insisted that it was not consistent with the prevailing morals and customs of the American people, and most of the other states in the Union at that time were adamantly opposed to it. Congress even passed a law making polygamy a felony, which led to a lawsuit by a member of the Mormon faith, which eventually reached the Supreme Court.
In 1890 the Supreme Court ruled on that lawsuit, upholding Congress’s authority to make polygamy illegal. The court ruled that, yes, religious freedom means the government cannot interfere with anyone’s religious beliefs because they are a private matter. But, the court ruled, when citizens engage in behavior based on those beliefs, then they have entered the public arena. At that point the courts can decide whether that behavior has a negative impact on the rights of others or on the welfare — “the peace, good order and morals” — of the larger community. By that definition, for example, human or animal sacrifices based on religious beliefs were not permitted, and neither was polygamy.
As a result, this week (Sept 24) in 1890, the Mormon Church issued the “Mormon Manifesto,” outlawing polygamy, although existing polygamy marriages were allowed to stand. Not coincidentally, six years later, Utah was finally admitted as the 45th state in the Union.
