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{{Resource Title|Joseph Smith is claimed to have written a pro-polygamy pamphlet called "The Peace Maker" in 1842}} | {{Resource Title|Joseph Smith is claimed to have written a pro-polygamy pamphlet called "The Peace Maker" in 1842}} | ||
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Joseph Smith is claimed to have written a pro-polygamy pamphlet called "The Peace Maker" in 1842, despite the fact that he denied doing so. In a variant version, the pamphlet is claimed to have been published by Joseph (though written by another) as a "trial balloon" for polygamy, but Joseph denied any connection with it when reaction was negative. | Joseph Smith is claimed to have written a pro-polygamy pamphlet called "The Peace Maker" in 1842, despite the fact that he denied doing so. In a variant version, the pamphlet is claimed to have been published by Joseph (though written by another) as a "trial balloon" for polygamy, but Joseph denied any connection with it when reaction was negative. | ||
*What is this pamphlet and why is it commonly attributed to Joseph Smith? | *What is this pamphlet and why is it commonly attributed to Joseph Smith? | ||
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And, why did these private letters go unpublished or unheralded if their intent was to throw us off the scent? Why were their contents not trumpeted by Joseph or Brigham if Jacobs was involved in some complex plot to hide Joseph's involvement with ''The Peace Maker''? | And, why did these private letters go unpublished or unheralded if their intent was to throw us off the scent? Why were their contents not trumpeted by Joseph or Brigham if Jacobs was involved in some complex plot to hide Joseph's involvement with ''The Peace Maker''? | ||
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[[fr:Joseph Smith and polygamy/The Peace Maker]] | [[fr:Joseph Smith and polygamy/The Peace Maker]] |
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Joseph Smith is claimed to have written a pro-polygamy pamphlet called "The Peace Maker" in 1842, despite the fact that he denied doing so. In a variant version, the pamphlet is claimed to have been published by Joseph (though written by another) as a "trial balloon" for polygamy, but Joseph denied any connection with it when reaction was negative.
The Peace Maker's doctrines are different from Joseph's, its creation dates to at least 1840, its author had a poor opinion of the Mormons initially, and a private letter makes it clear that Jacobs and Joseph had had no contact or introduction even after its publication. A later letter to Brigham Young makes it clear that Jacob wrote the pamphlet on his own for a non-LDS audience, and once a member of the Church considered it something best left in the past. There is little reason to think that Joseph Smith or the Church had anything to with the publication of The Peace Maker.
Joseph denied having anything to do with the pamphlet in a statement published in the Times and Seasons in December 1842:
The pamphlet also contained a number of ideas which Joseph certainly would not have sanctioned, including the claim that Udney was the prophet Elijah (2), the person spoken of in Isaiah 66:7-8 (25), and the prophet who would stop the mouth of kings (22). There is little that parallels LDS ideas. [2]
Furthermore, Udney would write to the President of the United States on 19 March 1840,
Jacobs clearly does not think much of the Mormons. When the president declined to help him publish, Jacobs seems to have turned to the Nauvoo press near the end of 1842.
There is also evidence that Jacob and Joseph had never met, even after publication of his pamphlet in 1842. In January 1844, Jacob wrote to Joseph:
Jacob would later join the Church, and in 1851 wrote Brigham Young about another matter:
This is a private letter, not written for public consumption. Jacob was trying to disabuse Brigham (now his priesthood leader) of suspicion in some matter, and he takes pains to assure Brigham that he is not guilty of the matter under consideration, and that he did write the Peace Maker—but hastens to add that this had nothing to do with the Church and (presumably) he is not now advancing those ideas.
Brigham was in favor of polygamy—why would Jacob be trying to reassure him if the Church had been in on Joseph's "trial balloon" for polygamy all along?
And, why did these private letters go unpublished or unheralded if their intent was to throw us off the scent? Why were their contents not trumpeted by Joseph or Brigham if Jacobs was involved in some complex plot to hide Joseph's involvement with The Peace Maker?
To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, click here
Notes
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