FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Difference between revisions of "Question: Did Brigham say "We shall pull the wool over the eyes of the American people"?"
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Revision as of 13:01, 15 December 2007
This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
Contents
Question
I'm told that Brigham Young made the following statement:
- "We shall pull the wool over the eyes of the American people and make them swallow Mormonism, polygamy and all."
Critics say this shows the fundamental dishonesty of LDS leaders. What can you tell me about this?
Source(s) of the criticism
- Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2003), 281.
- Ambrose B. Carlton, The Wonderlands of the Wild West, with Sketches of the Mormons (N.p.: n.p., 1891), 321.
- Dan Erickson, "As a Thief in the Night": The Mormon Quest for Millennial Deliverance (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1998), chapter 8, footnote 118.
- E.A. Folk, “Story of Mormonism”
- Brigham Young, quoted in Proceedings Before The Committee On Privileges And Elections Of The United States Senate In The Matter Of The Protests Against The Right Of Hon. Reed Smoot, A Senator From Utah, To Hold His Seat, 4 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1906), 1:15.
Response
FAIR has been unable to find a legitimate source for this purported quotation from Brigham Young. It was quoted at the Reed Smoot hearings, but by then Brigham Young was long dead. The citation given in the Smoot hearings was from the Church's English publication: "The Manifesto," Millennial Star 52 (24 Nov. 1890): 744.
However, an examination of this reference shows no sign of the quote in question—see PDF scan of the original here.
Later authors have continued to repeat the "quotation" from Brigham, and provide the citation to the Millenial Star in their footnotes. However, these authors do not seem to have verified the original. They are likely simply repeating the claim from previous authors without checking:
- Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2003), 281.
- Dan Erickson, "As a Thief in the Night": The Mormon Quest for Millennial Deliverance (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1998), chapter 8, footnote 118.
Since the Smoot Committee hearings "quotation" of Brigham came from an apostate Mormon, it's possible that this witness provided false testimony (either unwittingly or intentionally). The prestige of a U.S. Congressiona document has led subsequent writers to trust this witnesses' account without verifying the source for themselves.
Conclusion
As far as FAIR's researchers can determine, this quotation is a fabrication. We cannot locate it in any LDS source, and those non-LDS sources who provide a reference are in error.
If any reader has further information, please contact us. At present, however, the best assumption seems to be that the quote is a fabrication or distortion.
Endnotes
None