"Beyond the pale of human sympathy" : Utah and the reconstruction of the American West
Brett David Dowdle (Author)
This dissertation is a thematic history of the place of Utah and Mormonism within what Elliott West has dubbed "the Greater Reconstruction Era." As such, it considers the various ways and means by which the federal government pursued reconstructive measures in Utah between 1856 and 1890, ending with Mormonism's official renunciation of polygamy on September 25, 1890. In its first chapter, I attempt to explain why nineteenth-century Americans believed Mormonism was in need of reconstructive action. In the following chapters, I then examine the various modes and methods of the reconstruction which occurred in Utah. Considering reconstruction as a multi-faceted and ideological endeavor, I survey the ways that the federal government drew upon the military, economic forces, educational measures, and legislative enactments to effect transformative changes within Utah during the stated period. In this dissertation, I argue that while Southern reconstruction was cut short in the South, the reconstruction of Mormonism demonstrates that the reconstruction of the American West was a sustained and protracted process. A study of the reconstruction of Utah illuminates the modes and methods that fueled the Greater Reconstruction of America's racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. Although certain peculiarities mark the Mormon story and distinguish it from the nation's other reconstructed groups, the general patterns and purposes of reconstructive actions were consistent with the government's other reconstructive projects. The Mormon story of reconstruction thus helps to illustrate the broader principles and patterns upon which this national reconstruction was carried out in the latter-half of the nineteenth century. I further argue that in many regards, Mormonism represented the most profoundly successful undertaking of the reconstruction era. While reconstructive policies left an enduring mark upon each of the communities specifically targeted for transformation, few if any of those communities were as profoundly changed as was Mormonism, which moved from American exiles to examples of Americanism between 1850 and 1950. Facilitating this odyssey, federal officials employed a variety of policies that worked to reconstruct nearly every segment of Mormon Society
Thesis, Dissertation, English, 2018
Texas Christian University, [Fort Worth, Texas], 2018