Official Declaration Number 1

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Articles about Plural marriage

Doctrinal foundation of plural marriage	Purpose of plural marriage Plural marriage as a requirement for exaltation Plural marriage in early Christianity Plural marriage in the Book of Mormon Plural marriage and the Bible
Introduction of plural marriage	Initiation of the practice of plural marriage 1835 Doctrine and Covenants denies polygamy Fanny Alger was Joseph Smith's first plural wife Joseph Smith hid polygamy from the general Church membership Divine manifestations to plural wives and families Plural marriage and the law
Questions about Joseph Smith and plural marriage	Initiation of the practice of plural marriage Fanny Alger was Joseph Smith's first plural wife Joseph Smith hid polygamy from the general Church membership Joseph Smith's marriages to young women Did Joseph Smith coerce women to marry him? Mormon women refusing offers of plural marriage Polyandry Joseph Smith and children through plural marriage Marrying other men's wives? Joseph Smith hiding plural marriages from his first wife, Emma Emma Smith's reaction to Joseph Smith's plural marriages Emma Smith in Doctrine and Covenants 132 Did Joseph have lustful motives for practicing polygamy? Did Joseph Smith send men on missions in order to steal their wives? Did Joseph Smith practice polygamy for the purpose of monetary gain?
John C. Bennett and Nauvoo polygamy	Bennett before Nauvoo Bennett and Prostitution Brothel at Nauvoo Rise and Fall of Bennett Sarah Pratt Nancy Rigdon Sidney Rigdon
Notable plural wives of Joseph Smith	Emma Smith Fanny Alger Prescindia Lathrop Huntington Buell Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs Helen Mar Kimball
Plural marriage in Utah	Difficulties with plural marriage Brigham Young's statements regarding plural marriage John Taylor's statements regarding polygamy Latter-day Saints and divorce in the nineteenth century Prevalence of plural marriage in Utah
End of plural marriage	The First Manifesto Official Declaration Number 1 Plural marriage practiced after the First Manifesto The Church of Jesus Christ and plural marriage today

Official Declaration Number 1

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Was the Manifesto that ended the practice of Mormon polygamy the product of legal pressure from the U.S. government?
• Question: Was Wilford Woodruff actually inspired to end polygamy?
• Question: Why were some plural marriages performed after the Manifesto?

Question: Was the Manifesto that ended the practice of Mormon polygamy the product of legal pressure from the U.S. government?

Jump to details:

• Question: Was the Manifesto that ended the practice of Mormon polygamy the product of legal pressure from the U.S. government?
• Wilford Woodruff insisted and the other Church leaders insisted that he had been guided by the Lord in the decisions made during this difficult period
• Biblical parallels
• The Edmunds-Tucker Act granted the federal government unprecedented powers in prosecuting Mormon polygamists, and prosecutors took these powers to cruel and illegal extremes
• The Manifesto

Question: Was Wilford Woodruff actually inspired to end polygamy?

Jump to details:

• Question: Was Wilford Woodruff actually inspired to end polygamy?

Question: Why were some plural marriages performed after the Manifesto?

Jump to details:

• Question: Why were some plural marriages performed after the Manifesto?
• A limited number of plural marriages were solemnized after Wilford Woodruff's Manifesto of 1890 (Official Declaration 1)
• Church leaders were placed in a vicious double-bind: they were being ruthlessly persecuted by the legislature for following their faith
• The full implications of the Manifesto, however, were still the subject of discussion and debate
• President Woodruff did not frame the matter as a declaration from the First Presidency and the Twelve
• The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve voted on 2 October 1890 to sustain President Woodruff’s action
• George Q. Cannon made it clear that the Church still felt somewhat trapped between duties to God and duties to political authority
• It is estimated that fewer than two hundred plural marriages were sanctioned between 1890 and 1904

Notes