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Introduction

Mormon Essay A.) The basis of the religion comes from the story of a young 14 year old boy named Joseph Smith who had a vision of an Angel of God called Moroni who instructed him to dig on a hillside near his home. When he was digging Joseph found some gold plates which were engraved in a foreign language (Egyptian). He read he also found some special stone-like spectacles the ancients called 'Urim and Thummim' which he used to read the plates which he alone was allowed to read. The gold plates recorded the accounts of the tribes of Israel. It was said the tribes emigrated to America where they fought each other; the fighting subsided when they met Jesus who planted his Gospel in America. Then the tribes began to fight again until it came to the final battle of 'Cumorah'. Mormon and his son Moroni were two of the few survivors who ordered whoever found the plates to restore the true 'Church Of Jesus'. Joseph Smith published the work under the title of 'The Book of Mormon'; the book is similar in context to that of the Old Testament of the Bible. Within a year his church had over 1000 followers. ...read more.

Middle

Despite all the troubles they met on their way such as the plague; lack of fuel and food; and extreme conditions many managed to succeed the journey to Salt Lake. They were also determined because Young had promised them an idyllic society without the hassle of Gentiles. They managed to successfully set up a base there because Brigham Young had total control over society this enabled him to stop quarrels over possession of land and water. He did this by banning private ownership of land and water and designating the Church the job of dividing up land according to each families needs. Farm land was organised into tiers laid out around the city. The Temple and Temple Square are in the centre of the city. Around it wide streets mark off plots of land varying in size depending on the size of your family or your profession e.g. farmers have large plots; mechanics only have enough land to feed their family. If the land was not worked it would be taken away from you; this ensured the land was made use of and encouraged people to grow crops. C.) All the reasons mentioned had vital roles in the success of the Mormons however some did have slightly less important parts than others as shown below: * The ...read more.

Conclusion

Young succeeded in doing this by sending missionaries to Europe, the Far East and South America to get more converts to come to the new state of Utah and establish more Mormon towns and cities within the state. It also made the Mormon settlement official and allowed them to claim complete control and ownership over their land and meant they had the support of the U.S. government to protect them. Although there was a government appointed the agreement also allowed Young to have complete control over the community enabling him to continue running the community as he wished. This meant the Mormons were even more self-sufficient; as Young had wanted from the start. The later agreement, which resulted in the Mormons accepting a gentile government prevented war. It also led to the agreement that the Mormons would accept an anti-polygamy law in order for Utah to become a state and to join the US. All these reasons are equally important in the success of the Mormons from the view that without any of these things happening the Mormons would not have been as successful. However, some of these things do not have such a significant impact on the success of the Mormons as others. ...read more.

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