The Struggles for
Statehood
Seeking Statehood
 Utah had previously applied for statehood six different
times
 There were many benefits to statehood:
 Utahns would become full US citizens and could vote for
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president
Representatives in Congress could actually vote and they
would gain two senators
Utah could elect its own judges
They could write and amend their own constitution
They would pay taxes to the federal government and
receive all federal benefits therein
Current US Territories
 The United States currently still has five territories
 Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, The U.S. Virgin
Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands
 Every citizen of these territories are under the
jurisdiction of the U.S. government, but they are not
U.S. Citizens
 They have to follow federal laws, but do not have voting
representation in Congress
 They can serve in the U.S. Military, but cannot vote for
the Commander in Chief
Back to Utah… Roadblocks to
Statehood
 The biggest roadblock Utah faced in becoming a state
was the “Mormon problem”
 People outside of Utah didn’t like how closely tied the
Mormon Church was with the government and economics
 The Church was highly involved in education and taught
doctrine with regular curriculum
 Mormons continued the practice of polygamy which
remained a hot issue
Federal Laws Against
Polygamy
 Republican leaders vowed to eliminate the “twins of
barbarism” – slavery and polygamy
 The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act - 1862
 Stated that no one could be married to more than one person at
a time (wasn’t heavily enforced)
 The Edmunds Act - 1882
 Said the polygamy was punishable by five years in jail with a
$500 fine. Polygamists also couldn’t hold political office or vote
 The Edmunds-Tucker Act – 1887
 Took away the right to vote from all Utah women and
polygamist men. It also confiscated all property of the LDS
Church
Polygamy Goes Underground
 After the Edmunds Act was passed, many Church
leaders went to prison because they continued to
practice polygamy
 Other polygamists were sent on missions or told to settle
new land outside of the country in Canada and Mexico
 Mormons argued that their practice of polygamy would
be protected by the first amendment of the Bill of Rights
and decided to fight in court
 In the Supreme Court case Reynolds v. the United States
the court said the the Constitution protected a person’s
religious beliefs, but not necessarily the practice
Rounding Up Cohabs
 After the Supreme Court decision federal officials were
sent to Utah on “Cohab hunts”
 A Cohab was given to people who lived together
(cohabited) in plural marriage
 Many times informants were given as much as $20 for
information on where to find Cohabs
 “I regret very much that the laws of my country come in
conflict with the laws of God, but whenever they do, I
shall invariable choose the latter. If I did not so express
myself, I should feel unworthy of the cause I represent”
– Rudger Clawson, polygamist
Church Leader and Polygamy
 Brigham Young died in 1877 in Salt Lake City
 John Taylor became the church president a few years after Young’s
death
 Taylor told the men that it was better to go into hiding than go to prison
 Taylor, too, went into hiding and died in 1887 while still living
underground
The Manifesto that Ended
Polygamy
 Wilford Woodruff, the fourth president of the church,
realized that Utah would never become a state as long
as polygamy was involved
 He issued a Manifesto ending all new plural marriages
and eventually dissolving old ones
 Because of the Manifesto, the U.S. President pardoned
all past polygamists
 Was this really the end of polygamy?
Political Parties
 Early elections in Utah were just contests between the
LDS People’s Party and the non-LDS Liberal Party
 The People’s Party dominated for many years, but then
polygamists lost their right to vote and more outsiders
began to move into Utah
 Eventually the Church did away with the People’s Party
in order to comply with the national political system
 Most Mormons decided to join the Democratic Party,
why?
Political Diary Entry
 February 1890
“After retiring last evening – a Liberal gang of scum
& boys passed up our street with drums, & all kinds of
sounds from bells, & other bells, & horns & yells… for
disturbing those of the Peoples Party. I slept better than I
expected, though the guns were fired frequently & late in
the night. Their crow will be short”
Helen Whitney
Women’s Suffrage
 Early on, people in the East thought that allowing Utah
women to vote would bring an end to polygamy
 Men in Utah also saw it as an opportunity to show the rest of
the country that Utah women were not oppressed
 Utah became the state or territory in the U.S. to allow
women to vote
 That right was taken away with the Edmunds-Tucker Act
 Utah women then had to fight for their right to vote, again
 Pg. 217
Feminism Questions
 What is the role of women in American society?
 Should women have all the same rights as men and be
treated the same?
 Should more be done around the world to get women
more rights?
Writing Utah’s Constitution
 In July 1895, President Grover Cleveland called for
Utahns to elect delegates to a constitutional
convention
 There were certain things required in the constitution:
 Guarantee religious freedom
 Prohibit plural marriage
 Give up claim to federal and Indian land within the
borders
Utah’s Constitution cont.
 Women were given the write to vote in the constitution
 The delegates also established an 8 hour work day for
miners
 After 60 day, the delegates finally passed the
constitution and went to the citizens for ratification
 People also elected Heber M. Mills as the first governor
of the states
 The Constitution then had to be approved by President
Grover Cleveland, which he did in January 1896
1896 National
Election
 That November, citizens in Utah participated in
their first national election
 There was a very high turnout and the
Democratic Party won control of the Utah State
Legislature
 Two women were elected into Utah’s House of
Representatives
 Martha Hughes Cannon defeated her husband in
the election to become the first female state
senator in the United States