They were religious
enthusiasts, of course, who believed they were coming to a real city of
Zion. Most of them were in debt to the Church for the price of their
passage, and their expenses. They were dutiful in their acceptance of
miracles, signs, and revelations. The more intelligent among them
realized that, having come so far and invested in the enterprise their
all, it was essential that they accept wholly the discipline and
authority of the Church.
Before their final migration to Utah, the Mormons made three ill-fated
attempts to found the city of Zion, first in Ohio, then in western
Missouri, and finally, upon their expulsion from Missouri, at Nauvoo in
Illinois. In every case they both inspired and encountered opposition
and sometimes persecution. As the Mormons increased in power, they
became more self-sufficient and arrogant. They at first presumed to
dictate politically, and then actually began to consider themselves a
separate political entity. One of their earliest pieces of legislation,
under the act incorporating the city of Nauvoo, was an ordinance to
protect the inhabitants of the Mormon communities from all outside legal
processes. No writ for the arrest of any Mormon inhabitants of any
Mormon city could be executed until it had received the mayor's
approval.
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