The Response to the Nauvoo Expositor's Distruction

The owners of the expositor did not view the destruction of their paper as an orderly act. Joseph Smith and the Nauvoo City Council had taken great pains to deliberate about the legal boundaries of the actions that they took in destroying the newspaper. In the United States during the 19th century, the freedom of the press was celebrated but unevenly protected by local, state, and federal jurisdictions.