In 1852, only eight years after Joseph Smith’s death, Church leaders in Utah publicly announced to the astonished world what some had suspected—that Latter-day Saints did indeed practice the principle of plural marriage. But now that it was out there in the open, it could be openly challenged and attacked. And it was. Relentlessly. For decades.  

In today’s episode of Church History Matters we’ll walk you through the history of how plural marriage came to a rocky end under the draconian legislation and crushing pressure of the United States government. We’ll dive into the George Reynolds trial, President Wilford Woodruff’s Manifesto, the Reed Smoot trials and the Second Manifesto, the resignation of the two members of the Quorum of the Twelve over this, the beginning of the FLDS Church, and more!   

For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/