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Date Permissions Signed

5-9-2017

Date of Award

Spring 2017

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

First Advisor

Hardesty, Jared

Second Advisor

Price, Hunter

Third Advisor

Folk, Holly

Abstract

I explore the political ideology and activity of female members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 1830 to 1860. Looking at personal sources such as diaries, letters, and poetry, this study posits Mormon women as intellectually active, politically engaged, and culturally aware in addition to religiously devout. This thesis first examines the ways in which early LDS women exhibited Democratic political ideology in the ways in which they viewed themselves and the ways in which they viewed the world around them. Looking at concepts such as “common woman” ideology, producerism, freedom rhetoric, Mormon-American exceptionalism, and Manifest Destiny within Mormon women’s personal writings, I demonstrate that many of these women joined countless other antebellum Americans in their embrace of Jacksonian political ideology. Finally, I explore early Mormon women’s political activity through Relief Society meetings, petitions, and patriotic celebrations, demonstrating that these women often prized democratic rhetoric while endorsing cultural and intellectual conformism to broader LDS policies and norms. By proposing that the Latter-Day Saint foremothers engaged in political thought and action in similar ways as LDS men and non-LDS Democrats, this thesis challenges historical views of Mormon women and the early LDS Church.

Type

Text

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25710/k2kp-sn25

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

987272219

Subjects – Names (LCNAF)

Relief Society (Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints)--History--19th century; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--History--19th century

Subject – LCSH

Mormon women--Political activity--History--19th century; Mormon women--United States--Biography

Geographic Coverage

United States

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.

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