Jeffrey Bennett wrote:
> On Jun 26, 11:53 pm, bm2...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
> > On Jun 26, 11:45 pm, "Dan Goodman" <dsg...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >
> > > > Now assuming that Brigham, before Smith's death, had been
> > > > sufficiently converted to Smith's more tolerant early viewpoint
> > > > that after the move to the Great Salt Lake, the Mormon church
> > > > continued to take a pro- abolitionist line. Also, the absolute
> > > > ban on black priests that OTL lasted untill the 1970's never
> > > > becomes official - there aren't many black 19th century
> > > > Mormons, but there are some.
> >
> > > I would suggest having someone else take up the reins who's more
> > > tolerant than Young -- more probable than Young's mind being
> > > changed.
> >
> > Trouble is that IIRC, the most likely contenders were also anti-
> > polygamy - and that really massively changes the history of
> > Mormonism.
> >
> > Bruce
>
> I would say that Brigham's mind being changed is a bit more likely
> than someone else being placed in charge.
Well, he could have become unavailable because of death.
> IIRC the main "opponents" to
> Brigham were Sidney Ridgon, James Strang, and (eventually) Joseph
> Smith III. The first two didn't attract a large amount of followers
> and JS III attracted (again, IIRC) mostly those that had stayed behind
> in Kirtland or who were very much against polygamy. This isn't going
> to result in an Exodus across the plains or the settling of Utah.
>
> Assuming, however, that Brigham's mind WAS changed, you are probably
> going to have Utah win a few more friends in the Republican Party
> because of the anti-slavery thing, and it's possible that some Mormon
> soldiers could be used on the Northern side in the Civil War (I'm not
> sure if they were OTL or not), but the polygamy issue will continue to
> dominate Mormon/non-Mormon relations.
--
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
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