SOTW 4 Anotated for LDS Ch. 5 The American Civil War

North Against South

Many years before the first shots were fired, the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith that the American Civil War would begin. D&C 87:1, 3-4 reads as follows:

Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls; For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also
call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all nations. And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshaled and disciplined for war.


“Had the people of America listened to the voice of the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith, they would have long since freed their slaves in an amicable, an honorable and economical manner without the shedding of blood. But they disdained the counsels of the Lord. The Prophet Joseph published his views in pamphlet form on the powers and duties of the national government on the then much-mooted question of slavery, in which he treated upon the compact of the United States as between the North and South on this question of slavery; and proposed an easy and honorable plan of settling the question without violating that compact or encroaching upon the rights of each other; and that was, to negotiate with the Southern States for the gradual emancipation of their slaves, the consideration to be met by the national treasury, and fixing a time after which all children should be born free, thus providing for a gradual emancipation, and that they might not feel that they were robbed, and by their being gradually emancipated they would have been prepared gradually for free government and free labor, and thus the ill and unpleasant consequences would have been measurably averted, at least, of turning loose a horde of uncultivated people, who were totally unprepared for American citizenship. Had they listened to this proposition, less than a tenth part of the cost of the war would have freed all the slaves, and that too without bloodshed, and the utter devastation of the Southern States would have been spared (Elder Erastus Snow, Journal of Discourses V. 23, Apr. 7, 1882).”

How grateful we are to have a prophet! We can be spared great sadness, if we would heed his counsel.

Since the Civil War occurred at a time when body of the Saints had established itself in the mountains of the West and, at that time (it had since been won and bought by the U. S. government from Mexico during the Mexican-American War) had fled their native land, many assumed that they would join the South against the North in retaliation. As a result, troops were sent to Utah to keep an eye on “those Mormons.” This act broke the isolation the Saints had enjoyed, bringing Gentiles into the area and also ending the Church’s autonomy.

It was during this time (1862), too, that anti-polygamy legislation was introduced into the U. S. Congress. Though Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, when asked what he intended to do to enforce it, he replied:

" . . .When I was a boy on the farm in Illinois there was a great deal of timber on the farms which we had to clear away. Occasionally we would come to a log which had fallen down. It was too hard to split, too wet to burn and too heavy to move, so we plowed around it. That's what I intend to do with the Mormons. You go back and tell Brigham Young that if he will let me alone, I will let him alone (Preston Nibley, Brigham Young: The Man and His Work, 4th ed., p.369)."


Through it all, there were many grand, remarkable figures who participated in the war of whom many General Authorities have made mention. Here are but a few of the things they have related.

On Robert E. Lee:

“The legendary General Robert E. Lee of American Civil War fame
declared, "Duty is the sublimest word in our language. … You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less,’ (President Thomas S. Monson, The Call of Duty, Ensign (CR), May 1986, p.37)."

On Ulysses S. Grant:

“ . . . The greatest of all the great achievements of that iron-hearted soldier was at Appomattox, when white-winged mercy prompted a generous refusal of the surrender of Confederate horses and mules offered by General Robert E. Lee. ‘No,’ said Grant, ‘not a horse, not a mule, General; your people will need them for the spring plowing.’ In that simple expression, revealing the tender heart and magnanimous soul of U.S. Grant, is found the secret of his greatness, and, I believe, largely of his success as a hero soldier (Moses Thatcher, The Contributor, “Life and Character of Brigham Young,” Vol. X, July, 1889, No. 9).”


On Abraham Lincoln:

“Abraham Lincoln once asked, ‘What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence?" He then answered, "It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling sea coasts, our army and our navy. … Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in us (Speech at Edwardsville, Illinois, 11 Sept. 1858, quoted in John
Bartlett, Familiar Quotations, Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1968, p.
636.) ." As quoted by President Howard W. Hunter, “The Golden Thread of Choice,” Ensign (CR), November 1989, p.17.



After the Civil War

“Every Latter-day Saint believes that Abraham Lincoln was raised
up and inspired of God, and that he reached the Presidency of the
United States under the favor of our Heavenly Father. . . .
(Donald Q. Cannon, ed., Latter-day Prophets and the United States
Constitution, p.97).”

“There will come greater inventions than television, atomic energy, or space travel. Our young men will have greater challenges than Joseph of Egypt had in solving hunger problems. They will face greater challenges than World War II or Vietnam. They will brace themselves against a slavery far more tyrannical than the slavery which Abraham Lincoln faced. The solution to this slavery will be even farther reaching than the Emancipation Proclamation. It will involve souls and reach into godless societies and nations. This Church will raise up young men that will rival or exceed the accomplishments of Washington or Columbus (Vaughn J. Featherstone, More Purity Give Me, p.60).”

SOTW 4 Anotated for LDS Ch. 4 Resurrection and Rebellion

Italy’s Resurrection

One of the greatest characters to arise from the Italian states’ fight for independence was Giuseppe Girabaldi. A man committed to fighting for freedom, Garibaldi could be found fighting in Africa, South America and Europe; even Abraham Lincoln appealed to him for help in the American Civil War.

Garibaldi said, “The Bible is the cannon that shall set Italy free.” It is important to remember that the freedoms we enjoy are found when we read and study God’s word and obey it.

The Taiping Rebellion

In 1853, missionaries arrived in Hong Kong just as the Taiping Rebellion was getting underway. Within weeks, the Elders realized that they would not find success under the circumstances and left. It would be eleven long, devastating years before the Rebellion was quelled and almost a century before official missionary efforts would resume.

Follow-ups on Summer Clubs

Spy Club

Two months after the conclusion of Spy Club, my son is recruiting friends for a new session. I guess I should take that as a good sign. He's assuming I want to do it again. Due to busy schedules, we were unable to stage our Grand Finale, so I cannot report how that went; but what I do want to report is how the week-to-week sessions went.

If I were to do it again, I would be much more selective with who we invited, we just invited everyone we'd normally want to include in our playtime. I did send everyone home early on one occassion because some of the boys said that it was boring and why did they have to be here and they'd rather be tortured in other ways (Alright, I did make that last part up and these statements may really be a commentary on how I teach, but that's not the point here). Many weeks I felt I had to struggle with the same couple of boys, but for some reason they kept coming back. A couple of the other boys loved everything they could get from it and wanted more. (And I discovered I still have a little bit of that sneaky nature I had as a kid! Yikes!)

Girls Club

I didn't know this when we began, but there are actually American Girl clubs, or at least used to be; the Pleasant Company is no longer chartering any clubs, but that's okay, because my goals were different from theirs.

If I were to do this one again, I would have a smaller group to work with. The girls were much easier for me to work with, but there were often 10-12 girls, ages 5-11, which created opportunities for cliques to form (if you can believe that!). I also realized that the two five-year olds would be less engaged by many of the activities, so it's the older girls I am referring to.

I would also have more expectations for the group. Although my daughter and I were reading the Kit books, the others were not and so the activities were without context and difficult to appreciate as much without understanding the circumstances from which they arose. So I would have them read the books (one a week) and include discussion in our agenda. I might even go as far as have the girls take a turn preparing a game, activity, craft, or food to bring to our meeting; or, in some cases even have the parents pay for materials cost (though I'd really not like to do that).

In both of these, I wanted to put as little pressure on the others' parents as possible and just have the kids come and have fun, both structured and unstructured; but as a result, I believe the kids had less reason to want to participate fully because it wasn't their club (I know I should know this already). Incidentally, I tried to have the girls plan the party and bring the food for our final meeting, the Garden Party, but as a result, some did not come, leaving us without some of our items; and others' parents were a little put off at having to supply food for it. For the former, we had an opportunity for making do with what we had.

I want to note also that I began the summer intending to have a "Musical Club" as well. I got the the idea from an LDS-HEA conference I'd attended a couple of years ago at which Janeen Brady, the composer, spoke on telling the LDS story in musical form. Unfortunately, this was a flop, probably because I was the only one who really wanted to do it. We had children show up the first session, fewer the second, and none the third. So I'll have to put more thought into this idea before I'd try carrying it out again.

In conclusion, IF I were to do anything like this again, I would 1) be more selective in who we invited; 2) invite a smaller group to participate; 3) expect more of the kids in preparing for each meeting; and 4) make sure it's something the kids want to do, not just me (I get to tell them what to do all the rest of the time, right?).

SOTW 4 Annotated for LDS Ch. 3 British Invasions

The Great Game

Elder Alexander B. Morrison, of the Seventy, related an important lesson to be learned from the British Army’s disastrous retreat from Kabul, which is summarized as follows:

Under harsh winter conditions, 16,500 people, including soldiers, sepoys, and camp followers, were heading back to India from Kabul, from where the army had been driven out of their occupation of the Afghan capital. During this week-long retreat, 13 British soldiers, 13 British women, and 16 children, who were taken captive, a few sepoys, who were able to escape, and one British officer, who made it to safety. The remainder were killed by ambushes or the elements.
There are many in the Church who, like those who retreated from Kabul, fall victim and are lost. Some are seduced and led away by the temptations of the world. Some lack the discipline needed to stick together, to draw strength and courage from each other, to hang on and persevere to the end. Finally, there are others, who simply give up and cease to struggle.
The task of the Lord's shepherd-leaders is to prevent the spiritual reenactment of the retreat from Kabul. Those who are entrusted with the shepherding role must work with all diligence to provide the love and care needed to protect the Saints from spiritual marauders who dart in to pick off stragglers. They must ensure that all share in the warmth of the gospel of Christ. Theirs is the task to shelter the weak and weary, give courage to the faint-hearted, instill the discipline needed to withstand the world, and strengthen the feeble knees. (From Feed My Sheep: Leadership Ideas for Latter-day Shepherds, pp. 39-40)


Wandering through Africa

David Livingstone is a great example of a man who lived his religion though the circumstances were difficult. Once he arrived in Africa and began his journeys, he realized the great potential of the people particularly under the light of the Gospel and committed to stay there and help the people. It was this dedication that endeared him to the people there, that they carried his dead body 1500 miles that it might be returned to his native land to rest.

SOTW 4 Annotated for LDS Ch. 2 West Against East

Japan Re-Opens

With Japan opening its borders to outsiders, many Christian churches
were able to send missionaries to the natives there. The Latter-day
Saints waited until 1901 to send their first missionaries there,
although there were Saints who traveled to Japan as merchants and
sailors before the mission was opened.

The Crimean War

The unrest in Europe was a catalyst in the great number of emigrants
to the United States. Approximately ten percent of the Latter-day
Saints in Europe migrated in 1855, the time of the Crimean War. Many
of these became the handcart pioneers of whom we have heard so much
(Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, New
York: Macmillan, 1992, p.674).

Interestingly, the war had another influence on the Mormon community
in Utah. When the Russians were about to lose control of the city,
Sevastopol, they blew up their military stronghold rather than let the
British and French forces capture it. This action was greatly admired
by many of the Saints in Utah, who were frustrated with their
experiences in Europe, and may have prompted a similar decision by the
Saints in 1857 to destroy all that they had before they would let the
U.S. government commandeer their property for their troops ("The Move
South," Richard D. Poll , BYU Studies, vol. 29 (1989), Number 4 - Fall
1989, p.66).

SOTW 4 Annotated for LDS Ch. 1 Britain's Empire

Victoria’s England

The Great Exhibition was a very popular event. Missionaries from Utah laboring in England were among 40,000 others who visited a few days after it opened. President Franklin D. Richards recorded in his diary that he and the others “saw Queen and Prince and was in their royal presence about 3 hours (F. D. Franklin Diary, May 29, 1851 as cited in T. Edgar Lyon, Jr., John Lyon: The Life of a Pioneer Poet, p.139).”

Truman Angell, architect of the Salt Lake Temple also visited the Exhibition commenting: “I stayed there some 7 or 8 hours. The affair is grand, I will not attempt to pretend to describe it, but sum it up by saying it is intended to exhibit the genius of England as well as to exhibit many foreign articles from other nations. And it is a grand affair (Truman Angell, Autobiography, Our Pioneer Heritage, Writings of Early Latter-day Saints, p.209).”

The Sepoy Mutiny

It was during this period of time that the Gospel was first introduced in India. Two British sailors, who were LDS, introduced their friends to the Gospel in 1849. These people requested missionaries and in 1851, short-term missionary Joseph Richards arrived in Calcutta. Upon baptizing four individuals, he formed the first branch in Asia. Soon other missionaries arrived preaching the Gospel in India’s most important cities and organizing branches around the country. However, by 1856, the mission was closed for a time presumably because of the unsafe conditions created by the Sepoy Mutiny (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow New York: Macmillan, 1992, p.79).