Editing Mormonism and polygamy (section)

=== Non-Mormon response ===
[[File:In memoriam brigham young 3.jpg|thumb|A caricature of Brigham Young's wives, published in ''[[Puck (magazine)|Puck]]'' following his death in 1877.]]
The majority of Americans who were not members of the church were opposed to polygamy as they saw the practice as a violation of American values and morals.<ref name=":2" />{{rp|192}}<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Talbot |first=Christine |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/862745819 |title=A foreign kingdom : Mormons and polygamy in American political culture, 1852–1890 |date=2013 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-09535-1 |oclc=862745819}}</ref>{{rp|86}}<ref name=":0" />{{rp|382}} Opponents of polygamy believed that polygamy forced wives into submission to their husbands<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Phipps |first=Kelly Elizabeth |date=April 2009 |title=Marriage and Redemption: Mormon Polygamy in the Congressional Imagination, 1862–1887 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25478708.pdf |journal=Virginia Law Review |volume=95 |issue=2|pages=435–487 |jstor=25478708 }}</ref>{{rp|454}} and some described polygamy as a form of slavery.<ref name=":5" />{{rp|117}} The overall opposition to polygamy led the Republican Party's platform to refer to it as one of the "relics of barbarianism".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-08-30 |title=Republicans and The Relics of Barbarism |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2004/08/republicans-and-relics-barbarism-robert-p-george-william-l-saunders/ |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=National Review |language=en-US}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=This National Review briefly mentions the "relics of barbarism" but not as a scholarly description or analysis; instead, the article uses this as a launching off point to make political claims about the Republican Party's "moral heritage" as a call to also oppose same-sex marriage. This seems like an opinion piece in all but name.|date=February 2024}} Sensational and often violent novels provided fictional stories about polygamy which fueled the public's dislike for the practice and Mormons.<ref name=":3"/>{{rp|39–50}}

However, some non-Mormons held more positive views of polygamy. For example, after surveying the Utah Territory, [[Howard Stansbury|Captain Howard Stansbury]] concluded that most polygamous marriages were successful and there were good feelings between families.<ref>{{harvnb|Hardy|2007|p=191}}</ref>

==== John C. Bennett and ''The History of the Saints'' ====
[[John C. Bennett]] was a member of the church and close friend of Joseph Smith who was [[Church membership council|disfellowshipped]] and later [[Excommunication|excommunicated]] for adultery. Following his excommunication, Bennett began to travel around the eastern United States as he lectured about the church. In his lectures, Bennett included claims of sexual misconduct among church leaders, secret rituals, and violence.<ref name=":0" />{{rp|73–74}} In 1842, Bennett published a book entitled ''The History of the Saints: Or, An Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism'' which includes alleged stories of sexual misconduct by Smith and other church leaders.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dinger |first=John S. |date=2018 |title=Sexual Slander and Polygamy in Nauvoo |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jmormhist.44.3.0001 |journal=Journal of Mormon History |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.5406/jmormhist.44.3.0001 |jstor=10.5406/jmormhist.44.3.0001 |issn=0094-7342|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The church responded to Bennett's claims about Smith by gathering affidavits and printing contradictory evidence in newspapers. The women of the [[Relief Society]], encouraged by its president, [[Emma Smith]], also wrote their experiences that disproved Bennett's statements. They also began a petition in support of Joseph Smith's character which they delivered to the governor of Illinois.<ref name=":0" />{{rp|74–75}}