|
The "1890 Manifesto" (also known as the "Woodruff Manifesto" or the "Anti-polygamy Manifesto") is a statement which officially advised against any future plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Issued by church president Wilford Woodruff in September 1890, the Manifesto was a response to mounting anti-polygamy pressure from the United States Congress, which by 1890 had disincorporated the church, escheated its assets to the U.S. federal government, and imprisoned many prominent polygamist Mormons. Upon its issuance, the LDS Church in conference accepted Woodruff's Manifesto as "authoritative and binding". The Manifesto was a dramatic turning point in the history of the LDS Church. It advised against church members from entering into any marriage prohibited by the law of the land, and made it possible for Utah to become a U.S. state. Nevertheless, even after the Manifesto, the church quietly continued to perform a small number of plural marriages in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, thus necessitating a Second Manifesto during U.S. congressional hearings in 1904. Though neither Manifesto dissolved existing plural marriages, plural marriage in the LDS Church gradually died by attrition during the early 1900s. The Manifesto was canonized in the LDS Church standard works as Official Declaration 1〔.〕〔David E. Campbell, John C. Green, and J. Quin Monson (2014), ''Seeking the Promised Land: Mormons and American Politics'', New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 58–59, ISBN 978-1107662674.〕 and is considered by mainstream Mormons to have been prompted by divine revelation, in which Woodruff was shown that the church would be thrown into turmoil if they did not comply with it.〔("Polygamy: Latter-day Saints and the Practice of Plural Marriage" ), mormonnewsroom.org.〕 Mormon fundamentalists dispute that Woodruff received any such revelation. ==Background== The Manifesto was issued in response to the anti-polygamy policies of the federal government of the United States, and most especially the Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887. This law disincorporated the LDS Church and authorized the federal government to seize all of the church’s assets. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the provisions of the Edmunds–Tucker Act in ''Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States'' in May 1890.〔.〕 In April 1889, Woodruff, then president of the church, began privately refusing the permission that was required to contract new plural marriages. In October 1889, Woodruff publicly admitted that he was no longer approving new polygamous marriages, and in answer to a reporter's question of what the LDS Church's attitude was toward the law against polygamy, Woodruff stated, "we mean to obey it. We have no thought of evading it or ignoring it."〔''Salt Lake Herald'', 1889-10-27, quoted in: 〕 Because it had been Mormon practice for over 25 years to either evade or ignore anti-polygamy laws, Woodruff's statement was a signal that a change in church policy was developing. In February 1890, the Supreme Court had already ruled in ''Davis v. Beason''〔.〕 that a law in Idaho Territory which disenfranchised individuals who practiced or believed in plural marriage was constitutional. That decision left the Mormons no further legal recourse to their current marriage practices and made it unlikely that without change Utah Territory would be granted statehood. Woodruff later said that on the night of September 23, 1890, he received a revelation from Jesus Christ that the church should cease the practice of plural marriage.〔Remarks of Wilford Woodruff at Cache Stake Conference, Logan, Utah, 1891-11-01; reported at Wilford Woodruff, "Remarks", ''Deseret Weekly'' (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1891-11-14; excerpts reprinted in LDS Church, ("Official Declaration–1" ), Doctrine and Covenants.〕 The following morning, he reported this to some of the general authorities and placed the hand-written draft on a table. George Reynolds would later recount that he, Charles W. Penrose, and John R. Winder modified Woodruff's draft into the current language accepted by the general authorities and presented to the church as a whole. Woodruff announced the Manifesto on September 25 by publishing it in the church-owned ''Deseret Weekly'' in Salt Lake City.〔Wilford Woodruff, "Official Declaration", ''Deseret Weekly'' (Salt Lake City) 41:476 (1890-09-25).〕 On October 6, 1890, during the 60th Semiannual General Conference of the church, the Manifesto was formally accepted by "common consent" by the church membership, though many held reservations or abstained from voting.〔 When Utah applied for statehood again, it was granted on January 4, 1896. One of the conditions for granting Utah and other western territories statehood was that a ban on polygamy be written into the state constitution. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1890 Manifesto」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|