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Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: August 10, 2020 at 10:33:09 AM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-CivWar]: Petty on Milner II and Cannon, > 'Reconstruction and Mormon America' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Clyde A. Milner II, Brian Q. Cannon, eds. Reconstruction and Mormon > America. Norman University of Oklahoma Press, 2019. 270 pp. > $34.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8061-6353-6. > > Reviewed by Adam Petty (The Joseph Smith Papers) > Published on H-CivWar (August, 2020) > Commissioned by G. David Schieffler > > _Reconstruction and Mormon America_ is a collection of nine essays > that originated in a June 2017 seminar hosted by the Charles Redd > Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University. The main > object of the volume is to examine how Reconstruction applied to > Latter-day Saints in Utah while comparing their experience with that > of southerners and American Indians. At the core of this book lies > the idea of "Greater Reconstruction" as articulated by Elliott West > in the volume's introduction.[1] This approach not only expands the > chronology of Reconstruction, which by West's reckoning began in the > 1840s and ended around 1877, but also enlarges the geographic scope > of Reconstruction by including the entire United States, especially > the American West. The book is organized into three sections, each of > which features a short introduction followed by three essays. > > The first section, which is a grab bag of sorts, features essays by > Angela Hudson, Christine Talbot, and Patrick Mason. Hudson's essay > contrasts Latter-day Saint expulsions with those suffered by American > Indians and concludes that any similarities between the two are > largely superficial. Although the Saints were repeatedly driven from > their homes, she argues that the trauma they experienced paled in > comparison to the social death suffered by natives who were driven > from ancestral lands. She also contends that the Saints' colonizing > activities made them complicit in the dispossession of various Indian > tribes and that federal Indian policies should not be considered part > of a Greater Reconstruction. Talbot's essay then shifts the section's > focus to the rhetoric surrounding anti-polygamy literature. Comparing > it to anti-slavery writings, she found that both polygamy and slavery > were attacked as antiquated, patriarchal social structures that > threatened the emerging, democratic companionate marriage based on > consent and affection rather than compulsion and power. Mason's essay > applies Max Weber's idea of a state monopoly on violence to the > conflict between the national government and the Latter-day Saints. > He argues that the term "Reconstruction" should not be applied to the > antebellum conflict between the Saints and the federal government. > Instead, he suggests either applying it to the postbellum federal > campaign to eradicate polygamy or limiting its use to after 1890 by > which time the Saints had announced their intention to abandon any > claim to sovereignty--including the right to use violence--and their > practice of polygamy. > > The book's second section contains essays by Brent Rogers, Brett > Dowdle, and Rachel St. John. Of the book's three sections, this one > most directly addresses the Latter-day Saint experience with Greater > Reconstruction. Rogers's essay outlines federal efforts to > reconstruct the Latter-day Saints and is particularly useful for > those who are looking for a short summary of the national > government's extended campaign to eradicate polygamy and to exert > sovereignty in Utah. The federal effort to reconstruct Utah, > concludes Rogers, was one of the most successful applications of the > national government's power during the era of Greater Reconstruction. > Dowdle's essay complements Rogers's work by comparing Reconstruction > in Utah with the experiences of southerners as well as Indians, > Catholics, and the Chinese in the West. He contends that the federal > government used military, economic, educational, and legislative > means to reform these various groups so that they could be > assimilated into the white Protestant mainstream of America. Dowdle's > comparative approach provides useful context in which to place the > Saints' experience and argues for the viability of Greater > Reconstruction as a historical framework. In contrast to Rogers and > Dowdle, St. John argues that Reconstruction should be confined to the > American South. In particular, she contends that applying the term to > western events lacks historical grounding and can lead to > anachronisms. She also argues that Reconstruction is not a good word > to describe what happened outside of the South and that the term > could force disparate events into a southern framework. Finally, she > expresses her concern that the motivation for promoting Greater > Reconstruction was the desire to incorporate the West into the larger > national narrative, or, in other words, an eastern framework. > > The last section of the book has essays by Clyde Milner, Eric > Eliason, and Jared Farmer, which attempt to explain why the > Latter-day Saints never developed a "Lost Cause" in the same way that > white southerners did. Milner emphasizes that the Saints in Utah > focused their collective memory on their pioneer experience, as the > continued celebration of Pioneer Day (July 24) in Utah suggests, > rather than on federal oppression. Eliason, in turn, suggests a whole > slew of potential reasons. For example, Latter-day Saints did not > recognize that any cause was actually lost, there were cultural > distinctions between southerners and Latter-day Saints, the Saints > had a weak martial culture, and they had different priorities in the > twenty-first century than they did in the nineteenth. Farmer's essay > points out, among other things, that the Saints were trying to enter > the American mainstream and gain statehood for Utah, which would have > made the nurturing of a lost cause counterproductive. > > Like any edited collection, the strength of this volume is that it > brings together such a wide range of scholars, each bringing their > own expertise and approach to the book's topic. Together these essays > create an eclectic work that should appeal to scholars interested in > Latter-day Saint history, southern Reconstruction, Greater > Reconstruction, or Civil War memory. This volume also points to > potentially fruitful avenues for further research. The sharp > disagreement found in the book's second section over whether or not > the term "Reconstruction" should be applied to Utah in particular and > the West in general points to the need for additional research on > this topic. How did nineteenth-century Americans define > Reconstruction in the 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s? Did its meaning shift > over time? Was it applied to federal activities in both the South and > the West? Furthermore, an exhaustive study of federal efforts to > reconstruct or Americanize the Latter-day Saints would be a welcome > addition to the literature that could potentially help resolve some > of these lingering questions about the nature and scope of > Reconstruction. > > Note > > [1]. West explains his idea of the "Greater Reconstruction" in > Elliott West, _The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story_ (New York: > Oxford University Press, 2011); and Elliott West, "Reconstructing > Race," _The Western Historical Quarterly _34 (Spring 2003): 6-26. > > Citation: Adam Petty. Review of Milner II, Clyde A.; Cannon, Brian > Q., eds., _Reconstruction and Mormon America_. H-CivWar, H-Net > Reviews. August, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=54371 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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