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What is the author trying to show in this book? What are the primary issues it addresses?
What were the concerns over the selection of Reed Smoot as Senator from Utah? What were the limits of freedom of religion in America, and how were they changing? What was problematic or even dangerous about Mormonism to many Protestants? How were Mormon ideas about their relationship to the United States changing? What were the events that led up to the abolition of polygamy? Why did Joseph F. Smith support Smoot?
Describe Reed Smoot as a person. What position did he hold in the church? Explain Mormons' defensive attitude toward "plural marriage." How did political considerations affect Smoot's situation? Why subpoena Mormon leaders?
Describe Joseph F. Smith's background. What were the primary concerns in the questions posed to church leaders at the hearing? What did the hearing bring to light about Mormons? Describe the problem for Mormons of two authorities.
How did the L.D.S. temple ceremony form an aspect of the Mormon Problem? Characterize the relationship of the L.D.S. with other denominations. How did Smoot defend himself? What problems did the Smoot hearings create for the church, and for Smith?
Explain Smith's challenge in removing Mormons' faith in one revelation without undermining all revelation. What was the opportunity that Joseph Smith's centennial gave him? Describe the First Vision. How did its importance change, and with what implications for Mormons? What other two events in the Joseph Smith story became foundational, and with what implications for the church in 1905 and after? What places did Joseph F. Smith and his party visit in 1905, which did they skip, and why? How else did church emphases change in this time?
Describe the last days of the hearing, and the issues raised. How did the committee vote? The Senate? Why was Smoot not unseated? How did anti-monopoly feeling affect feelings about the L.D.S.? In what way was the Mormon Problem finally solved?
What were the responses to the vote on Smoot? Describe the influence of gender politics on reactions. How have Mormons come to remember their own past? How did Smoot's position benefit his church? How did perceptions of Mormons change? The church's submission to U.S. law forced it to change, yet how has it benefited from changing?
Last updated: Monday, October 20, 2014 12:20 PM