The Missouri Persecutions

Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry), 1857-1933Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 612K words
Chapters: 62

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Missouri Persecutions by B. H. RobertsAuthor: Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry), 1857-1933,Language: English, Class: F396: United States local history: Old Southwest. Lower Mississippi Valley, Release Date: Jul 25, 2015

Editor's review

This book is an important document in early Mormon history, written by church historian B. H. Roberts and focusing on the series of conflicts and expulsions directed against the Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in Missouri in the late 1830s. As a recorder of a community that lived through these events, Roberts sets out the whole process in chronicle form, from the founding of settlements to expulsion from the state, citing numerous contemporary declarations, letters, and official documents, which gives the narrative the strong character of a compiled source collection. Its value lies not in literary quality but in the firsthand materials it organizes for readers studying American religious history, frontier society, and the experiences of minority groups. Readers should note the author's position: he was himself a church member and apologist, and the narrative has a clear defensive tendency that needs to be checked against other sources. This is the Project Gutenberg public-domain electronic edition, suitable for use as research material rather than as popular reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars and students of American religious history and early Mormon history
Readers concerned with the forced migration of minority groups and issues of religious conflict
Historical researchers who need to consult primary documents of the nineteenth-century American frontier
eBook readers interested in public-domain historical texts from Project Gutenberg

Not a good fit for

General readers looking for popular history stories or literary narrative
Readers who expect a neutral third-party perspective and do not wish to discern the author's position
Readers unaccustomed to original English historical documents and chronicle-style listing

Reading tips

First learn the basic background of the 1830s conflicts between Missouri and the Mormons, then proceed to the main text.
Treat the declarations and letters cited in the book as historical sources, and consult third-party historical works for comparison.
Note the author's church position while reading, and distinguish factual account from defensive commentary.
Read alongside a map to trace the locations and migration routes mentioned in the book.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a historical work?

It is a historical work, written by church historian B. H. Roberts, recording the conflicts and expulsions directed against the Mormons in Missouri in the 1830s, mainly in the form of compiled sources and chronicle narrative; it is not fiction.

Does the author's position affect the objectivity of the narrative?

Yes. Roberts was himself a member and apologist of the Latter-day Saints church, and the book has a clear defensive tendency. Readers should treat it as a source compilation from one perspective and read it alongside other sources to form a fuller judgment.

What form is this edition?

This is the public-domain English electronic edition released by Project Gutenberg and is freely available. The text is the original English, without modern scholarly notes or an introduction, and is suitable for readers who can read English historical sources directly and verify them themselves.

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About the author

Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry), 1857-1933 Author

Brigham Henry Roberts (B. H. Roberts, 1857–1933) was a prolific writer and historian of the Latter-day Saint tradition. Fourteen of his works are held in this collection, chiefly on church history and doctrinal exposition, including The Rise and Fall of Nauvoo, The Life of John Taylor, The Gospel: An Exposition of its First Principles, The Mormon Battalion, Its History and Achievements, A New Witness for God, Succession in the Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Outlines of Ecclesiastical History, and New Witnesses for God. His writing is marked by careful use of historical sources and argumentative doctrinal reasoning, with a clear, orderly style and a strongly polemical tone; his works center on major early events of the church, the lives of its leaders, and its doctrinal system, offering a fairly systematic body of literature for the study of early Latter-day Saint history. Beyond these works, public information is limited, and details of his early life and specific offices are not elaborated here.