Mormons and Utah statehood Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Mormons and Utah statehood - Research Paper Example It is this persecution which had made them aware that self rule was the only way forward to stop the persecution. However as fate would have it this land at that time belonged to Mexico. But in 1848, the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed which gave this land to United States of America. (Allen 1976) On March 8 1949, a constitutional convention was called in the Salt Lake City by the Mormon leaders in order to campaign for a new state. This state as envisioned by them included the present day Utah , Nevada , Arizona , parts of California ,Colorado   New Mexico and Idaho. (New Mexico Constituional Convention 1911) This convention ended up selecting the officers for this self declared desert state. Almon W.Babbitt was chosen as a representative by this ‘state’ to the US Senate. However the senate refused to meet this representative from a state which was self declared. The congress gave 2 reasons for the refusal to grant statehood – one was the lack of 60,000 eligible voters required and other was the huge size of the proposed state. However in September of 1850 the Senate passed a bill which provided for the organisation of Utah territory.The LSD church authorities publicly said that polygamy or the doctrine of plural marriage was one of the divine obligations of its faithful. However polygamy proved to be one of the biggest obstacles in the path of statehood for Utah. Polygamy was paired by the US senate along with slavery and was considered as an evil which needed to be eradicated from United States at any cost.