Neither White nor Black:
Mormon Scholars Confront the Race Issue
in a Universal Church

Mormonism's Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview

Lester E. Bush, Jr.

Four years after undermining the facile assumptions of the "Missouri thesis," Lester Bush offered his own reconstruction of the history of church teachings on blacks. In his essay, by far the most comprehensive survey of the subject to date and winner of both the Dialogue and Mormon History Association Best Article awards, Bush implicitly refuted virtually all the orthodox "church" explanations of the origins of Mormon teachings on blacks in much the same documentary manner he previously applied to the secular, "environmental" Missouri thesis.While outside criticism of Mormon racial policy had crested several years prior to the publication of this article, the doctrinal implications of Bush's research made this essay one of the most sensitive ever carried by Dialogue. In an effort to insure a constructive discussion of the subject, several scholars-representing a variety of disciplines-were invited to respond in the same issue. Three of these short responses were printed. Dialogue's concern over the potential explosiveness of the issue was not unfounded Ecclesiastical pressure from varying levels was applied to several individuals and two who had originally agreed to respond withdrew from participation.To the credit of the editors, the article itself was published as submitted except for two Uncle Remus quotations used as a preface. A preface preceding Section I had read. "'Tu'n me loose, fo' I kick de natchul stuffin' out'n you, 'sez Brer Rabbit, sezee, but de Tar-Baby, she ain't saying nothin'. She des hilt on, en den Brer Rabbit lose de use er his feet in de same way. Brer Fox, he lay low." (From "The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story").The concluding summary Section 6 was originally introduced by this quotation: "'En who stuck you up dar whar you is? Nobody in de roun' worl'. You desk tuck en jam you' se'f on dat Tar-Baby widout waitin' for enny invite, 'sez Brer Fox, sezee, 'en dar you is ...'" (From "How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp For Mr. Fox"). This essay originally appeared in Dialogue 8 (Spring 1973).[p.54]

I

... So long as we have no special rule in the Church, as to people of color, let prudence guide, and while they, as well as we, are in the hands of a merciful God, we say: Shun every appearance of evil.
W.W. Phelps, 1833

There once was a time, albeit brief, when a "Negro problem" did not exist for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During those early months in New York and Ohio no mention was even made of Church attitudes towards blacks. The gospel was for "all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples,"¹ and no exceptions were made. A Negro, "Black Pete," was among the first converts in Ohio, and his story was prominently reported in the local press.² W. W. Phelps opened a mission to Missouri in July 1831 and preached to "all the families of the earth," specifically mentioning Negroes among his first audience.³ The following year another black, Elijah Abel, was baptized in Maryland.⁴

This initial period was ultimately brought to an end by the influx of Mormons into the Missouri mission in late 1831 and early 1832. Not long before the arrival of the Mormon vanguard, the "deformed and haggard visage" of abolitionism was manifest in Missouri; elsewhere Nat Turner graphically reinforced the southern phobia of slave insurrection.

At this time the Mormons were mostly emigrants from northern and eastern states, and were not slaveholders. In less than a year a rumor was afoot that they were "tampering" with the slaves. Not insensitive to this charge, the Mormons agreed to investigate and "bring to justice any person who might ... violate the law of the land by stirring up the blacks to an insurrection, or in any degree dissuade them from being perfectly obedient to their masters."⁵ Their investigations proved negative as only one specific accusation was uncovered, and the elder accused had returned to the East; however the rumors continued unabated.⁶

One aspect of the slaveholders' paranoia not initially touched by the Mormon presence was the dictum that free Negroes promoted slave revolts. Ten years earlier Missouri had been delayed admission into the Union for barring free Negroes from the state. A modification in the state constitution was compelled which allowed entry to the few free blacks who were citizens of other states. Consequently free Negroes were rare in Missouri; Jackson County had none.

In the summer of 1833, the older settlers perceived a new threat to this status embodied in the Church's Evening and Morning Star. Because of special requirements in the Missouri law affecting the immigration of free Negroes into the state, Phelps had published the relevant material "to prevent any misunderstanding among the churches abroad, respecting free people of color, who may think of coming to the western boundaries [p.55]of Missouri, as members of the Church."⁷ The Missourians interpreted the article as an invitation to "free negroes and mulattoes from other states to become 'Mormons,' and remove and settle among us."⁸ This interpretation was probably unfair to Phelps as he had stated twice that the subject was especially delicate, and one on which great care should be taken to "shun every appearance of evil." However, he also included a remarkably injudicious comment, "In connection with the wonderful events of this age, much is doing towards abolishing slavery, and colonizing the blacks, in Africa."⁹

The local citizenry immediately drafted a list of accusations against the Saints, prominently featuring the antislavery issue and Phelps' article. In response, Phelps issued an "Extra" explaining that he had been "misunderstood." The intention, he wrote, "was not only to stop free people of color from emigrating to this state but to prevent them from being admitted as members of the Church" and stated that, furthermore, "none will be admitted into the Church."¹⁰ Since Phelps had stated in his first article that there was "no special rule in the Church, as to people of color," this new restriction was obviously an expedient adopted in Missouri. Incredibly, Phelps also reprinted his previous reflection on the "wonderful events ... towards abolishing slavery."

The reversal of position on Negro membership had no discernible impact on the settlers; a redraft of their charges, with additional demands, was incorporated into several "propositions" which flatly rejected Phelps' explanation.¹¹ The subsequent events are well known-mob violence, the destruction of the Star press, and ultimately the expulsion of the Saints from Jackson County.

The Missouri accusations had gone "considerably the rounds in the public prints," so, on reestablishing of the Star in Ohio, an extensive rebuttal was published. No Mormon, it was asserted, had ever been implicated on a charge of tampering with the slaves. And, in a broader context, the Star added,

All who are acquainted with the situation of slave States, know that the life of every white is in constant danger, and to insinuate any thing which could possibly be interpreted by a slave, that it was not just to hold human beings in bondage, would be jeopardizing the life of every white inhabitant in the country. For the moment an insurrection should break out, no respect would be paid to age, sex, or religion by an enraged, jealous, and ignorant black banditti. And the individual who would not immediately report any one who might be found influencing the minds of slaves with evil, would be beneath even the slave himself, and unworthy the privilege of a free Government.¹²

The Mormons had their own reasons for being alert to the possibility of [p.56]slave insurrection (and their early publications reflect this preoccupation)-for back in late 1832 Joseph Smith had prophesied that a war was imminent pitting the South against the North, and that "after many days, slaves shall rise up against their masters."¹³

The Jackson County experience demonstrated the need for a clear statement of Church policy on slavery. In December 1833, immediately following the expulsion from Jackson County, Joseph Smith received a revelation that seems to bear directly on this question. In part it declared that "it is not right that any man should be in bondage to another."¹⁴ Though the most recent Church pronouncement on the Negro (1969), [See Appendix] tied this revelation to Negro slavery, it does not appear to have been used in early discourses on either side of the slavery question.¹⁵

The statement which did come to serve as the "official" Church position on slavery was adopted in August 1835. This statement, worded so that it avoided comment on the morality of slavery per se, was part of a general endorsement of legal institutions. One section dealt with governments "allowing human beings to be held in servitude," and stated that under these circumstances the Church felt it to be "unlawful and unjust, and dangerous to the peace" for anyone "to interfere with bond-servants, neither preach the gospel to, nor baptize them contrary to the will and wish of their masters, nor to meddle with or influence them in the least to cause them to be dissatisfied with their situations in this life, thereby jeopardizing the lives of men."¹⁶

The restriction on proselyting was not felt to conflict with the universal calling of the Church. Any possible question on this point was eliminated the following month in a letter from Joseph Smith to the "elders abroad." In this the Prophet reaffirmed that the Church believed "in preaching the doctrine of repentance in all the world, both to old and young, rich and poor, bond and free." While the elders were instructed to teach slaves only with their master's consent, if this permission were denied "the responsibility be upon the head of the master of that house, and the consequences thereof, and the guilt of that house is no longer upon thy skirts."¹⁷

During the 1830s the national debate over slavery increased sharply. Abolitionists shifted from a plea for gradual release of the slaves to a demand for immediate emancipation. Biblical arguments became more prominent as slaveholding was attacked as a sin, or defended with scriptural precedents. Anti-slavery evangelists travelled circuits proselyting northern communities; and in the spring of 1836 an abolitionist visited Kirtland, Ohio, and established a small anti-slavery society. The Mormons, in spite of their repeated denials, continued to be charged with antislavery activity in Missouri. Now these accusations were spreading to fertile missionary areas elsewhere in the South. It was not the best time for an abolitionist to visit Church headquarters.

Lest anyone gain "the impression that all he said was concurred in," [p.57]the next issue of the Messenger and Advocate was devoted largely to a rebuttal of abolitionism.¹⁸ A lengthy article was contributed by Joseph Smith, and there were others from Warren Parrish and Oliver Cowdery. Together these essays constitute the most extensive discussion of slavery to appear during the first two decades of the Restoration, and they provide an invaluable insight into the thinking of Church leaders at that time.

At least five major objections to the abolitionist cause can be identified in Joseph Smith's discussion:

—First, he believed the course of abolitionism was "calculated to ... set loose, upon the world a community of people who might peradventure, overrun our country and violate the most sacred principles of human society,-chastity and virtue...."

—Second, any evil attending slavery should have been apparent to the "men of piety" of the South who had raised no objections to the institution.

—Third, the Prophet did "not believe that the people of the North have any more right to say that the South shall not hold slaves, than the South have to say the North shall ..."; the signing of petitions in the North was nothing more than "an array of influence, and a declaration of hostilities against the people of the South...."

—Fourth, the sons of Canaan (or Ham) whom Joseph Smith identified with the Negro were cursed with servitude by a "decree of Jehovah," and that curse was "not yet taken off the sons of Canaan, neither will be until it is affected by as great power as caused it to come ... and those who are determined to pursue a course which shows an opposition ... against the designs of the Lord, will learn ... that God can do his work without the aid of those who are not dictated by his counsel...."

—Fifth, there were several other biblical precedents for slavery (in the histories of Abraham, Leviticus, Ephesians, Timothy).

In concluding his article, the Prophet partially withdrew his previous stand on proselyting slaves, "It would be much better and more prudent, not to preach at all to the slaves, until after their masters are convened...."

Parrish and Cowdery pursued similar arguments. Parrish's main points were that the Constitution was divinely inspired and had sanctioned slavery and that the people should comply with the laws of the land. He also cited the curse on Ham and declared that it would continue in effect until the Lord removed it, at which time he would "announce to his servants the prophets that the time has arrived." Until such time all the "abolition societies that now are or ever will be, cannot cause one jot or tittle of the prophecy to fail." Parrish concluded with a comment on the danger to society if rebellion were fomented among the blacks.

Oliver Cowdery's article was more directly concerned with race. He touched on most of the points raised in the other two articles, but dwelt at [p.58]much greater length on the problems of insurrection and the social implications of emancipation:

... Let the blacks of the south be free, and our community is overrun with paupers, and a reckless mass of human beings, uncultivated, untaught and unaccustomed to provide for themselves the necessaries of life-endangering the chastity of every female who might by chance be found in our streets-our prisons filled with convicts, and the hangman wearied with executing the functions of his office! This must unavoidably be the case, every rational man must admit, who has ever travelled in the slave states, or we must open our houses, unfold our arms, and bid these degraded and degrading sons of Canaan, a hearty welcome and a free admittance to all we possess! A society of this nature, to us, is so intolerably degrading, that the bare reflection causes our feeling to recoil, and our hearts to revolt....

He also saw little alternative to slavery:

... The idea of transportation is folly, the project of emansipation [sic] is destructive to our government, and the notion of amalgamation is devilish! ... And insensible to feeling must be the heart, and low indeed must be the mind, that would consent for a moment, to see his fair daughter, his sister, or perhaps, his bosom companion, in the embrace of a NEGRO!¹⁹

At last an unequivocal position on Negro slavery had been taken. Should the question of Mormon attitudes arise, an unambiguous statement was now available that should satisfy the most ardent slaveholder. Questions did arise and the articles were put to use with mixed results.²⁰

A question immediately arises as to the basis for these statements originating with the Prophet and other prominent spokesmen of the Church. Many Mormons have supposed that at least part of the information was doctrinal or even revelatory. However, far from professing divine insight, the authors made it expressly clear that these were their personal views.²¹ Moreover, a comparative study will demonstrate that the ideas presented reflect a cross section of the popular arguments of the day in support of slavery.

The growth of the abolitionist movement in the mid-1830s had led to the wide circulation of anti-slavery literature. The proponents of slavery also became more active and were equally prolific pamphleteers. Many and varied defenses of slavery were to appear over the next quarter century, and several themes were evident from the start. The natural inferiority and alleged sexual depravity of the blacks alluded to in all the Messenger and Advocate articles were rarely missing from any general defense of Negro slavery. States' rights and the Constitutional sanction of [p.59]slavery provided the standard legal justifications; and all scriptural defenses of slavery cited Noah's curse on Canaan and applied it directly to Negroes. Other scriptural "precedents" were generally cited as well.

Though none of these arguments were truly unique to this period or even to the nineteenth century, their prominence in national debate was greatest during the years from 1830 to 1860. With very little effort one can duplicate the Mormon arguments to the most specific detail from these contemporary non-Mormon sources.²² To claim these ideas originated independently within the Church would require considerable justification, none of which has ever been presented.

Because of its later prominence in Mormon history, one particular argument requires careful attention-the belief that Negroes were descended from Ham. Though particularly common in the first half of the nineteenth century this idea was actually very old. Recent studies have traced the association to at least 200 to 600 A.D. Jordan reports that early Jewish writings invoked Noah's curse to explain the black skin of the Africans. Among early Christian fathers, both Jerome and Augustine accepted the Ham genealogy for Negroes, and this belief is said to have become "universal" in early Christendom. More recently the association is evident in the earliest English descriptions of Africans in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. By the eighteenth century the connection had become common in the New World, where it was not infrequently cited in justification of black slavery.

However, there was always disagreement on the implications of Noah's curse. Those opposed to slavery contended that the Africans were related to Ham through Cush, rather than Canaan (or occasionally, through all four sons), and therefore a curse affecting Canaan could not be applied to the blacks as a group. Furthermore, it was argued, the curse predicted rather than justified enslavement. The fundamental association with Ham was not so frequently challenged. Even among nineteenth century anti-slavery elements, the Ham genealogy was widely accepted, and among the pro-slavery forces the association was virtually axiomatic.²³

It is clear that Joseph Smith accepted this traditional genealogy. As early as 1831 he had noted parenthetically that Negroes were "descendants of Ham," and he again applied Noah's curse to Negro slavery in 1841.²⁴ There is no record of his "teaching" the Ham genealogy as Church doctrine. This would have been unnecessary, of course, as the association of Ham and the Negro was already common knowledge.

The first pointed reference to the Ham genealogy had actually come not with the articles in 1836 but rather a year earlier in a letter published in the Messenger and Advocate. W. W. Phelps proposed at that time that a lineage of blacks could be traced from Cain, through a black "Canaanite" wife of Ham, to Canaan.²⁵ The Cain genealogy had a somewhat less extensive tradition than the more straightforward Ham thesis, though it [p.60]also was widely reported and can be traced back several centuries, generally in connection with the enslavement of Africans.²⁶ It had the "advantage" of including all of Ham's sons within a cursed lineage. The problem of transmitting Cain's lineage through the flood was generally handled as Phelps did, through the wife of Ham; there have been some bizarre variants of his explanation.²⁷ Joseph Smith may also have believed that Negroes were descended from Cain, though the evidence for this claim is not very convincing. Certainly there is presently no case at all for the idea that he "taught" this genealogy.²⁸

It is significant, I believe, that in spite of the many discussions of blacks and slavery that had been published by 1836, no reference had been made to the priesthood. Yet, while there was not a written policy on blacks and the priesthood, a precedent had been established. Shortly before publication of the articles on abolitionism, a Negro was ordained to the Melchizedek priesthood. It has been suggested, considerably after the fact, that this was a mistake which was quickly rectified. Such a claim is totally unfounded and was actually refuted by Joseph F. Smith shortly after being put forth.²⁹ Elijah Abel was ordained an elder 3 March, 1836, and shortly thereafter received his patriarchal blessing from Joseph Smith, Sr.³⁰ In June he was listed among the recently licensed elders³¹ and on 20 December, 1836, was ordained a seventy.³² Three years later, in June 1839, he was still active in the Nauvoo Seventies Quorum,³³ and his seventy's certificate was renewed in 1841, and again after his arrival in Salt Lake City.³⁴ Moreover, Abel was known by Joseph Smith and reportedly lived for a time in the Prophet's home.³⁵

The charge that Abel was dropped from the priesthood originated with Zebedee Coltrin. It is unfortunate that his memory proved unreliable on this point, as he should have been in a position to provide valuable information-for it was he who ordained Abel to the office of seventy two years after purportedly being told that Negroes were not to receive the priesthood.³⁶ The circumstances of Coltrin's account may be of some relevance. He claimed to have questioned the right of Negroes to hold the priesthood after a visit to the South. Abraham Smoot, the only other person to claim first-hand counsel from Joseph Smith on this subject also had asked about the situation in the South: "What should be done with the Negroes in the South as I was preaching to them? [The Prophet] said I could baptize them by the consent of their masters, but not to confer the priesthood upon them." Additionally, a second-hand account related by Smoot in which Smith allegedly gave the same advice was also directed at Negroes "in the Southern States."³⁷ Most, if not all, of the Negroes involved in these accounts were slaves. It may be, notwithstanding the lack of contemporary documentation, that a policy was in effect denying the priesthood to slaves or isolated free southern Negroes. In any case, a de facto restriction is demonstrable in the South, and empirical justification for the policy is not difficult to imagine.

[p.61]After 1836 the Mormons largely ignored the subject of slavery for nearly six years. During this time they periodically reaffirmed that they were not abolitionists, but the charge was no longer common in Missouri nor elsewhere in the South.³⁸ In spite of the small number of Negro converts, the gospel was still proclaimed as universal. The first Mormon hymnal, printed in 1835, included a hymn exhorting the members to proclaim the message "throughout Europe, and Asia's dark regions, To China's far shores, and to Afric's black legions."³⁹ Another hymnal, in 1840, contained a new hymn by Parley P. Pratt, encouraging the Twelve to carry the gospel throughout the world,

No discrimination was evident in the 1836 rules governing the temple in Kirtland, which provided for "old or young, rich or poor, male or female, bond or free, black or white, believer or unbeliever...."⁴¹ Nor was a discriminatory policy projected for the Nauvoo Temple when the First Presidency anticipated in 1840 that "we may soon expect to see flocking to this place, people from every land and from every nation, the polished European, the degraded Hottentot, and the shivering Laplander. Persons of all languages, and of every tongue, and of every color; who shall with us worship the Lord of Hosts in his holy temple, and offer up their orisons in his sanctuary."⁴²

Early in 1842 Charles V. Dyer, a prominent Chicago physician, wrote to the mayor of Nauvoo, John C. Bennett, in an effort to gain Mormon support for the antislavery cause. Three abolitionists had recently been imprisoned in Missouri, and Dyer expressed indignation at the treatment received by abolitionists and Mormons in that state: "Have we not a right to sympathyze with each other?" Bennett, at the height of a brief but exalted career with the Mormons, replied that he had considered the question of slavery "years ago" and was uncompromisingly for "UNIVERSAL LIBERTY, to every soul of man-civil, religious, and political." This exchange came to the attention of Joseph Smith, who wrote Bennett a short letter in apparent agreement: the subject of American slavery and the treatment of the three abolitionists made his "blood boil within me to reflect upon the injustices, cruelty, and oppression, of the rulers of the people-when will these things cease to be, and the Constitution and the Laws bear rule?"

Perhaps more unexpected than the contents of these letters was their subsequent publication by Joseph Smith in the March Times and Seasons, with an introduction that endorsed 'UNIVERSAL LIBERTY' and characterized Bennett and Dyer as men of "brave and philanthropic hearts."⁴³ The antislavery sentiment in the letters was unmistakable, and their [p.62]publication marked a virtual reversal of the published Mormon stance on slavery.

When and why this change occurred is not clear. Except for the relative silence of the preceding years there was no suggestion of an impending change. The circumstances were obviously much different in 1842 than they had been in 1836. The slavery issue was no longer threatening to the Mormons. Though the Church had previously received rough treatment at the hands of pro-slavery elements, it had no real prospect of returning to a slaveholding state. Illinois was theoretically a free state and had only a small residual of "indentured" slaves. While abolitionist organizations and activities had declined markedly after 1837, antislavery sentiment was more widespread both nationally and in Illinois. This was in part through association with the issues of freedom of speech, press, and petition-all of which were important to the Mormons. Personalities had also changed in the Mormon hierarchy.⁴⁴ However, for all the conducive circumstances, we have no contemporary explanation for the dramatic change in attitude.

Some authors have attempted to minimize the importance of Joseph Smith's antislavery views, and to suggest that his opposition to slavery was superficial or politically motivated. He did, after all, continue to deny that he was an abolitionist, rather preferring to characterize himself as a "friend of equal rights and privileges to all men."⁴⁵ A careful review of published sources, however, fails to reveal any evidence of duplicity. Rather one finds consistent opposition to slavery from early 1842 until the Prophet's death in mid-1844. Even in private conversation, the Prophet advised that slaves owned by Mormons be brought "into a free country and set ... free-Educate them and give them equal Rights."⁴⁶ He recorded a similar sentiment in his history: "Had I anything to do with the negro, I would ... put them on a national equalization."⁴⁷ Many similar expressions are to be found in 1843 and 1844, though his greatest attention to slavery was evident during his 1844 presidential campaign. Joseph Smith's "Views on the Government and Policy of the U.S.," prepared in February as a campaign platform, included a plan for the elimination of slavery within six years through federal compensation of slaveholders.⁴⁸ He later added that this might be accomplished a few states at a time or with a provision that slave children be freed after a "fixed period."⁴⁹

The sincerity of the Prophet's anti-slavery statements was challenged for several reasons. Though he repeatedly expressed a desire to "abolish slavery," Joseph Smith condemned the abolitionists as self-seeking and destined for "ruin, infamy and shame." Actually the Prophet's paradoxical antipathy to both slavery and abolitionism was not atypical of churchmen of his day. In the preceding few years the majority of both the Protestant and Catholic clergy had opposed the abolitionist movement; and at the same time, many also condemned slavery.⁵⁰ They particularly feared the divisive effect that the movement was having within their [p.63]denominations. Those abolitionists who had advocated a compensated emancipation in the previous decade were now gone, and the current uncompromising polemics were clearly aggravating badly strained inter-sectional relations. The possibility of a Civil War was especially real to the Prophet; reiterating his warning often years before, he prophesied in 1843 that "much bloodshed" would "probably arise over the slave question."⁵¹

It also has been claimed that the Prophet planned to allow Mormon slaveholders to retain their chattel property. The growth of the Church in the South had led to the conversion of several slaveholders, at least three of whom moved to Nauvoo prior to the Prophet's death. Two of the three claimed to have freed their slaves before coming north but also reported that eight "ex-slaves" had chosen to remain with their masters.⁵² Theoretically a permanent move to Illinois should have brought freedom regardless. It appears that they were indeed freed, for in April 1844, the Prophet stated with some pride that in Nauvoo there was not a slave "to raise his rusting fetters and chains, and exclaim, O liberty where are thy charms?"⁵³ Oddly, some of these blacks and a number of others who later lived briefly in Nauvoo again appear to be slaves several years later in Utah.⁵⁴

It occurred to several prominent Mormons working at the time in the Wisconsin pineries of the Church that there ought to be some special provision for slaveholders in the Church. This idea was presented in two letters from a "Select Committee" to the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve proposing that the Gospel be carried to the "South-Western States, as also Texas, Mexico, Brazil, &c" ("from Green Bay to the Mexican Gulf"), and that Texas be established as a "place of gathering for all the South." Were this done, the Committee believed, thousands of rich planters "would embrace the Gospel, and, if they had a place to plant their slaves, give all the proceeds of their yearly labour, if rightly taught, for building up the kingdom...." Moreover, the Committee was "well informed of the Cherokee and the Choctaw nations who live between the State of Arkansas and the Colorado of the Texans, owning plantations and thousands of slaves, and that they are also very desirous to have an interview with the Elders of this Church, upon the principles of the Book of Mormon."⁵⁵

Bishop George Miller, who delivered the letters, reported that the Prophet's response was favorable ("I perceive that the Spirit of God is in the pineries"), and that some preliminary steps were taken towards obtaining land in Texas.⁵⁶ Andrew Jenson later claimed that Joseph Smith himself made the suggestion that a place be established in the Southwest for slaveholding members of the Church.⁵⁷ As this was in March, 1844, in the midst of the Prophet's denunciations of slavery, a suggestion of duplicity is not unreasonable. The source of Jenson's statement was the Journal History copy of these letters. However, while the Prophet included them in his history, there is no indication of endorsement, and he never related them to the slavery issue. Unquestionably he favored the [p.64]expansion of Mormon activities into the West, for within two weeks of receipt of the above letters he submitted a memorial to Congress asking that he be authorized to organize a company of 100,000 men to police the West, specifically naming Oregon and Texas.⁵⁸

The rather lengthy treatment of slavery included in the Prophet's "Views" presented a remarkable contrast to his extensive discussion of 1836. For instance, the "Views" contained no reference to the social depravity of blacks. The "men of piety" of the South became "hospitable and noble" people who will help eliminate slavery "whenever they are assured of an equivalent for their property." States' rights were much less evident as both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were interpreted broadly to provide liberty for all "without reference to color or condition: ad infinitere."⁵⁹ There was no hint of divine endorsement of slavery through a biblical curse; rather, the Prophet lamented a situation in which "two or three millions of people are held as slaves for life, because the spirit in them is covered with a darker skin than ours." The only scripture invoked was in support of the idea that a "noble" nation should work to "ameliorate the condition of all: black or white, bond or free; for the best of books says, 'God hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth.'" Moreover, the "Views" were promulgated much more actively than the earlier proslavery essays. Mormon missionaries were pressed into service to carry the Prophet's campaign and program throughout the country, and for a short while the Mormon Church could accurately be described as outspokenly against slavery.

In favoring "equal rights" for Negroes, Joseph Smith did not wish to remove all legal restrictions on that race. Nor should the impression be conveyed that he was completely free of nineteenth-century prejudices. The aversion to miscegenation apparent in the articles in 1836 was later incorporated into the laws of Nauvoo;⁶⁰ and in the same breath that the Prophet advocated "national equalization" for Negroes, he expressed a desire that they be confined "by strict law to their own species." Not unexpectedly, a wide range of racial attitudes was manifest within the Church during this time. These ranged from the relatively progressive Willard Richards remark about a respected exslave, "A black skin may cover as white a heart as any other skin, and the black hand may be as neat and clean as the white one, and all the trouble arises from want of familiarity with the two";⁶¹ to the anonymous Mormon simile published in the Elders' Journal (Joseph Smith, editor) regarding an especially ungrateful and "mean" man: "One thing we have learned, that there are negroes who [wear] white skins, as well as those who wear black ones."⁶² More subtle, but nonetheless revealing, was a remark on the extensive actions taken by European nations to end the slave trade, "But what would those nations think, if they were told the fact that in America-Republican America, the boasted cradle of liberty and land of freedom-[p.65]that those dealers in human flesh and blood, negro dealers and drivers, are allowed with impunity to steal white men."⁶³ There are very few statements on race directly attributable to Joseph Smith. While negative value judgments are occasionally suggested by his remarks, the most extensive comment reveals that he did not share the majority opinion of his day on the innate racial inferiority of Negroes.⁶⁴ The little that is recorded about his direct dealings with blacks is also more reflective of compassion than prejudice.⁶⁵

In fourteen years Joseph Smith led the Church from seeming neutrality on the slavery issue through a period of antiabolitionist, proslavery sentiment to a final position strongly opposed to slavery. In the process he demonstrated that he shared the common belief that Negroes were descendants of Ham, but ultimately his views reflected a rejection of the notion that this connection justified Negro slavery. There is no contemporary evidence that the Prophet limited priesthood eligibility because of race or biblical lineage; on the contrary, the only definite information presently available reveals that he allowed a black to be ordained an elder, and later a seventy, in the Melchizedek priesthood. The possibility has been raised, through later testimony, that within the slave society of the South, blacks were not given the priesthood.

After the Prophet's death, most of his philosophy and teachings were effectively canonized. There was one significant subject on which this does not appear to have been the case-the status of the Negro. A measure of the influence of Joseph Smith's personal presence in shaping early Mormon attitudes on this subject can be obtained by contrasting the Church position prior to his death with the developments which followed.

II

... any man having one drop of the seed of [Cain] ... in him cannot hold the priesthood and if no other Prophet ever spake it before I will say it now in the name of Jesus Christ I know it is true and others know it ...
Brigham Young, 1852

The uncertainty which followed the martyrdom of Joseph Smith was not fully resolved for many months, and most of the efforts of the Church during this time were directed at self-preservation. Among the early changes to emerge, one of the most dramatic involved Mormon attitudes towards blacks and slavery. Joseph Smith's anti-slavery sentiment persisted for a short time, though this was partially due to delayed publications in the Times and Seasons. Several talks and letters advocating the Prophet's presidency and program for the abolition of slavery were published during the summer months.⁶⁶ The talks actually delivered during that summer were more concerned with the dwindling freedom within the Mormons' own community. Brigham Young did recommend that the Saints remain aloof from the upcoming election until "a man is [p.66]found, who, if elected, will carry out the enlarged principles, universal freedom, and equal rights and protection" advocated by Joseph Smith.⁶⁷

By the following spring, however, a shift had again become evident in the Church position on slavery. A "Short Chapter" appeared in the Times and Seasons which reverted almost literally to the arguments of 1836:

History and common observation show [Noah's curse to] have been fulfilled to the letter. The descendants of Ham, besides a black skin which has ever been a curse that has followed an apostate of the holy priesthood, as well as a black heart, have been servants to both Shem and Japeth, and the abolitionists are trying to make void the curse of God, but it will require more power than man possesses to counteract the decrees of eternal wisdom....⁶⁸

Why did this opinion reemerge? The short interval since Joseph Smith's death and the acknowledged basis for the article ("history and common observation") suggests that the change may not have been one of opinion so much as one of personalities. One other development may also have been a factor. Several Protestant denominations had been divided by the slavery question; in particular, the division of the Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches was covered at great length in the Mormon press. Though the articles were reprints from non-Mormon sources, comments were frequently appended, as the following example illustrates:

The inference we draw from such church jars among the sectarian world, is, that the glory which professing clergymen think to obtain for themselves by division on slavery, temperance, or any other matter of no consequence to pure religion, is "nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit."

Christ and his apostles taught men repentance, and baptism for remission of sins; faithfulness and integrity to masters and servants; bond and free, black and white ...

Like the fable of the dog and the meat, the christian community are preparing to lose what little religion they may have possessed, by jumping after the dark shade of abolitionism.-So passes falling greatness.⁶⁹

The Mormon exodus to the Salt Lake Valley did not free the Saints from the slavery controversy, for much of the national debate was focused on the West. Southern congressmen were pressing for an extension of slavery into the new territories, while Northerners wanted the institution confined to the South. In this difficult situation the Saints organized the State of Deseret, and applied for national recognition. The Mormon [p.67]lobbyists were aware of their delicate position and attempted to maintain complete neutrality on the slavery question. The Constitution of Deseret was intentionally without reference to slavery, and Brigham Young made it clear that he desired "to leave that subject to the operations of time, circumstances and common law. You might safely say that as a people we are averse to slavery, but we wish not to meddle with this subject but leave things to take their natural course...."⁷⁰ Congressional compromise eventually created the Territory of Utah in 1850, with no restriction on slavery. This was possible, according to lobbyist John Bernhisel, because northerners believed slavery was excluded from Utah "by the physical geography of the country and the laws of God."⁷¹ However, Bernhisel wrote, "If they had believed that there were even half a dozen slaves in Utah, or that slavery would ever be tolerated in it, they would not have granted us a Territorial organization."⁷²

Shortly thereafter the Mormons belatedly defined their position on slavery. Though no law authorized or prohibited slavery in Utah, there were slaves in the territory, and all appeared to be "perfectly contented and satisfied." They were fully at liberty to leave their masters if they chose. Slave-owning converts were being instructed to bring their slaves west if the slaves were willing to come, but were otherwise advised to "sell them, or let them go free, as your conscience may direct you."⁷³ In fact the first group of Mormons to enter the Salt Lake valley was accompanied by three Negro "servants." By 1850 nearly 100 blacks had arrived, approximately two-thirds of whom were slaves. Bernhisel had performed his task well.⁷⁴

The official acceptance of slavery in the Mormon community extended fully to slave owners as well. Bishops, high councilmen, and even an apostle were ordained from their small number. However, by chance or design, a number of the slaveholders were sent to San Bernardino in 1851 to establish a Mormon colony, and in the process their slaves became free.⁷⁵

The "laissez-faire" approach to slavery in Utah was short-lived, and came to an end early in 1852. As the Mormons quickly learned, Mexicans had carried out slaving expeditions into the region for decades, buying Indians from local tribes who staged raids for "captives of war." Periodically children were offered for sale to the Mormons. The enslavement of Indians, a "chosen people" in Mormon theology, posed a much more serious problem than had Negro slavery. Governor Brigham Young took action to stop the raiding parties, and in January 1852, requested legislation on the slavery question.⁷⁶

In his request Brigham Young made a definite distinction between Indian and Negro. After condemning the Indian slave trade, he observed, "Human flesh to be dealt in as property, is not consistent or compatible [p.68]with the true principles of government. My own feelings are, that no property can or should be recognized as existing in slaves, wither Indian or African." However, in view of the "present low and degraded situation of the Indian race" and their current practices of "gambling, selling, and otherwise disposing of their children," the Governor would condone a "new feature in the traffic of human beings"-"essentially purchasing them into freedom, instead of slavery." This was not simply buying the children and setting them free, but also caring for them and elevating them to "an equal footing with the more favored portions of the human race." There were, of course, certain economic considerations, and "if in return for favors and expenses which may have been incurred on their account, service should be considered due, it would become necessary that some law should provide the suitable regulations under which all such indebtedness should be defrayed."

Negro slavery was different:

It has long since ceased to become a query with me, who were the most amenable to the laws of righteousness; those who through the instrumentality of human power brought into servitude human beings, who naturally were their own equals, or those who, acting upon the principle of nature's law, brought into this position or situation, those who were naturally designed for that purpose, and whose capacities are more befitting that, than any other station in society. Thus, while servitude may and should exist, and that too upon those who are naturally designed to occupy the position of 'servant of servants' yet we should not fall into the other extreme, and make them as beasts of the field, regarding not the humanity which attaches to the colored race; nor yet elevate them, as some seem disposed, to an equality with those whom Nature and Nature's God has indicated to be their masters, their superiors....⁷⁷

The suitable regulations were shortly forthcoming, and within a few weeks Young signed into law acts legalizing both Negro and Indian slavery.⁷⁸ Though Negro slaves could no longer choose to leave their masters, some elements of consent were included. Slaves brought into the Territory had to come "of their own free will and choice"; and they could not be sold or taken from the Territory against their will.⁷⁹ Though a fixed period of servitude was not prescribed for Negroes, the law provided "that no contract shall bind the heirs of the servant ... for a longer period than will satisfy the debt due his [master] ..." Several unique provisions were included which terminated the owner's contract in the event that the master had sexual intercourse with a servant "of the African race," [p.69]neglected to feed, clothe, shelter, or otherwise abused the servant, or attempted to take him from the Territory against his will. Some schooling was also required for slaves between the ages of six and twenty.

By contrast the more liberal act on Indian servitude required persons with Indian servants to demonstrate that they were "properly qualified to raise or retain said Indian," and limited the indenture to a maximum of twenty years. Masters were also required to clothe their "apprentices ... in a comfortable and becoming manner, according to his, said master's, condition in life." Yearly schooling was mandatory between the ages of seven and sixteen, and the total education requirement was significantly greater than for Negroes.

No other territory legalized both Indian and Negro servitude. New Mexico eventually legalized slavery in 1859, but census figures the following year listed slaves only in Utah among the western territories. Actually the Negro population throughout the West was negligible, and several territorial legislatures even banned Negro immigration. A recent study has argued convincingly that antislavery sentiment in frontier territories was in part reflective of racial prejudice, and was designed to exclude Negroes from the region.⁸⁰ Brigham Young interpreted Utah's anomalous proslavery legislation as accomplishing this same end. In a message commending the legislature late in 1852, he observed, "The law of the last session so far proves a salutary measure, as it has nearly freed the territory of the colored population; also enabling the people to control all who see proper to remain, and cast their lot among us."⁸¹

Other more obvious factors contributed to the legalization of Negro slavery in Utah. Without the influx of southern converts with their slaves, no legislation would have been required. Perhaps the most fundamental factor was the declaration by Brigham Young and other Mormon leaders that the Lord had willed that Negroes be servants to their "superiors." During his tenure as head of the Church, Young showed none of the variability on this subject manifest under Joseph Smith. He fully accepted the traditional genealogy of the Africans through Canaan and Ham to Cain, and repeatedly taught that this connection gave divine sanction to the servile condition of the Negroes. Nonetheless, he did not claim new information on the subject. As early as "our first settlement in Missouri.... we knew that the children of Ham were to be 'servant of servants,' and no power under heaven could hinder it, so long as the Lord should permit them to welter under the curse, and those were known to be our religious views concerning them."⁸²

Though Brigham Young clearly rejected Joseph Smith's manifest belief that the curse on Ham did not justify Negro slavery, possibly an even greater difference of opinion is reflected in the importance Young ascribed to the alleged connection with Cain. "The seed of Ham, which is [p.70]the seed of Cain descending through Ham, will, according to the curse put upon him, serve his brethren, and be a 'servant of servants' to his fellow creatures, until God removes the curse; and no power can hinder it";⁸³ or, "The Lord put a mark upon [Cain], which is the flat nose and the black skin. Trace mankind down to after the flood, and then another curse is pronounced upon the same race-that they should be the 'servant of servants'; and they will, until that curse is removed; and the Abolitionists cannot help it, nor in the least alter that decree."⁸⁴

Brigham Young derived a second far-reaching implication from the genealogy of the Negro. Asked what "chance of redemption there was for the Africans," Young answered that "the curse remained upon them because Cain cut off the lives of Abel.... The Lord had cursed Cain's seed with blackness and prohibited them the Priesthood." The Journal History account of this conversation, dated 13 February, 1849, is the earliest record of a Church decision to deny the priesthood to Negroes.⁸⁵ At the time practical implications of the decision were limited. Though reliable information is very scanty, there appear to have been very few Negro Mormons in 1849. Only seven of the twenty thus far identified were men, and three of these were slaves; two of the four freemen had already been given the priesthood.⁸⁶

Though Brigham Young reaffirmed his stand on priesthood denial to the Negro on many occasions, by far the most striking of the known statements of his position was included in an address to the territorial legislature, 16 January, 1852, recorded in Wilford Woodruff s journal of that date. In this gubernatorial address, Young appears to both confirm himself as the instigator of the priesthood policy, and to bear testimony to its inspired origin: "Any man having one drop of the seed of [Cain] ... in him cannot hold the priesthood and if no other Prophet ever spake it before I will say it now in the name of Jesus Christ I know it is true and others know it." This clearly is one of the most important statements in the entire history of this subject.

Placed in a fuller context, these remarks are part of one of several discussions of slavery and Negro capability by Governor Young in conjunction with the enactment of Utah's slavery codes in February and March, 1852. Other significant points in the address include Young's statement, "The Negro cannot hold one part of Government" (this immediately followed the above quotation); he would "not consent for the seed of [Cain] to vote for me or my Brethren"; "the Canaanite cannot have wisdom to do things as white man has"; miscegenation required blood atonement (offspring included) for salvation; and the curse would some day be removed from the "seed of Cain."

While it will be seen that the Church eventually abandoned a number of Young's contentions, and though one hesitates to attribute theological [p.71]significance to a legislative address, were this account to be unequivocally authenticated it would present a substantial challenge to the faithful Mormon who does not accept an inspired origin for Church priesthood policy. That such statements exist and have not appeared in previous discussions of this problem, either within the Church or without, is an unfortunate commentary on the superficiality with which this subject traditionally has been approached.

Though it is now popular among Mormons to argue that the basis for the priesthood denial to Negroes is unknown, no uncertainty was evident in the discourses of Brigham Young. From the initial remark in 1849 throughout his presidency, every known discussion of this subject by Young (or any other leading Mormon) invoked the connection with Cain as the justification for denying the priesthood to blacks. "Any man having one drop of the seed of Cain in him cannot receive the priesthood." (1852);⁸⁷ "When all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood.... it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity"(1854);⁸⁸ "Until the last ones of the residue of Adam's children are brought up to that favourable position, the children of Cain cannot receive the first ordinances of the Priesthood" (1859);⁸⁹ "When all the rest of the children have received their blessings in the Holy Priesthood, then that curse will be removed from the seed of Cain" (1886).⁹⁰

A more specific rationale is suggested by the foregoing extracts. Cain, in murdering Abel, had "deprived his brother of the privilege of pursuing his journey through life, and of extending his kingdom by multiplying upon the earth." Cain had reportedly hoped thereby to gain an advantage over Abel-the number of one's posterity somehow being important in the overall scheme of things. Brigham Young further explained that those who were to have been Abel's descendants had already been assigned to his lineage, and if they were ever to come "into the world in the regular way, they would have to come through him." In order that Cain's posterity not gain an advantage the Lord denied them the priesthood until such time as "the class of spirits presided over by Abel should have the privilege of coming into the world." Those spirits formerly under Cain's leadership were reportedly aware of the implications of this decision, yet "still looked up to him, and rather than forsake him they were willing to bear his burdens and share the penalty imposed upon him."⁹¹

Unfortunately Brigham Young gave no indication as to when Abel's "strain" would receive their entitlement; certainly it was not foreseen in the near future: "When all the other children of Adam have the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will be time enough to remove the [p.72]curse from Cain and his posterity."⁹²

While none in the Church saw fit to question the connection of the Negroes to Cain or Ham, it did occur to several that if men were not responsible for Adam's transgressions, the restriction on the Negro could not consistently be attributed solely to his genealogy. As early as 1844 Orson Hyde had explained the status of the "accursed lineage of Canaan" in terms of the preexistence:

At the time the devil was cast out of heaven, there were some spirits that did not know who had authority, whether God or the devil. They consequently did not take a very active part on either side, but rather thought the devil had been abused, and considered he had rather the best claim to government. These spirits were not considered worthy of an honorable body on this earth.... Now, it would seem cruel to force pure celestial spirits into the world through the lineage of Canaan that had been cursed. This would be ill appropriate, putting the precious and vile together. But those spirits in heaven that lent an influence to the devil, thinking he had a little the best right to govern, but did not take a very active part any way, were required to come into the world and take bodies in the accursed lineage of Canaan; and hence the Negro or African race.⁹³

Several years later Orson Pratt also attempted to explain why "if all the spirits were equally faithful in their first estate," they "are placed in such dissimilar circumstances in their second estate," and concluded, "Among the two-thirds who remained [after the Devil was east out], it is highly probable, that, there were many who were not valient [sic] in the war, but whose sins were of such a nature that they could be forgiven...."⁹⁴ Hyde and Pratt were primarily concerned with an explanation of the debased status of the Negro race in these early speculations, and not specifically with the priesthood.

The preexistence "hypothesis" gained wide acceptance among the Mormons, and was even included in non-Mormon accounts of Church teachings.⁹⁵ Brigham Young, however, did not feel it necessary to appeal beyond the curse on Cain to the preexistenee. When asked "if the spirits of negroes were neutral in Heaven," he answered, "No, they were not, there were no neutral [spirits] in Heaven at the time of the rebellion, all took sides.... All spirits are pure that came from the presence of God. The posterity of Cain are black because he committed murder. He killed Abel and God set a mark upon his posterity. But the spirits are pure that enter their tabernacles...."⁹⁶

A second fundamental assumption supported Mormon beliefs. This [p.73]was their unqualified acceptance of the innate inferiority of the Negro-the undeniable evidence of the curse on that race. In significant contrast to Joseph Smith's optimistic evaluation of Negro potential, the Church under Brigham Young characterized the blacks as "uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is bestowed upon mankind";⁹⁷ as potentially "blood-thirsty," "pitiless" and a "stranger to mercy when fully aroused," and "now seemingly tame and almost imbecile."⁹⁸ In the fullest treatment of race to appear in a Church publication in the nineteenth century, the Negro was characterized as "the lowest in intelligence and the most barbarous of all the children of men. The race whose intellect is the least developed, whose advancement has been the slowest, who appear to be the least capable of improvement of all people. The hand of the Lord appears to be heavy upon them, dwarfing them by the side of their fellow men in every thing good and great."⁹⁹

Moreover, they were black, and for Mormons "blackness" was no mere literary figure. Two Church scriptures had recounted blackness befalling people in divine disfavor, and this was understood to extend beyond the metaphorical to a real physical change.¹⁰⁰ Nor was this phenomenon just an historical curiosity, for apostates from the latter-day Church were seen to darken noticeably, while more dramatic changes could still be viewed in the African and Indian races.¹⁰¹ What clearer sign that they were cursed?

Notwithstanding the repeated denunciations of racism by the modern Church, the evidence for "racist" attitudes among nineteenth-century Mormon leaders is indisputable. Despite the implications of these attitudes for modern Mormonism, their significance in the nineteenth century was negligible. "Mormon" descriptions of Negro abilities and potential can as readily be obtained from the publications of their learned contemporaries. Such a book, not atypical of this era, could be found in Brigham Young's library-Negro-Mania: Being an Examination of the Falsely Assumed Equality of the Various Races of Men....¹⁰² Though blatantly racist by any modern standard, this work cited men of acknowledged intellect from a variety of fields-Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, Baron Cuvier, Champollion, Samuel G. Morton, Rosellini, George Gliddon, Samuel Stanhope Smith, Thomas Jefferson, to name but a few. Brigham Young could find ample support for his racial views in this collection alone, and it was by no means exhaustive. Many others could have been included. The American scientific community though divided on the question of slavery was virtually unanimous in ascribing racial inferiority to the Negroes. So also did Louis Agassiz, Count de Gobineau, statesmen of the North as well as the South, abolitionists (excepting Garrison and a few others), slaveholders, ministers, and university [p.74]presidents. In short, the "laws of nature" were interpreted in essentially the same way by most nineteenth century Americans, Mormons included.¹⁰³ Possibly Brigham Young never read his copy of Negro-Mania; even today the book reveals little evidence of usage. It is nonetheless important to realize that those few enlightened individuals who anticipated the mid-twentieth century understanding of race were not generally termed "enlightened" for their racial insight a century ago.

This is not meant to minimize the prejudices of the period nor of the leaders of the Church during that time. The regrettably uniform racial attitudes of white America from colonial to modern times have been no source of pride to anyone who has studied the subject. Nor can one mistake the implicit racial judgments conveyed in many Church statements. Consider, for example, the implications of the following simile from Brigham Young: "Here are the Elders of Israel who have got the Priesthood, who have to preach the Gospel.... They will stoop to dance like nigers. I don't mean this as debasing the nigers by any means."¹⁰⁴

During the 1850s the Mormons were finally able to observe the national slavery controversy with some detachment, no longer as part or pawn of the struggle. Yet even as the prophesied war became more and more probable, there were remarkably few expressions of concern for the welfare of the Union. Jedediah M. Grant said, "They are threatening war in Kansas on the slavery question, and the General Government has already been called upon to send troops there. Well, all I have to say on that matter is, 'Success to both parties.'¹⁰⁵ The long-harassed Mormons had come to view the anticipated conflict not only as the fulfillment of prophecy, but also as divine retribution upon the heads of those who had persecuted the people of the Lord.¹⁰⁶

One thing was certain, no act of man was going to free the slaves. Late in 1859 Brigham Young again reiterated that those who have been cursed to be "servant of servants" would continue to be, "until that curse is removed; and the Abolitionists cannot help it, nor in the least alter the decree."¹⁰⁷ Two years of war and Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation failed to change his opinion:

... Will the present struggle free the slave? No; but they are now wasting away the black race by thousands ...

Treat the slaves kindly and let them live, for Ham must be the servant of servants until the curse is removed. Can you destroy the decrees of the Almighty? You cannot. Yet our Christian brethren think they are going to overthrow the sentence of the Almighty upon the seed of Ham. They cannot do that, though they may kill them by thousands and tens of thousands.¹⁰⁸

[p.75]President Young's confidence may have stemmed from more than his interpretation of the curse on Ham. Mormon discourses during the Civil War convey the impression that the Saints did not anticipate the United States surviving the war. Rather the conflict was to spread until it had "poured out upon all nations." Moreover, the expectation was high that the Saints would shortly return to Jackson County and begin work on the New Jerusalem. In such a context the entire slavery debate was somewhat academic.¹⁰⁹

Though war's end found the Mormons still in Utah and the slaves apparently freed, the belief persisted for some time that the peace was to be short-lived, and that the Saints "would most certainly return and build a temple [in Jackson County] before all the generation who were living in 1832, have passed away."¹¹⁰ Brigham Young, in a slight shift of emphasis, acknowledged in 1866 that slavery may have been abolished: "One of the twin relics-slavery-they say, is abolished. I do not, however wish to speak about this; but if slavery and oppression and iron-handed cruelty are not more felt by the blacks today than before, I am glad of it. My heart is pained for that unfortunate race of men."¹¹¹ However, while the war had unexpectedly ended legalized slavery, President Young left no doubt of its impact on the Negro priesthood policy. In the same speech, he affirmed once again, "They will go down to death. And when all the rest of the children have received their blessings in the Holy Priesthood, then that curse will be removed from the seed of Cain, and they will come up and possess the priesthood."

As it became apparent that the war was indeed over, and Congress acted to extend Constitutional rights to all, irrespective of race, the subject of Canaan's curse of servitude disappeared from Mormon discourses. Racial restrictions were eliminated from the constitution of Utah¹¹²; and for the last decade of Brigham Young's presidency, the Negro was less frequently discussed in Mormon discourses. Though in retrospect the Church leadership had misread the implications of the biblical curse, no explanation was put forth for the error. There were more pressing problems at hand, for as one of the "twin relics of barbarism" was eliminated, national attention was turned to the other-polygamy.

Through three decades of discourses, Brigham Young never attributed the policy of priesthood denial to Joseph Smith, nor did he cite the Prophet's translation of the book of Abraham in support of this doctrine. Neither, of course, had he invoked Joseph Smith on the slavery issue. Nor had any other Church leader cited the Prophet in defense of slavery or priesthood denial. It is perhaps not surprising then that shortly after the departure of President Young's authoritative voice, questions arose as to what Joseph Smith had taught concerning the Negro.[p.76]

III

With reference to the [Negro] question President [Joseph F.] Smith remarked he did not know that we could do anything more in such cases than refer to the rulings of Presidents Young, Taylor, Woodruff and other Presidencies on this question ...
Council Minutes, 1908

When John Taylor assumed the leadership of the Church in 1877 there was no real question as to the basic Mormon policy towards Negroes. Brigham Young had made it quite clear that blacks, as descendants of Cain, were not entitled to the priesthood. It shortly became apparent, however, that all the related questions had not been resolved. In fact, decisions made during the next four decades were nearly as critical for modern Church policy on the blacks as those made by Brigham Young.

By virtue of his role as first prophet of the Restoration, Joseph Smith has always been especially revered, and it is a rare Church doctrine that has not been traced, however tenuously, to the Prophet to demonstrate his endorsement. It was therefore no mere curiosity when just two years after Brigham Young's death, a story was circulated that Joseph Smith had taught that blacks could receive the priesthood. As these instructions were allegedly given to Zebedee Coltrin, John Taylor went for a firsthand account.

When presented with the story Coltrin replied that on the contrary Joseph Smith had told him in 1834 that "the Spirit of the Lord saith the Negro had no right nor cannot hold the Priesthood." Though Coltrin acknowledged washing and anointing a Negro, Elijah Abel, in a ceremony in the Kirtland Temple after receiving these instructions, he stated that in so doing he "never had such unpleasant feelings in my life-and I said I never would again Annoint another person who had Negro blood in him. [sic] unless I was commanded by the Prophet to do so." Coltrin did not mention ordaining Abel a seventy (at the direction of Joseph Smith?), but he did state that he was a president of the seventies when the Prophet directed that Abel be dropped because of his "lineage." Abraham Smoot, at whose home the 1879 interview took place, added that he had received similar instructions in 1838.¹¹³

President Taylor reported the account to the Quorum the following week, and Joseph F. Smith disagreed. Abel had not been dropped from the seventies, for Smith had seen his certifications as a seventy issued in 1841 and again in Salt Lake City. Furthermore, Abel had denied that Coltrin "washed and annointed" him but rather stated that Coltrin was the man who originally ordained him a seventy. Moreover, "Brother Abel also states that the Prophet Joseph told him he was entitled to the [p.77]priesthood." Abel's patriarchal blessing was read, verifying among other things that he was an elder in 1836.¹¹⁴

The question under discussion was not whether the Negro should be given the priesthood, but rather what had been the policy under Joseph Smith. Significantly, John Taylor, an apostle under the Prophet for over five years, added no corroboration to the claims of Coltrin or Smoot. Rather, he observed that mistakes had been made in the early days of the Church which had been allowed to stand and concluded that "probably it was so in Brother Abel's case; that he, having been ordained before the word of the Lord was fully understood, it was allowed to remain."¹¹⁵

Abel's case was further complicated by a corollary to the Negro policy. Brigham Young had not viewed the curse on Cain's lineage as limited solely to social and biological factors, and ineligibility to the priesthood; he further believed that blacks should not participate in Mormonism's most important ordinances-the temple ceremonies. To devout Negro Mormons this restriction was even more serious than the policy of priesthood denial, for in Mormon theology these ordinances were necessary for ultimate exaltation in the life hereafter.¹¹⁶ This was not an unexpected restriction for the men, as only Mormon men holding the Melchizedek priesthood were eligible for the ordinances. However, Brigham Young had to appeal directly to the curse on Cain to extend the restriction to black women, for women normally needed only be in "good standing" to gain access to the temple.¹¹⁷ Elijah Abel, the anomalous black who had been ordained to the priesthood, was also excluded by President Young because of the curse.¹¹⁸

Abel was convinced of his right to the priesthood and felt that he should be eligible for the temple ordinances. Consequently, on the death of Brigham Young, he appealed his case to John Taylor. Not only had the Prophet knowingly allowed him to hold the priesthood, Abel argued, but his patriarchal blessing also promised him that he would be "the welding link between the black and white races, and that he should hold the initiative authority by which his race should be redeemed."¹¹⁹ His patriarchal blessing had come close to this sentiment, "Thou shalt be made equal to thy brethren, and thy soul be white in eternity and thy robes glittering; thou shalt save thy thousands, do much good, and receive all the power that thou needest to accomplish thy mission...."¹²⁰ Nonetheless, John Taylor upheld Brigham Young's ruling. Undaunted, Abel repeatedly renewed his application, until Taylor referred the case to the Quorum of the Twelve, who sustained the President's decision.¹²¹ In 1883 John Taylor finally called the 73-year-old Abel on a mission from the Third Quorum, to which he had been ordained some 46 years prior. After a year on his mission, Abel became ill and returned to Utah, where he died, 25 December, 1884.¹²² With Abel's death the Church lost the only [p.78]tangible evidence of priesthood-Negro policy under Joseph Smith.

Even after his death, Abel continued to be a recurring problem for the Church leadership, particularly when they reconsidered Joseph Smith's alleged teachings on the subject. Ten years later Wilford Woodruff was faced with repeated applications for temple ordinances from another black Mormon, Jane James. He eventually took the matter to the Quorum, and asked "the brethren if they had any ideas favorable to her race." Once again Joseph F. Smith pointed out that Elijah Abel had been ordained a seventy "under the direction of the Prophet Smith."¹²³ However, on this occasion a new voice was heard. George Q. Cannon countered with the pronouncement that Joseph Smith had "taught" this doctrine: "That the seed of Cain could not receive the priesthood nor act in any offices of the priesthood until the seed of Abel should come forward and take precedence over Cain's offspring; and that any white man who mingled his seed with that of Cain should be killed, and thus prevent any of the seed of Cain coming in possession of the priesthood."¹²⁴

This is startling information. Even Wilford Woodruff, apostle under the Prophet for five years, had said nothing about Joseph Smith's views. Actually, it was not first-hand information, for when Cannon repeated these sentiments in 1900, it had become, "he understood that the Prophet had said...."¹²⁵ Nor did the latter version include the reference to miscegenation; in the interim Cannon had attributed this idea to John Taylor ("he understood Prest. Taylor to say that if the law of the Lord were administered upon him he would be killed and his offspring").¹²⁶ A more likely origin for these "quotations" was Brigham Young, who expressed similar sentiments on many occasions without reference to Joseph Smith.¹²⁷

Another problem was considered that year. Two Negroes were discovered who had been given the priesthood, and local leaders wanted to know what should be done. Once again George Q. Cannon spoke up: "President Young held to the doctrine that no man tainted with negro blood was eligible to the priesthood; that President Taylor held to the same doctrine, claiming to have been taught it by the Prophet Joseph Smith." President Snow expressed the thought that the subject needed further consideration, to which Cannon replied "that as he regarded it the subject was really beyond the pale of discussion, unless he, President Snow, had light to throw upon it beyond what had already been imparted."¹²⁸

Perhaps more than any other during this time, George Q. Cannon's confident pronouncements influenced Church decisions on the Negro. At his instigation, a "white" woman formerly married to a Negro was denied the sealing rites to her second husband because it would be "unfair" to admit the mother but not her daughters by the previous marriage and [p.79]because "Prest. Cannon thought, too, that to let down the bars in the least on this question would only tend to complications."¹²⁹ Similarly, Cannon on another occasion was instrumental in a decision that denied the priesthood to a white man who had married a black woman.¹³⁰

Notwithstanding George Q. Cannon's assertions, the Council was never presented with a direct quotation from Joseph Smith nor is there any record of Presidents Taylor or Wilford Woodruff (both apostles under Joseph Smith) citing the Prophet as author of the priesthood policy. There are, however, records of several meetings where the Prophet was discussed in relation to the priesthood-Negro matter, and in which they did not attribute the doctrine to Joseph Smith. Lorenzo Snow, who asked Brigham Young about the "Africans" in 1849, and who received at some point a lengthy explanation of the subject from Young, also avoided attributing the doctrine to Joseph Smith.¹³¹

Joseph F. Smith, on becoming president of the Church in 1901, faced problems similar to those of his predecessors. In discussing eligibility for the priesthood in 1902, Smith reviewed the rulings of Brigham Young and John Taylor, and once again remarked that Elijah Abel had been "ordained a seventy and received his patriarchal blessing in the days of the Prophet Joseph."¹³² In 1908 the Council heard President Smith recount the story for at least the fourth time-but this time the story was different. Though Abel had been ordained a seventy, "this ordination was declared null and void by the Prophet himself."¹³³ With this statement the "problem" of Elijah Abel was finally put to rest. Why Joseph F. Smith should come forth with this information after testifying to the contrary for nearly thirty years remains a mystery. Perhaps he was influenced by others who by then had invoked Joseph Smith on behalf of the priesthood policy for nearly twenty years¹³⁴ and who were now citing the book of Abraham as a major justification for the policy. Perhaps his memory lapsed, for he erred in other parts of the account as well: he contradicted his earlier (correct) report that Abel was ordained by Zebedee Coltrin, and he further said that Presidents "Young, Taylor, and Woodruff" had all denied Abel the temple ordinances, even though Woodruff did not become president until five years after Abel's death. Beyond the historical inconsistencies, President Smith also described a situation he defined that same year as a doctrinal impossibility. In answering "whether a man's ordination to the priesthood can be made null and void, and he still be permitted to retain his membership in the Church," President Smith wrote that "once having received the priesthood it cannot be taken ... except by transgression so serious that they must forfeit their standing in the Church."¹³⁵

With Abel out of the way, the Prophet Joseph Smith increasingly became the precedent-maker for priesthood denial. In 1912 George Q. Cannon's second-hand account of the Prophet's views was cited in a First [p.80]Presidency letter on Church policy¹³⁶; and slightly over a decade later Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith could write, simply but definitively, "It is true that the negro race is barred from holding the Priesthood, and this has always been the case. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught this doctrine, and it was made known to him....¹³⁷

A second emerging theme can be traced almost in parallel with the beliefs concerning Joseph Smith. Writing in the Contributor in 1885, B. H. Roberts had speculated on the background of the priesthood restriction on blacks, and drew heavily on the recently canonized Pearl of Great Price:

Others there were, who may not have rebelled against God [in the war in heaven], and yet were so indifferent in their support of the righteous cause of our Redeemer, that they forfeited certain privileges and powers granted to those who were more valiant for God and correct principle. We have, I think, a demonstration of this in the seed of Ham. The first Pharaoh-patriarch-king of Egypt was a grandson of Ham: ..." [Noah] cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood ..."

Now, why is it that the seed of Ham was cursed as pertaining to the Priesthood? Why is it that his seed "could not have right to the Priesthood?" Ham's wife was named "Egyptus, which in the Chaldaic signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden; ... and thus from Ham sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land." ... Was the wife of Ham, as her name signifies, of a race which those who held the Priesthood were forbidden to intermarry? Was she a descendant of Cain, who was cursed for murdering his brother? And was it by Ham marrying her, and she being saved from the flood in the ark, that "the race which preserved the curse in the land" was perpetuated? If so, then I believe that race is the one through which it is ordained those spirits that were not valiant in the great rebellion in heaven should come; who through their indifference or lack of integrity to righteousness, rendered themselves unworthy of the Priesthood and its powers, and hence it is withheld from them to this day."¹³⁸

Several years later George Q. Cannon repeated the essentials of this explanation (excluding the references to the preexistence) in the Juvenile Instructor,¹³⁹ and by 1900 Cannon was citing the Pearl of Great Price in First Presidency discussions.¹⁴⁰ This explanation appeared again in the Millennial Star in 1903¹⁴¹ and in Liahona, the Elders' Journal in 1908.¹⁴² Additional allusions were also evident in First Presidency and Council discussions,¹⁴³ and by 1912 this relatively new argument had become a [p.81]foundation of Church policy. Responding to the inquiry, "Is it a fact that a Negro cannot receive the priesthood, and if so, what is the reason?" The First Presidency wrote, "You are referred to the Pearl of Great Price, Book of Abraham, Chapter 1, verses 26 and 27, going to show that the seed of Ham was cursed as pertaining to the priesthood; and that by reason of this curse they have no right to it."¹⁴⁴

When fully developed the Pearl of Great Price argument went as follows: Cain became black after murdering his brother Abel; among his descendants were a people of Canaan who warred on their neighbors, and were also identified as black.¹⁴⁵ Ham, Noah's son, married Egyptus, a descendant of this Cain-Canaan lineage; Cain's descendants had been denied the priesthood, and thus Ham's descendants were also denied the priesthood. This was confirmed in the case of Pharaoh, a descendant of Ham and Egyptus, and of the Canaanites, and who was denied the priesthood; the modern Negro was of this Cain-Ham-lineage, and therefore was not eligible for the priesthood.¹⁴⁶

Actually a careful reading of the Pearl of Great Price reveals that the books of Moses and Abraham fall far short of so explicit an account. Negroes, for instance, are never mentioned. Though Cain's descendants are identified as black at one point before the Flood, they are never again identified. The people of Canaan are not originally black and are thus unlikely candidates for Cain's "seed." There is no explicit statement that Ham's wife was "Egyptus"; rather the account reads that there was a woman "who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus." In patriarchal accounts this would not necessarily imply a literal daughter, as individuals are not infrequently referred to as sons or daughters of their grandparents or even more remote ancestors. Within Abraham's own account an "Egyptus" is later referred to as the "daughter of Ham," and the Pharaoh who has been identified as "Egyptus' eldest son" is elsewhere seemingly the son of Noah. Moreover, the book of Moses records that Ham was a man of God prior to the Flood, and that the daughters of the sons of Noah were "fair." The effort to relate Pharaoh to the antediluvian people of Canaan is especially strained, for in characterizing Pharaoh as a descendant of Egyptus and the "Canaanites" there is no suggestion that this latter group was any other than the people of Canaan descended from Ham's son, Canaan (who also had been cursed).¹⁴⁷

How then was the Pearl of Great Price put to such ready use in defense of the policy of priesthood denial to Negroes? Very simply, the basic belief that a lineage could be traced from Cain through the wife of Ham to the modern Negro had long been accepted by the Church, independently of the Pearl of Great Price. It was a very easy matter to read this belief into that scripture, for if one assumes that there was a unique continuous lineage extending from Cain and Ham to the present [p.82]and that this is the lineage of the contemporary Negro, then it must have been accomplished essentially as B. H. Roberts proposed.

A better question is, why wasn't the Pearl of Great Price invoked earlier on this matter?¹⁴⁸ Most probably there was no need. The notion that the Negroes were descended from Cain and Ham was initially common-enough knowledge that no "proof" or corroboration of this connection had been necessary. This belief remained in evidence throughout the nineteenth century, and as late as 1908 a Mormon author could write: "That the negroes are descended from Ham is generally admitted, not only by latterday Saint writers but by historians and students of the scriptures. That they are also descended from Cain is also a widely accepted theory, though the sacred history does not record how this lineage bridged the flood."¹⁴⁹

In reality these ideas were not nearly so widespread at this time as they had been a half century before. Fewer and fewer scientists were subscribing to a literal Flood, and the evidence they presented was convincing an increasing number of laymen that there had not been a general destruction as recently as Genesis suggested. Evolutionary theories even challenged Adam's position as progenitor of the human family. This dwindling "external support" probably accounts in part for the increased attention to the Pearl of Great Price evident during this time, for the traditional beliefs regarding both Cain and the Flood were essential to the Church's Negro doctrine.

The shift of the rationale ("doctrinal basis") for the Negro policy on to firmer or at least more tangible ground developed not only at a time when traditional beliefs concerning Cain and Ham were fading from the contemporary scene, but also as fundamental assumptions concerning the Negro's social and intellectual status were being challenged. Even within the Church this change can easily be identified. As early as 1879 Apostle Franklin D. Richards departed significantly from antebellum Mormon philosophy in a discussion of slavery and the Civil War, "without any argument as to whether slavery should be justified or condemned ... [The Negro's] ancestor said they should be servant of servants among their brethren, making their servitude the fulfilment of prophecy, whether according to the will of God or not."¹⁵⁰ Twenty years later the Church's Deseret News was not only questioning the old notions of racial inferiority but had become somewhat of a champion of Negro political rights.¹⁵¹ An ironic extreme was achieved in 1914 when a Mormon writer for the Millennial Star concluded, "Even the mildest form of slavery can never be tolerated by the one true church.... The slavery of Catholic Rome must be looked upon as one great proof of apostacy."¹⁵² There were reservations, and even in the midst of its "liberal" period, the Deseret News still felt the need for "some wise restrictions in society, that each [p.83]race may occupy the position for which it was designed and is adapted."¹⁵³ Similarly, a seventy's course in theology could quote extensively from "perhaps the most convincing book in justification of the South in denying to the negro race social equality with the white race."¹⁵⁴ However, the very need for "evidence" reveals a significant change from the assumptions of an earlier time.

Notwithstanding the initial failure to cite Joseph Smith on Church Negro policy, there had never been any question among the leadership as to the lineage of the blacks nor of the implications of this genealogy. John Taylor had been editor of the Times and Seasons in 1845 when the "Short Chapter" marked the return of the Church to the "hard line" on the curse of Ham.¹⁵⁵ He accepted the traditional genealogy for the blacks¹⁵⁶ and as president of the Church denied them access to the temple because of their lineage. Also while president, he made the unique observation that this lineage had been preserved through the Flood "because it was necessary that the devil should have a representation upon the earth as well as God...."¹⁵⁷

Wilford Woodruff, an apostle to Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and John Taylor before becoming president, believed fully in the Cain genealogy. At one point he went so far as to cite the "mark of darkness" still visible on the "millions of the descendants of Cain" as evidence for the Bible.¹⁵⁸ As with his two predecessors, Woodruff denied blacks the temple ordinances as one of the "disadvantages ... of the descendants of Cain."¹⁵⁹ Nonetheless he authorized the compromise allowing Jane James into the temple for an unusual sealing ordinance.

Less information is available on Lorenzo Snow. His concern for the subject is reflected in his early inquiry into the "chance of redemption" for the Africans.¹⁶⁰ As a senior apostle he proposed that a man ruled ineligible for the priesthood for marrying a black be allowed "to get a divorce ... and marry a white woman, and he would be entitled then to the priesthood."¹⁶¹ While President of the Church he upheld the decisions of his three predecessors, citing as they had the curse on Cain.¹⁶²

Greater attention was focused on the Negro doctrine while Joseph F. Smith was president than at any time since the presidency of Brigham Young. Though several changes are evident in Mormon teachings during his administration, President Smith relied very heavily on the rulings of his predecessors in determining the fundamentals of Church policy ("he did not know that we could do anything more in such cases than refer to the rulings of Presidents Young, Taylor, Woodruff and other Presidencies ...'').¹⁶³

The most important of the new developments was the incorporation of Joseph Smith and the Pearl of Great Price into the immediate background of the Negro policy. There were also several important decisions. [p.84]In 1902 the First Presidency received an inquiry concerning the priesthood restriction to a man who had one Negro great-grandparent. The basic question was what defined a "Negro" or "descendant of Cain." There were precedents for a decision, and Joseph F. Smith recounted that Brigham Young applied the restriction to those with any "Negro blood in their veins." Even so, Apostle John Henry Smith "remarked that it seemed to him that persons in whose veins the white blood predominated should not be barred from the temple." It is not clear exactly what Apostle Smith had in mind, but if he meant cases in which there were more Caucasian grandparents, for instance, than Negro, he would have been much more liberal in his definitions than the vast majority of his contemporaries.¹⁶⁴ It had long been the peculiar notion of American whites that a person whose appearance suggested any Negro ancestry was to be considered a Negro, notwithstanding the fact that perhaps fifteen of his sixteen great-great-grandparents were Caucasians. This was particularly so if it were known that there was a black ancestor. Theoretically, the presence of a "cursed lineage" should have been discernible to a Church patriarch. However, a previous Council had already been faced with a problem which arose when a patriarch assigned a man of "some Negro blood" to the lineage of Ephraim.¹⁶⁵ Joseph F. Smith's answer to the proposal by Apostle John Henry Smith was unusually revealing:

President Smith ... referred to the doctrine taught by President Brigham Young which he (the speaker) said he believed in himself, to the effect that the children of Gentile parents, in whose veins may exist a single drop of the blood of Ephraim, might extract all the blood of Ephraim from his parents' veins, and be actually a full-blooded Ephraimite. He also referred to the case of a man named Billingsby, whose ancestors away back married an Indian woman, and whose descendants in every branch of his family were pure whites, with one exception, and that exception was one pure blooded Indian in every branch of the family. The speaker said he mentioned this case because it was in line with President Young's doctrine on the subject; and the same had been found to be the case by stockmen engaged in the improvement of breeds. Assuming, therefore, this doctrine to be sound, while the children of a man in whose veins may exist a single drop of negro blood, might be entirely white, yet one of his descendants might turn out to be a pronounced negro. And the question in President Smith's mind was, when shall we get light enough to determine each case on its merits? He gave it as his opinion that in all cases where the blood of Cain showed itself, however [p.85]slight, the line should be drawn there; but where children of tainted people were found to be pure Ephraimites, they might be admitted to the temple. This was only an opinion, however; the subject would no doubt be considered later.¹⁶⁶

By 1907 the First Presidency and Quorum had reconsidered, and ruled that "no one known to have in his veins negro blood, (it matters not how remote a degree) can either have the priesthood in any degree or the blessings of the temple of God; no matter how otherwise worthy he may be."¹⁶⁷ The doctrinal concept related by Joseph F. Smith is virtually identical to the now outdated theory of "genetic throwback." Though once a widely accepted phenomena, modern geneticists doubt that such cases ever existed.¹⁶⁸

Another important decision made during this period involved missionary work. Under the Prophet Joseph Smith the Church repeatedly claimed that its mission was to everyone, and in the year of the Prophet's death over 500 missionaries were set apart to carry forth the gospel. The trials faced by the Saints after 1844 were such that it was nearly fifty years until that level was again attained. Nonetheless, under Brigham Young the Church's universal call was a common theme, and this was particularly the case in the days prior to the Civil War.¹⁶⁹

Notwithstanding Joseph Smith's early instructions and the concern under Brigham Young that the gospel at least symbolically be carried to all nations a new understanding was evident after 1900. A former South African Mission president reported an unusual problem. "An old native missionary" had been converted to Mormonism and was anxious to begin missionary work among the natives, as was the recently converted son of a Zulu chief. Should the gospel be preached to native tribes? The Quorum in response cited rulings of the First Presidency that "our elders should not take the initiative in proselyting among the negro people."¹⁷⁰ The rationale was set forth in response to an inquiry from another South African mission president who wrote in 1910 to ask if "a promiscuously bred white and Negro" could be "baptized for his dead," adding that "he did not wish it to be inferred that he and his fellow missionaries were directing their work among the blacks, as they were not, he having instructed the elders to labor among the white race."¹⁷¹ In reply the First Presidency noted the policy of discrimination and stated, "this is as it should be, and we trust that this understanding will be clearly had by all of our missionaries laboring in South Africa, and who may be called there hereafter. In the Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price) Chapter 7, verse 12, we learn that Enoch in his day called upon all the people to repent save the people of Canaan, and it is for us to do likewise."¹⁷² Once instituted this policy remained in effect for over fifty years.

What of Negroes being baptized for the dead? President Smith could [p.86]see "no reason why a negro should not be permitted to have access to the baptismal font in the temple to be baptized for his dead, inasmuch as negroes are entitled to become members of the Church by baptism." Consequently, the First Presidency informed the mission president that while it was not the current practice, they did not "hesitate to say that Negroes may be baptized and confirmed" for the dead.¹⁷³ With this the temple was once again opened to Negro Mormons.

One additional area of doctrinal import was considered during this period. In spite of Brigham Young's statement to the contrary, the notion that the curse on Negroes was somehow related to their relative neutrality in the War in Heaven had gained popularity. It was evident in B. H. Roberts's Contributor article in 1885, and by 1912 the idea was being advanced by many elders as Church doctrine. In response to an inquiry as to the authority for this belief, the First Presidency wrote, "there is no revelation, ancient or modern, neither is there any authoritative statement by any of the authorities of the Church ... [in support of the idea] that the negroes are those who were neutral in heaven at the time of the great conflict or war, which resulted in the casting out of Lucifer and those who were led by him."¹⁷⁴ An explanation based solely on an ancestral connection still must have been unsatisfying, for the Presidency later wrote, "Our preexistence, if its history were fully unfolded, would no doubt make the subject much plainer to our understanding than it is shown at present."¹⁷⁵

Though most studies of the Church's Negro policy ignore the decades from 1880 to 1920, it is apparent that few periods have been as important for modern Church teachings. During this time the Church adjusted to the effective loss of two external rationales for the priesthood policy-the general acceptance of the Negro's biblical lineage and his inherent inferiority. In their place were introduced the much more substantial evidences of the Pearl of Great Price, and the increasing weight (or inertia) of Church rulings that could now be traced through six presidents to the very earliest days of the Restoration. In addition the policy had been elaborated and refined to such a point that no real modifications were felt necessary for nearly fifty years.

IV

The attitude of the Church with reference to Negroes remains as it has always stood.
The First Presidency, 1949

No major changes in Church Negro policy were evident during the second quarter of the twentieth centu