D&C 98-101 I The Saints Get Expelled from Missouri I Come Follow Church History I Lynne Hilton Wilson

Scripture Central

Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 852 Ratings

🗓️ 29 August 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

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Summary

Independence, Missouri, was to be the culmination of the Saints' dreams and revelations for the establishment of Zion in the last days. Many were obedient and gave everything they had to create Zion and others were disobedient and lacked Faith. A number of mistakes were made by the Saints and the Missourians. The results were tragic. What went wrong in Missouri? Was the prophet Joseph Smith wrong about the revelations he received? Why did the Lord send the Saints to Independence, if he knew they would fail? If the failure of the establishment of Zion was due to sin, what sins did the Saints commit that brought them such horrible troubles? As relations between the Saints and the Missourians soured, Jackson County leaders demanded a meeting. At the July 20th meeting, the Jackson County leaders gave the Saints a list of demands: 1) No more Mormonites could settle in Jackson County. 2) Those already in the county must sell their property and leave as soon as possible. 3) Printing of 'The Evening and the Morning Star' must stop immediately. 4) The church storehouse and shops must close as soon as possible. Not knowing exactly what to do and needing to seek the prophet's counsel, Bishop Edward Partridge asked for three month stay to communicate with the Prophet in Ohio. The Missouri leaders refused. In the end, they gave the Bishop fifteen minutes to decide to accept the terms. His unwillingness to obey the order led to him being tarred and feathered in front of the Independence courthouse. The expulsion of the Saints from Missouri had begun. Join Lynne Hilton Wilson and professor Janiece Johnson as they discuss the details behind this exciting and tragic period of Church History. Thank you for joining us at Scripture Central! We hope that you have enjoyed this content.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Janice, what went wrong in Independence, Missouri?
0:03.0	In a three-year period of time, the Saints make up about a third of the county.
0:08.0	This extremely dangerous, hostile environment where lives are being threatened and homes are being burned.
0:16.0	There is political violence, there is religious violence, this is a trail of tears. I think politically they were very worried about losing the vote.
0:23.6	We have a people that need to be tested and tried.
0:27.6	They completely twisted what he said.
0:30.6	Latter-day Saints who are accused of being too welcoming, bringing in people of color.
0:36.6	How did independence become such a city of thugs?
0:40.1	Can they do missionary work among slaves?
0:43.0	The New Jerusalem is coming here.
0:45.0	Zion is going to be built here.
0:46.6	The accusation is that the Latter-day Saints are trying to recruit free people of color to come to Missouri. Twelve houses have their roofs torn off, their farms are burned, their haystacks are burned,
0:59.0	tarring and feathering, they threaten the women and children, destroyed the houses with rocks and stones.
1:04.0	They need to sell their property and leave immediately.
1:07.0	We are a people of peace. We are not to fight back.
1:10.0	And if some of us are not living
1:13.0	the way that we need to, all will be punished. When we do the wrong thing, it can be transformed
1:18.7	for our good.
1:26.0	Hello, welcome back to Scripture Central.
1:28.3	I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson, and today I am so happy to have one of my favorite church historians back.
1:34.3	Janice Johnson is here with us to talk about the historical background behind sections 98 to 101.
1:41.3	We'll be looking at some of these hard questions about Zion, this exile of Jackson
	...

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