When the Mormons Rebelled Against America

American History Hit

History Hit

History, America

4.3 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2026

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Driven from the United States, the Mormons journeyed West to build a new society in the desert- one that would challenge the political, economic, and moral norms of the nation they had left behind. But when the United States lay claim to the Utah Territory, a tense standoff developed between the two sides...

Our guest today is Prof. Peter Coviello, University of Illinois, who studies American literature and queer theory. His book, Make Yourselves Gods: Mormons and the Unfinished Business of American Secularism was published in 2019 and was a finalist for the John Whitmer Historical Association award for best history book.

Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Tomos Delargy. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Want to explore even more history? Sign up to History Hit, where you will discover history from around the world.
0:07.1	From the American Revolution to prehistoric Scotland, there is plenty to discover. With your subscription, you'll unlock hundreds of hours of exclusive documentaries, with a brand new release every week, exploring everything from the ancient
0:22.4	world to World War II. Just visit history hit.com slash subscribe to bring the past alive.
0:31.8	First, it's clouds of dust, thin, far away. Then on the horizon, a line takes shape. Wagons,
0:41.4	uniforms, cavalry, an army with a mission. The United States is coming. In Salt Lake City,
0:51.6	Brigham Young gives the order. No pitched battles, no glorious stand.
0:57.4	Scorch the grass, empty the outposts, scatter the herds.
1:02.1	This army must march into a void.
1:06.1	Better to destroy Zion than to surrender it.
1:10.0	This is no rebellion of the standard variety, more like a noose
1:14.9	tightening on these troops, begging the question, whose land is this? Those who came to build a kingdom,
1:22.9	or the nation they left behind, now marching to claim it as theirs. The Mormon Rebellion is about to begin.
1:33.5	I'm Don Wildman, and this is American History Hit. To help tell us more about this important event,
1:39.8	we welcome Professor Peter Covello of the University of Illinois. His book, Make Yourselves Gods,
1:46.0	Mormons and the Unfinished Business of American Secularism, was a finalist for the John
1:50.9	Whitmer Historical Association Award for Best History Book.
2:07.2	Hello, Peter, welcome back. Nice to see you again.
2:09.7	Don, it's a pleasure to see you. Thank you for having me.
2:13.6	You were last with us in 2003, another world ago.
2:15.1	300 episodes ago. Another world ago.
2:15.9	Yeah. Check the archives for episode 86, Mormons and the founding of Salt Lake City, in which
2:21.7	we discussed, Peter and I, the origins and western migrations of those people called
	...

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