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Discourse, 7 March 1844–B, as Reported by Willard Richards

Source Note

JS, Discourse, [
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL, 7 Mar. 1844]. Featured version inscribed [ca. 7 Mar. 1844] in JS, Journal, 1842–1844, bk. 4, pp. [22]–[25]; handwriting of
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

View Full Bio
; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, 1842–1844.

Historical Introduction

On 7 March 1844, JS delivered a discourse in
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

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, Illinois, on keeping records of donations for the construction of the
Nauvoo temple

Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...

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, on his presidential campaign, and on the prospect of the
United States

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

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annexing the
Republic of Texas

France established colony in area, 1685. First Spanish settlement created, 1718. After Mexican War of Independence from Spain, 1821, area became part of Mexico and immigration increased. Conflict between Mexican government and Texian residents resulted in...

More Info
. It was the second of two discourses he gave at a meeting held that day at the temple construction site and attended by “six or eight thousand saints.”
1

Discourse, 7 Mar. 1844–A; Woodruff, Journal, 7 Mar. 1844.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

Several other
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
members spoke during the meeting, and JS’s second discourse was the concluding sermon.
2

JS, Journal, 7 Mar. 1844.


JS began his second discourse by reminding the Latter-day Saints of the proper procedures for donating property for the
temple

Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...

More Info
and explaining that those who donated to the building’s construction through the appropriate channels would be the first to participate in
ordinances

A religious rite. JS taught that ordinances were covenants between man and God, in which believers could affirm faith, gain spiritual knowledge, and seek blessings. Some ordinances were considered requisite for salvation. The manner in which ordinances were...

View Glossary
upon its completion. He then spoke regarding his presidential campaign, stating that his candidacy for the presidency of the
United States

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

More Info
was less important to him than his role as the
president

The highest presiding body of the church. An 11 November 1831 revelation stated that the president of the high priesthood was to preside over the church. JS was ordained as president of the high priesthood on 25 January 1832. In March 1832, JS appointed two...

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of the church.
3

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and other church leaders nominated JS as a presidential candidate on 29 January 1844. (Minutes and Discourse, 29 Jan. 1844.)


Nevertheless, he defended his campaign as necessary for the protection of the Saints and their civil rights.
At the end of his sermon, JS addressed two of the most controversial issues in American politics at that time: the expansion of slavery and the proposed annexation of
Texas

France established colony in area, 1685. First Spanish settlement created, 1718. After Mexican War of Independence from Spain, 1821, area became part of Mexico and immigration increased. Conflict between Mexican government and Texian residents resulted in...

More Info
by the
United States

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

More Info
. In the 1820s, thousands of slaveholders started to move from the southern United States to Texas, which was still part of
Mexico

North American nation. Occupied by Mesoamerican civilizations, ca. 800 BC–1526 AD. Conquered by Spanish, 1521, who established Mexico City as new capital on site of Aztec capital Tenochtitlán. Ruled by viceroyalty of New Spain, 1535–1821. Started war for ...

More Info
. After these immigrants and other Texas residents rebelled and formed the independent Republic of Texas in 1836, many of the American immigrants called for their native country to annex the new republic. However, because the annexation of Texas would facilitate the expansion of slavery in the United States, many Americans in the northern states opposed legislation that would bring Texas into the union.
4

Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 658–682.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

In addition, Americans on both sides of the slavery debate, including JS, feared that if the United States did not acquire Texas, then Great Britain might do so, or would at least wield influence in the republic.
5

Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 672. During the late 1830s and early 1840s, Texas leaders received British officials, although it is unclear whether the Texians seriously considered a territorial agreement with Great Britain or instead used the meetings to entice the United States toward annexation.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

They believed that such a scenario portended a threat to American preeminence in North America.
6

Haynes, Unfinished Revolution, chap. 10; Roeckell, “British Opposition to the Annexation of Texas,” 257–278; Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 672.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Haynes, Sam W. Unfinished Revolution: The Early American Republic in a British World. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010.

Roeckell, Lelia M. “Bonds over Bondage: British Opposition to the Annexation of Texas." Journal of the Early Republic 19, no. 2 (Summer 1999): 257–278.

Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

In February 1844, United States secretary of state Abel Upshur worked with Texas officials toward negotiating a peaceful annexation.
7

Greenberg, Wicked War, 15; Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 679.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Greenberg, Amy S. A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico. New York: Knopf, 2012.

Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

In his published political positions, JS had stated that
Texas

France established colony in area, 1685. First Spanish settlement created, 1718. After Mexican War of Independence from Spain, 1821, area became part of Mexico and immigration increased. Conflict between Mexican government and Texian residents resulted in...

More Info
should be welcomed into the union if the republic formally requested annexation. JS had also described his plan to end slavery through manumission but had not stated whether he believed that those freed from slavery should be integrated into American society, as advocated by antislavery radicals such as William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass, or relocated to another country, as proposed by antislavery moderates like
Henry Clay

12 Apr. 1777–29 June 1852. Lawyer, public speaker, professor, statesman, politician. Born in Hanover Co., Virginia. Son of John Clay and Elizabeth Hudson. Episcopalian. Admitted to Virginia bar, Nov. 1797. Moved to Lexington, Fayette Co., Kentucky, Nov. 1797...

View Full Bio
and the American Colonization Society.
8

General Smith’s Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States, ca. 26 Jan.–7 Feb. 1844; Brown, “An Antislavery Journey,” 548; Peterson, Great Triumvirate, 284–286.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Brown, Ira V. “An Antislavery Journey: Garrison and Douglass in Pennsylvania, 1847." Pennsylvania History 67, no. 4 (2000): 532–550.

Peterson, Merrill D. The Great Triumvirate: Webster, Clay, and Calhoun. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.

In this discourse, JS suggested the possibility of relocating formerly enslaved persons to Texas and then to
Mexico

North American nation. Occupied by Mesoamerican civilizations, ca. 800 BC–1526 AD. Conquered by Spanish, 1521, who established Mexico City as new capital on site of Aztec capital Tenochtitlán. Ruled by viceroyalty of New Spain, 1535–1821. Started war for ...

More Info
, where he believed there was less racial discrimination.
9

Antislavery Americans in the nineteenth century were divided on the question of whether those freed from slavery should be allowed to remain in their native states, permitted to move elsewhere in the United States, or sent to another country. For example, the American Colonization Society founded Liberia in western Africa as a home for formerly enslaved persons. JS never stated a definitive plan for those freed from slavery in this regard. (Sinha, Slave’s Cause, 161–171; Burstein and Isenberg, Madison and Jefferson, 576–577, 632–635; see also Historical Introduction to Bond to Elijah Able, 8 Dec. 1839.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Sinha, Manisha. The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2016.

Burstein, Andrew, and Nancy Isenberg. Madison and Jefferson. New York: Random House, 2013.

Apostles

Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...

View Glossary
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

View Full Bio
and
Wilford Woodruff

1 Mar. 1807–2 Sept. 1898. Farmer, miller. Born at Farmington, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of Aphek Woodruff and Beulah Thompson. Moved to Richland, Oswego Co., New York, 1832. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Zera Pulsipher,...

View Full Bio
both took notes on the discourse. Richards recorded the sermon in JS’s journal, and Woodruff recorded it in his own journal. Both accounts of the discourse are featured here.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Discourse, 7 Mar. 1844–A; Woodruff, Journal, 7 Mar. 1844.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 7 Mar. 1844.

  3. [3]

    The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and other church leaders nominated JS as a presidential candidate on 29 January 1844. (Minutes and Discourse, 29 Jan. 1844.)

  4. [4]

    Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 658–682.

    Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

  5. [5]

    Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 672. During the late 1830s and early 1840s, Texas leaders received British officials, although it is unclear whether the Texians seriously considered a territorial agreement with Great Britain or instead used the meetings to entice the United States toward annexation.

    Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

  6. [6]

    Haynes, Unfinished Revolution, chap. 10; Roeckell, “British Opposition to the Annexation of Texas,” 257–278; Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 672.

    Haynes, Sam W. Unfinished Revolution: The Early American Republic in a British World. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010.

    Roeckell, Lelia M. “Bonds over Bondage: British Opposition to the Annexation of Texas." Journal of the Early Republic 19, no. 2 (Summer 1999): 257–278.

    Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

  7. [7]

    Greenberg, Wicked War, 15; Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 679.

    Greenberg, Amy S. A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico. New York: Knopf, 2012.

    Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

  8. [8]

    General Smith’s Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States, ca. 26 Jan.–7 Feb. 1844; Brown, “An Antislavery Journey,” 548; Peterson, Great Triumvirate, 284–286.

    Brown, Ira V. “An Antislavery Journey: Garrison and Douglass in Pennsylvania, 1847." Pennsylvania History 67, no. 4 (2000): 532–550.

    Peterson, Merrill D. The Great Triumvirate: Webster, Clay, and Calhoun. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.

  9. [9]

    Antislavery Americans in the nineteenth century were divided on the question of whether those freed from slavery should be allowed to remain in their native states, permitted to move elsewhere in the United States, or sent to another country. For example, the American Colonization Society founded Liberia in western Africa as a home for formerly enslaved persons. JS never stated a definitive plan for those freed from slavery in this regard. (Sinha, Slave’s Cause, 161–171; Burstein and Isenberg, Madison and Jefferson, 576–577, 632–635; see also Historical Introduction to Bond to Elijah Able, 8 Dec. 1839.)

    Sinha, Manisha. The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2016.

    Burstein, Andrew, and Nancy Isenberg. Madison and Jefferson. New York: Random House, 2013.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Discourse, 7 March 1844–B, as Reported by Willard Richards Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 4, 1 March–22 June 1844 *Discourse, 7 March 1844–B, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [25]

in the teeth.— and if these things are not so— god never spoke with by any prophet sinc[e] the world began.—
I. have been [3 lines blank]
south hold the balanc[e] of power &c— by annexing
Texas

France established colony in area, 1685. First Spanish settlement created, 1718. After Mexican War of Independence from Spain, 1821, area became part of Mexico and immigration increased. Conflict between Mexican government and Texian residents resulted in...

More Info
.— I can do away this evil— liberate 2 or 3 states.
4

After Arkansas and Michigan were admitted as states in 1836 and 1837, respectively, slavery was permitted in thirteen states and prohibited in the thirteen others. (See Scroggs, “Arkansas Statehood,” 234–242.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Scroggs, Jack B. “Arkansas Statehood: A Study in State and National Political Schism." Arkansas Historical Quarterly 20, no. 3 (Autumn 1961): 227–244.

& if that was not suffic[ie]nt. call in
Canida

In late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Canada referred to British colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Divided into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, 1791; reunited 10 Feb. 1841. Boundaries corresponded roughly to present-day Ontario (Upper...

More Info
——
Send the negroes to
Texas

France established colony in area, 1685. First Spanish settlement created, 1718. After Mexican War of Independence from Spain, 1821, area became part of Mexico and immigration increased. Conflict between Mexican government and Texian residents resulted in...

More Info
. fr[o]m
Texas

France established colony in area, 1685. First Spanish settlement created, 1718. After Mexican War of Independence from Spain, 1821, area became part of Mexico and immigration increased. Conflict between Mexican government and Texian residents resulted in...

More Info
to
mexico

North American nation. Occupied by Mesoamerican civilizations, ca. 800 BC–1526 AD. Conquered by Spanish, 1521, who established Mexico City as new capital on site of Aztec capital Tenochtitlán. Ruled by viceroyalty of New Spain, 1535–1821. Started war for ...

More Info
— where all colors are alike.— [p. [25]]
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Discourse, 7 March 1844–B, as Reported by Willard Richards
ID #
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  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. [4]

    After Arkansas and Michigan were admitted as states in 1836 and 1837, respectively, slavery was permitted in thirteen states and prohibited in the thirteen others. (See Scroggs, “Arkansas Statehood,” 234–242.)

    Scroggs, Jack B. “Arkansas Statehood: A Study in State and National Political Schism." Arkansas Historical Quarterly 20, no. 3 (Autumn 1961): 227–244.

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