Colonists
Citizens
Constitutions

Cat. 26

Deseret Constitution of 1872

Curator Commentary
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In the 1840s, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) began to settle near the Great Salt Lake. They proposed joining the federal union as the state of Deseret, a name taken from the Book of Mormon that means “honeybee.” Mormons had moved west to escape persecution for their religious beliefs, and in their proposed constitutions they pledged to uphold religious toleration. However, Congress refused to grant statehood until the LDS Church renounced the practice of polygamy. Utah did not enter the union until 1896.

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