The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Those formative years of a growing but bewildered new religion are sources of inspiration (and sometimes controversy) for Latter-day Saints. In the Nauvoo period in particular, Latter-day Saints explore the assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith mostly as it relates to the Saints' eventual exodus to the West, leaving behind the more nuanced circumstances of who and why. Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith lets the reader linger and learn some of those nuances.
To begin with, I greatly underappreciated how much politics played into the assassination of Joseph Smith. Although he had declared himself to be a candidate for President of the United States of America, the real political forces working toward his demise were local. With the Saints' growing population in Nauvoo and by extension Hancock County, Illinois, the "old citizens" became increasingly worried over the shifting political balance. It is the nature of a democratic government to reflect the majority of those it governs. Therefore, with more Mormons comes more Mormon public officials or those sympathetic to Mormon interests. Although religious bigotry and persecution was clearly an element of the Saints' eventual expulsion, the more interesting story—in my opinion—is how those anti-Mormon feelings fed into political agitation and upheaval.
Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill's recreation of the conspirator's trial doesn't exactly explode off the page but was enthralling nonetheless. As mentioned earlier, well-known and much discussed Mormon history pivots after the martyrdom to the Western epoch and essentially leaves the fallout of the assassination to a small coterie of interested scholars. As a Latter-day Saint, I genuinely had no idea what the outcome of the trial would be, albeit I had my suspicions. As with any history, the true but refined version we're usually presented immediately becomes more subtle and opaque as you read the words of multiple witnesses—many of which had competing accounts to tell and disparate interests to protect. The trial is the central focus of the book and the periodic commentaries from the authors is instructive. In order to understand this trial, the reader must appreciate the workings of criminal law and the cultural influences of a different time and place.
Carthage Conspiracy is not for the layman when it comes to Mormon history. Although the authors attempt to provide as much background as possible to the events discussed, I imagine it would be difficult for a non-Mormon with little knowledge of the Mormon Church and its history to be able to understand or care much about what this book explores. I don't fault the authors for this since attempting to truly explain the origins of Mormon history and culture would be far too onerous for a book with a deliberately limited scope. I would think and hope that others who do have a background in Latter-day Saint history and culture would be able to enjoy this book. Although some may be turned off or confused by the commentaries on legal theory and practice, I found it utterly fascinating and appreciate this treatise as a lovely addition to my growing collection of books related to Latter-day Saint history.
Carthage Conspiracy is an exploration of a mostly unknown moment in human history (even for Latter-day Saints), which is of most interest to a very small group of people. It is nonetheless worth reading, especially for Latter-day Saints. We honor the man who was assassinated, but what became of his accused assassins? Carthage Conspiracy provides the answer and pushes the reader on to many more compelling questions.
Other Topics of Interest:
Reflections: Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
Reflections: The Lord's Way
Reflections: Enoch the Prophet