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Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act

1862 federal enactment of the US Congress

Summary

1862 federal enactment of the US Congress

Field	Value
shorttitle	Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
longtitle	A bill to punish and prevent the Practice of Polygamy in the Territories of the United States and other Places, and disapproving and annulling certain Acts of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah.
nickname	Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act of 1862
enacted by	37th
effective date	July 1, 1862
cite public law
cite statutes at large
title amended
sections created
introducedin	House
introducedbill
introducedby	Justin Smith Morrill (R–VT)
introduceddate	April 9, 1862
committees	House Judiciary, Senate Judiciary
passedbody1	House
passeddate1	April 28, 1862
passedvote1	119-28
passedbody2	Senate
passedas2
passeddate2	June 3, 1862
passedvote2	37-2
agreedbody3	House
agreeddate3	June 24, 1862
agreedvote3	Passed Voice Vote
agreedbody4
agreeddate4
agreedvote4
signedpresident	Abraham Lincoln
signeddate	July 1, 1862
unsignedpresident
unsigneddate
vetoedpresident
vetoeddate
overriddenbody1
overriddendate1
overriddenvote1
overriddenbody2
overriddendate2
overriddenvote2

| cite statutes at large = The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act (37th United States Congress, Sess. 2., ch. 126, ) was a federal enactment of the United States Congress that was signed into law on July 1, 1862, by President Abraham Lincoln. Sponsored by Justin Smith Morrill of Vermont, the act banned bigamy in federal territories such as Utah and limited church and non-profit ownership in any territory of the United States to $50,000.

The act targeted the Mormon practice of plural marriage and the property dominance of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in the Utah Territory. The measure had no funds allocated for enforcement, and Lincoln chose not to enforce this law; instead Lincoln gave Brigham Young tacit permission to ignore the Morrill Act in exchange for not becoming involved with the Civil War. General Patrick Edward Connor, commanding officer of the federal forces garrisoned at Fort Douglas, Utah beginning in 1862, was explicitly instructed not to confront the Mormons over this or any other issue.

The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act was amended in 1882 by the Edmunds Act, and then again in 1887 by the Edmunds–Tucker Act.

Enforcement

Enforcement of these acts started in July 1887. The issue went to the Supreme Court in the case Late Corp. of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States that upheld the Edmunds–Tucker Act on May 19, 1890. Among other things, the act disincorporated the LDS Church. Within five months, the LDS Church officially discontinued the practice of plural marriage with the 1890 Manifesto. On October 25, 1893, a congressional resolution authorized the release of assets seized from the LDS Church because, "said church has discontinued the practice of polygamy and no longer encourages or gives countenance to any manner of practices in violation of law, or contrary to good morals or public policy."

Effect

The enforcement of the acts led to prosecution of many Latter-day Saints in Utah Territory. Following the passage of the Edmunds Act, bigamy or plural marriage was a crime punishable by 6 months in prison and a fine of $300. Many Latter-day Saints engaged in plural marriage were forced into hiding to avoid prosecution.

In 1890, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement known as the 1890 Manifesto. The Manifesto declared that the Church would no longer teach the practice of plural marriage, and that no members would be allowed to enter into new plural marriages.

References

link. (October 21, 2017 , page 501. ''A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: US Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1875''. The Library of Congress. Accessed 18 May 2006.)
(2001). "Zion in the courts". University of Illinois Press.
Jt. Res 11., 53d Cong., 1st Sess., 28 Stat. 980
"The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage".
"Official Declaration 1".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1862-in-christianity 1862-in-american-law 19th-century-mormonism united-states-legislation-about-religion christianity-and-law-in-the-19th-century history-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints utah-territory united-states-federal-territory-and-statehood-legislation united-states-law-and-polygamy-in-mormonism 37th-united-states-congress

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