A Mormon History Bleg

Do you know of any good source dealing with Mormon attitudes toward and/or involvement in the Spanish-American War? Please give me your ideas in the comments. Thanks!

10 comments for “A Mormon History Bleg

  1. You may know of these already, but this is where I’d start:

    Walker, Ronald W. “Sheaves, Bucklers, and the State: Mormon Leaders Respond to the Dilemmas of War.” Sunstone 7 (July-Aug. 1982):43-56.

    Quinn, Michael. “The Mormon Church and the Spanish-American War: An End to Selective Pacifism.” Dialogue 17 (4) Winter 1984: 11-30.

  2. The Richard Whitehead Young Papers at the UofU would give you some perspective from a military participant. RWY wrote a lot of articles for the Contributor concerning Mormons and military events — I don’t recall whether any of them dealt with the Spanish-American War, but it’s worth checking.

    You should also read Conference talks for the period, especially the one where Brigham Young, Jr. objected to Mormon involvement, and responses by others who supported it. Those talks are undoubtedly cited in the Walker and/or Quinn articles.

  3. I have a book at home on minorities using the patriotism and military service as a way establishing their claim to be fully American, and Mormons in the Spanish-American war and WWI were one of the case studies, if I recall. I’ll take a look.

  4. I have no idea if it is any good, but James Magnum published “The Spanish-American and Philippine Wars” in the RSC Published (2006), Nineteenth-Century Saints at War.

    Michael Hunter, “The Youngs at West Point,” Pioneer (Summer 2002), 26-31 also appears to have some details about the war.

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