History of the Saints

The Latter-day Saints and the Civil War Part 2: Public Opinion

The Civil War swept up the United States and poured forth hate and destruction across the continent. It forever altered the United States, ideologically and politically. More than 1 million casualties resulted from the war, with soldier deaths estimated between 600,000 and 800,000. The war even reached into the American West and involved those states and territories around Utah. Yet Utah as a territory and as a people, for the most part, sat out the war - watched from the sidelines. The question is - why? It may be shocking for some to realize, but the Latter-day Saints of 1861 were suspected of being secessionists - just like Southerners. This episode describes the low opinion the nation had of the Latter-day Saints.