Footnotes
See “Editorial Method”.
See 1 Corinthians 1:25; and 2 Corinthians 12:9.
This refers to the political and economic distress United States citizens suffered during the nationwide recession that followed the financial panics of 1837 and 1839. (See Letter from Edward Hunter, 10 May 1842; Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 13 May 1842; and Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 549, 557, 574–575.)
Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
At this time, the British Empire controlled significant portions of Asia and Africa. British imperialism resulted in oppression, enslavement, and violence for many under the empire’s rule. (See Oxford History of the British Empire, 3:1–25; and Smith, British Imperialism, 50–55, 85–87.)
The Oxford History of the British Empire. Vol. 3, The Nineteenth Century. Edited by Andrew Porter. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Smith, Simon C. British Imperialism, 1750–1970. Cambridge Perspectives in History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Chartism, O’Connellism, and Radicalism were political movements in England in the 1840s that focused on helping the working classes. O’Connellism, named for Irish nationalist Daniel O’Connell, called for Catholic emancipation and other reforms. In contrast, Radicalism and Chartism emphasized electoral reform, especially universal suffrage. (See Chase, Chartism, chaps. 6–7; Murphy, American Slavery, Irish Freedom, 1–23; and Evans, Parliamentary Reform, chap. 5.)
Chase, Malcom. Chartism: A New History. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 2007.
Murphy, Angela F. American Slavery, Irish Freedom: Abolition, Immigrant Citizenship, and the Transatlantic Movement for Irish Repeal. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2010.
Evans, Eric J. Parliamentary Reform, c. 1770–1918. Seminar Studies in History. New York: Routledge, 2000.
Although the author portrayed Britain as being under threat, the threats to the stability of the British Empire at this time were minor. Several contemporaneous articles in local Illinois papers related developments in Europe and emphasized the unrest in Canada, Ireland, and Afghanistan, as well as Britain’s war with China. (See “Canada,” Wasp, 4 June 1842, [3]; “More Riots in Canada,” Wasp, 13 Aug. 1842, [3]; “Important Intelligence from Europe,” Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 6 May 1842, [2]; “Riots in Ireland,” Wasp, between 30 July and 4 Aug. 1842, [4]; and “The War of England upon China,” Quincy [IL] Whig, 2 Apr. 1842, [1].)
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.
By this time, King Louise Philippe of France had survived several assassination attempts—many from Bonapartist sympathizers—including a broadly publicized attempt in 1835 that left twenty-two others dead. Although the king was regarded as a reformer and an unpretentious ruler, an economic crisis in 1847 led to the revolution of 1848 and his abdication. (See Jardin and Tudesq, Restoration and Reaction, xii–xvi, 191–204; and Margadant, “Gender, Vice, and the Political Imaginary in Postrevolutionary France,” 1461–1496.)
Jardin, Andre, and Andre-Jean Tudesq. Restoration and Reaction, 1815–1848. Translated by Elborg Forster. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Margadant, Jo Burr. “Gender, Vice, and the Political Imaginary in Postrevolutionary France: Reinterpreting the Failure of the July Monarchy, 1830–1848.” American Historical Review 104, no. 5 (Dec. 1999): 1461–1496.
The Ottoman Empire was founded by Osman I in the late thirteenth century and conquered the Byzantine Empire in 1453. The empire was at its height under sultan Suleiman I, known as Suleiman the Magnificent, who ruled in the sixteenth century. His reign was remarkable not only for significant territorial gains in the Balkans, Europe, and North Africa, but also for important legislative reforms and artistic and literary developments. Much of this success and stability continued into the seventeenth century. In the mid-eighteenth century, however, the Ottoman Empire suffered military defeats as the Hapsburg and Russian empires grew stronger, and Egyptian armies seized Syria from Ottoman control. (See Inalcik and Quataert, Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, xviii–xxiii; Kafadar, Between Two Worlds, 118–150; and Aksan, Ottoman Wars, xvi–xvii, 83–179.)
Inalcik, Halil, and Donald Quataert, eds. An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300–1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Kafadar, Cemal. Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the Ottoman State. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.
Aksan, Virginia H. Ottoman Wars, 1700–1870: An Empire Besieged. New York: Routledge, 2013.
Spain experienced a divisive war over monarchical succession, called the First Carlist War, from 1833 to 1840. The war was particularly devastating for the Basque population and their regional economy. In 1840, following the war, General Baldomero Espartero was made regent. His authoritarian military rule, which included the military occupation of the Basque country, led to uprisings and rebellions. Espartero was deposed in 1843. (See Lawrence, Spain’s First Carlist War, 13–20; Coverdale, Basque Phase of Spain’s First Carlist War, 3–10; and Carr, Spain, 210–227.)
Lawrence, Mark. Spain’s First Carlist War, 1833–1840. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
Coverdale, John F. The Basque Phase of Spain’s First Carlist War. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984.
Carr, Raymond. Spain, 1808–1939. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966.
In 1839–1840, warfare between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire engulfed Syria, as the Ottoman Empire tried to reoccupy territory in Syria that had been lost to Egyptian control in the early 1830s. Although Western European allies aided the weakened Ottoman Empire, this war further destabilized the region, leading to years of conflict in Syria and Lebanon between Maronite Christians and the Druze, an ethnoreligious minority in the Levant. (See Aksan, Ottoman Wars, 388–407; and Dana, Druze in the Middle East, 6–8.)
Aksan, Virginia H. Ottoman Wars, 1700–1870: An Empire Besieged. New York: Routledge, 2013.
Dana, Nissim. The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity, and Status. Brighton, England: Sussex Academic Press, 2003.
This refers to China’s resistance and its losses in 1842 during the Anglo-Chinese War, or First Opium War, which lasted from 1839 to 1842. As the Qing Dynasty of China sought to suppress the sale of opium by primarily British merchants, long-standing tensions stemming from trade imbalances between the two countries rose to the point of hostilities. By 1842, British naval forces had captured several key cities. Ultimately, the Chinese emperor agreed to a peace treaty with the British that granted the British commercial privileges, including new treaty ports, and the island of Hong Kong. (See Mao, Qing Empire, 10–17, 392–432; and Lin, China Upside Down, 74–96.)
Mao Haijian. The Qing Empire and the Opium War: The Collapse of the Heavenly Dynasty. Translated by Joseph Lawson, Peter Lavelle, and Craig Smith. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Lin, Man-houng. China Upside Down: Currency, Society, and Ideologies, 1808–1856. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2006.
These examples related to conflicts over governance, in many cases involving violence as a region or country attempted to gain independence from another country. The most visible of these conflicts for church members was the one between Texas and Mexico. Several articles in the Wasp informed Nauvoo residents of developments in Texas. (See “Late from Texas,” Wasp, 16 Apr. 1842, [3]; Editorial, Wasp, 14 May 1842, [3]; and “Latest from Texas,” Wasp, 25 June 1842, [4].)
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
See Luke 21:25.
See Isaiah 2:4; and Micah 4:3.
See Jeremiah 10:23.
See Genesis 6:14–16; and Hebrews 11:7.
See Hebrews 8:5; 9:23.
See Exodus chaps. 25–28.
See 2 Chronicles chaps. 3–5.
See 1 Kings 4:29–34; 5:12–13.
See Ezra 1:1–2; 5:12; and Isaiah 45:1.