The Mysteries of History (April 6 Edition)
Mormon Church Founded; U.S.Enters World War 1
1830 — Mormon Church Founded
public domain image from wikimedia commons
On this date in 1830, Vermont-born Joseph Smith (born 1805) founded what came to be known as the Mormon Church, or the more tedious Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, New York. The new religion soon spread to Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri, but Smith and his brother were murdered by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, in 1844.
The next Mormon leader, Brigham Young (1801-1877), who was also born in Vermont, led the group west, settling in Utah in 1847. At that time, Utah was part of Mexico (the Mormons wanted to get out of the United States due to the persecution they had face there). Utah became a part of the U.S. the next year, though, at the end of the Mexican War (1846-1848) via the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Utah became the 45th State in 1896.
Questions: Why did Smith’s group leave New York? Why did they subsequently leave Missouri, and Illinois? Why did they choose Utah as their “forever home”? Why did they remain in Utah even after it became part of the U.S.?
1917 — U.S. Officially Enters World War 1
public domain image from wikimedia commons
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had been against the U.S. getting involved in “The Great War” (World War 1), but he eventually changed his mind after multiple U.S. seagoing vessels were sunk by German forces. Wilson ultimately convinced Congress to declare war, which they did on this date in 1917, three years after the war had begun in Europe.
Of the two million U.S. soldiers who served during this war, fifty-thousand of them were killed, less than the number (58,000) who died in the Vietnam War. By comparison, the American death toll was 36,000 during the in Korean war, and 405,000 in World War 2.
Questions: Why did the Germans sink American boats and ships? Of those who lived their lives in these sinkings, how many and what percentage of them were civilians? Did the Germans ever offer to make reparations, or were they forced to after they lost the war? What was Adolf Hitler doing during this time and afterwards?
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