Why Does Pioneer Day Mark a Low Point in Religious Freedom in America?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is that religious freedom applies to all religions and even those people who have no religion. However, it has not always been applied equally.

On September 17, 1787, the U.S. Constitution was signed, and nine states ratified it by June 21, 1788, making it the law of the land. All thirteen states ratified the Constitution by May 29, 1790.

The Bill of Rights – meaning the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution – was written and proposed in 1789; it was ratified on December 15, 1791. The Bill of Rights was created to protect the individual rights of each American as well as to limit the power of the federal government.

Yet, the Mormon Pioneers were not protected when their religious freedom was threatened.

In fact, the Mormon Pioneers chose to leave the United States because they were persecuted for their religion.

Pioneer Day – July 24^th – is an annual commemoration of the day when the first pioneer wagons entered the Salt Lake Valley (Utah) on July 24, 1847. “Days of ‘47” is a huge celebration held in Utah annually.

Latter-day Saints are not the only people who have been persecuted for their religious beliefs, but early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints endured their persecution righteously. The persecution began with Joseph Smith and increased as the Church of Jesus Christ grew. The Latter-day Saints were threatened, raped, murdered, suffered property damage, and more – first in Kirtland, Ohio (1831-1838) and in Missouri (1831-1839) and then in the Nauvoo, Illinois, area (1839-1847).

Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum Smith were assassinated at Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844, and the main body of the Church fled to the Great Basin in 1846-1847. They understood that they had no religious freedom in the United States, so they went to the unsettled western area of North America searching for religious freedom and safety.

However, their safety was short lived.  After the Mexican-American War, the Great Basin area became part of the United States. Federal laws soon threatened religious beliefs as laws against the practice of plural marriage infringed on religious freedom.

Polygamous husbands and fathers were fined and imprisoned. To escape the law, many families went into hiding or again left the United States. Those who left created settlements in Mexico and Canada where they could continue to practice plural marriage.

The members who stayed in the Great Basin continued to be persecuted. Antipolygamy laws disincorporated the Church, allowing Church property to be confiscated.

With the temples being threatened and the work of eternity being stopped, President Wilford Woodruff took the matter to the Lord. Under inspiration from God, President Woodruff wrote and signed the 1890 manifesto that ended plural marriage. Anti-Mormon persecution declined but did not end. Persecution continues to this day by individuals and other religious organizations. However, the United States government has finally recognized that Latter-day Saints have religious freedom.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from the days of Joseph Smith to the present day, fights for religious freedom for all people. Earlier this year, the First Presidency called for a Church-wide fast for religious freedom to be held on July 6, 2026. I was one of millions of members of the Church of Jesus Christ who fasted and prayed to thank God for religious liberty and to plead with God to protect religious freedom for all people.