Joseph Smith Ran For President
One of the most radical things Joseph Smith did that partly led to his assassination was to run for President of the United States, and to be the first one to do so on an anti-slavery platform.
@scriptureplus One of the most radical things Joseph Smith did that partly led to his assassination was to run for President of the United States, and to be the first one to do so on an anti-slavery platform. . After Joseph Smith petitioned every Presidential candidate to help the saints with violence and persecution they were facing, and after each one declined to help, Joseph Smith decided to do it himself by running for President of the United States in 1844. . Besides advocating for religious liberty, he campaigned to end slavery by selling public lands, and reducing the salary of Congress members from $8 to $2 a day, so that the government could purchase the freedom of all enslaved persons. . As you can imagine, taking a jab at Congress and advocating for abolition was not a popular position to take in 1844. I mean, the eventual nominees from both main political parties were slave-owners from the south. Bringing slavery into a presidential campaign at this moment in history was political death. . Joseph Smith was assassinated in June of 1844 so never completed his campaign for the presidency. It’s impossible to know what would have happened if he had lived to see election day, but one source claimed that Joseph Smith’s views on government caught like wildfire and if he “did not get into the Presidential chair this election, he would be sure to the next time.” . To learn about how the Presidential Campaign led to Joseph Smith’s martyrdom, listen to the newest series on the @Church History Matters podcast . . #lds #prolds #churchofjesuschrist #josephsmith #abolition #slavery #juneteenth
