Brigham Young and the Railroad Connection
Brigham Young and the Railroad Connection
This chapter covers Brigham Young’s effort to aid and expedite the incorporation of railroads within Mormonism. A background of the Mormon land system, origins and precedents introduces the Plat of Zion devised by Joseph Smith as a model for future Mormon settlement, the elaboration of the priesthood system, and theodemocracy. Following Smith’s plan for a utopic plat, Young reshaped the modes and morphologies of Mormonism with his decision to expand the Plat of Zion to the Great Basin. Three factors increased Mormon interests in the Great Basin: established networks of exchange in the form of missions to area indigenous groups; the single-commodity extractive and manufacturing communities; and the permanent settlements designed for predominantly Mormon residence but diverse economic activity.
Keywords: Brigham Young, railroads within Mormonism, Mormon land system, Plat of Zion, Joseph Smith, priesthood system, theodemocracy, Great Basin, permanent settlements, Mormon residence
North Carolina Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
