Chapter 5: A Brief Respite and a Puzzling Election
After the victorious conclusion of the Battle of Nauvoo, the reigning Quorum of the Twelve did not take moves to extend it's influences further into Illinois, and so both sides subsided into an uneasy peace. The state militia had been proven inferior to the Nauvoo Legion, yet the spokesman for the Church, Brigham Young, repeatedly insisted that all the Church wanted was to be left alone.
With the peace taking effect in Nauvoo, the Quorum of the Twelve began to send out missionaries again, sending many of the Church's finest out to preach of the church's teachings in Europe.[1] Translations of the Book of Mormon and Pearl of Great Price[2] into various languages resumed after being interrupted by the conflict.
Brother Brigham also began meeting with various explorers of the West, including John C Fremont, Jim Bridger, and Federal military officials friendly to the Mormons. Speculation began of Brigham's intentions, and a minor scandal erupted after church funds were found to have been used on supplies such as butter, salt, rope, cloth, wood, and other materials that the Saints had already in abundance. Some thought that Brigham was preparing for a future siege of Nauvoo. Others assumed that Brigham planned to move the Mormons to the Iowa Territory. Yet others thought that the Mormons were preparing to open settlements back in Missouri, in defiance of the Extermination Order of Governor Boggs.
While the Quorum's leaders planned, the larger body of the Saints began rebuilding the destroyed outskirts of Nauvoo, and quietly pressured the last remnants of pro-Bennett Mormons and the small splinter of pro-Strang elements to leave Nauvoo. The followers of Bennett joined with Strang's congregation, and Strang left Illinois completely, citing a letter[3] from Joseph Smith that commanded him to lead the Church in Voree Wisconsin, where he "found" the Voree Plates. After the Strangites left, the main body of Saints resumed construction on
Meanwhile, as 1844 drew to a close, the election of 1844 loomed large in most American minds. James K. Polk campaigned against Henry Clay. Polk campaigned on expansionism, arguing that it was America's destiny to spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He especially pushed for the annexation of Texas. His campaign was well received by slaveholding interests, who saw land ripe for plantations. Clay campaigned on non-interventionism, and even opposed annexing Texas, and pointed to what he called "The Mormon Civil War"[4] as evidence that the United States should not expand while outright war within it's borders was possible. He advocated dealing with disruptive elements within the nation first.
Mormons, though annoyed by Clay's comments labeling them "disruptive", voted for Clay regardless, on the advice of Sidney Rigdon, who stated that "If Polk is elected, we will not be left alone. Clay will want us out of the country, but Polk wants the country and it's mobs to forever surround us, though we go ever westward."
In the end, the Mormon vote for Clay did not spectacularly effect the election, but Clay's comments about improving what the United States already had, along with a backroom deal to ensure that at some expansion would be undertook, swung the election in a different way than could be expected.
In the first week of November, Henry Clay was elected Eleventh President of the United States of America, along with a small number of anti-interventionists. This anti-expansionist sentiment prevented the annexation of Texas, as the former President, John Tyler, had planned.
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[1] By 1844, several countries had missionary efforts going in them, including what is now OTL Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Turkey, OTL Israel, Samoa, and French Polynesia (which was the first place the missionaries preached in a language other than English). Of course, there wasn't widespread missionary efforts in any of those countries except Great Britain, and even then it was rather sparse, even with the great successes of the first few missionaries there.
[2]Another one of the scriptures of the LDS Faith.
[3]There was a real-life letter, but it's since been proven to have been forged. I'm assuming the same in this TL.
[4] Didn't think I could connect the two PoDs together, didja?
