OPPapers.com

American Massacre

Book Review Assignment:
American Massacre
By Sally Denton

Sally Denton writes a clear document and argument on the events of the Mountain Meadows Massacre in September 1857. Her beliefs and biases on the events that transpired are extremely interesting and thought provoking. She blames the church, specifically Mormons for the bloody and violent attacks that history has been arguing for over a century. With the accusation of John D. Lee's religion being based on hallucination and mind manipulation, Sally Denton puts blame on the church and their beliefs. She sees John. D. Lee as a mass murderer, Brigham Young as a liar, thief, and marauder, and Joseph Smith as greedy and only seeking self-success.
She lays out a bloody history of the Church of Ladder Day Saints, and effectively argues that the slaughter of 120 men, women, and children in Utah was the attempt of Mormons and the Church authorities. While reading her book, she makes good argument that Brigham Young, who was head of the church at the time of the slaughter, is at the head of the crimes and is at sufficient blame for the massacre. She portrays the settlers as violent, taking over cities, and refusing to do business with the non-Mormons. Denton concentrates directly on Brigham Young and the church's violent history, making a good case against the church and its' authorities. Brigham Young's military strategy centered on the Saints' intimate knowledge of the harsh and mountainous terrain that had been their home for a decade, and his Nauvoo Legion set out to block and fortify the mountain passes and canyon narrows that provided the only access from the east into Zion (Denton 114). Brigham Young wanted a militant Zionist religion and manipulated the Mormons and Saints by use of God and religion. Sally Denton uses the diaries and letters of Joseph Smith, who founded the religion, and later took almost all the blame for the massacre. He organized a large group of men who he called,...