The Saints were motivated to move out of Illinois. Mormon urban legend has it that the Saints were driven out. They really had no choice but to leave. My question is...if this is true....why didn't these mob members, and residents of Illinois who were hostile to the Mormons, have a problem with Emma Smith, the widow of Joseph, the founder of the Mormon Church, and the cause of all of this anger, remaining in Illinois? Not only that, but Lucy Smith, Joseph's mother, also remained behind. Why were they not driven out?
I'm just thinking out loud, but there may be two possible reasons. One is that the LDS left behind was not the group practicing polygamy,and the second is that when the core leadership left, those left behind no longer possessed the political and geographical power that were previously perceived as threatening. This seems to support the notion that the persecution was not caused by religious motivations per se, but rather was motivated by certain behaviors associated with that religious belief - mainly polygamy and exerting significant political power en bloc, and buying up lots of land.