"Nauvoo Expositor Destruction" by Anthony Sweat
Today is the feast day of Nauvoo Expositor, Patron Saint of Anti-Censorship.
The Nauvoo Expositor, a newspaper largely authored, edited, and published by believing but concerned disaffected Mormons, ran its opening issue on June 7th, 1844. This first issue was predominantly dedicated to three things: (1) critique of the political ambitions of Joseph and Hyrum Smith; (2) exposition of Joseph Smith's teaching and practice of plural marriage, including Jane Law's testimony that Smith had propositioned her (i.e. #MeToo #ChurchToo 1840s-style); (3) exposition of Smith's doctrine of exaltation, that men could one day become what God the Father is. The paper saw only one issue as, from June 8th through June 10th, the Nauvoo City Council met to determine the fate of the paper and its printing press, falsely claiming that the paper was spreading "lies" and "slander" about the Smiths and their church; in actuality, every statement made in the Expositor was arguably true. Whereupon:
The execution of the Expositor was carried out in violation of the 1818 Constitution of Illinois, which protected the freedom of the press.At 6:30 p.m. on Monday, June 10, 1844, the council resolved that the Nauvoo Expositor was a public nuisance and ordered the destruction of its press. Acting in his duty as mayor, Joseph Smith issued an order to the town marshal to destroy the Expositor’s press and any undistributed issues. The marshal, accompanied by a group of citizens and members of the city’s militia, served the order and destroyed the press. -- Book of Mormon Central, "Why Did the Nauvoo City Council Order the Destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor Press?," 7 January 2022
Nevertheless, our little Expositor did not go out with a whimper, but with a roar, as it was the destruction of the Expositor that set off the chain of events that led to the temporal demise of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, seventeen days later. One can hardly deny that the Smiths were brutally murdered in a vicious act of mob violence. One can also hardly deny that, had the pair not (mis)used their positions in the Nauvoo city government to silence honest criticisms of their own theology and actions, they most likely would have lived. Or, to paraphrase Brigham Young's later words on another matter, "Vengeance is the Lord's, and he has taken a little."
In spite of these things, many Mormons continue to slander the Expositor as a source of "lies" about the Smiths, their church, and certain 1844 happenings in Nauvoo. Others continue to seek refuge in heavy-handed censorship and the silencing of sincere opposing viewpoints, having apparently not learned the lessons of history.
Today, Nauvoo Expositor, we remember you. May truth prevail, may freedom of speech ring, and may we always remember the lessons of history.
"Why Did the Nauvoo City Council Order the Destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor Press?" by Book of Mormon Central, 7 January 2022
"Nauvoo Expositor" by MormonThink (includes the entire text of the Expositor)
