Human Trafficking in Early Mormonism

Human Trafficking in Early Mormonism: What the Nauvoo Expositor Got Right

The question of whether early Mormon leaders engaged in practices that amounted to sexual exploitation is not a fringe conspiracy. It is a documented historical conversation that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has never fully answered to the satisfaction of historians, survivors, or former members asking honest questions.

The claims about human trafficking in early Mormonism deserve serious examination, not reflexive dismissal.

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Background: The Nauvoo Expositor and Its Suppression

In June 1844, a group of dissenters led by William Law published the first (and only) issue of the Nauvoo Expositor. The paper made explosive accusations against Joseph Smith and the growing practice of plural marriage in Nauvoo, Illinois.