How Polygamy Ended in the LDS Church: The 1890 Manifesto and Its Consequences

LDS Perspective

The end of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began with the 1890 Manifesto issued by President Wilford Woodruff in response to escalating legal pressure from the United States government. Beginning in 1862, Congress had enacted a series of antipolygamy laws designed to force Latter-day Saints to abandon the practice, culminating in the Supreme Court's 1879 decision in *Reynolds v. United States*, which ruled that while religious belief was constitutionally protected, religious practice was not. By the 1880

Historical Perspective

The termination of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began with the 1890 Manifesto (Official Declaration 1), issued by President Wilford Woodruff on September 25, 1890. This declaration came after decades of escalating federal pressure, including the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887 which disincorporated the Church and seized its property, and the imprisonment of prominent polygamists. The Manifesto advised against contracting any marriages forbidden by local law, effectively signaling the end of the practice to secure Utah's statehood and preserve the Church's existence. However, historical evidence demonstrates that the 1890 Manifesto did not immediately terminate polygamy entirely, as post-Manifesto plural marriages continued to be performed and sanctioned by