Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Summer 2016

Volume 109, Number 2

The summer 2016 issue features three stimulating essays on mid-nineteenth century Illinois politics. In "Extradition, the Mormons, and the Election of 1843," Andrew H. Hedges offers a new interpretation of the Mormons' surprising support of Joseph P. Hoge, the 1843 Democratic candidate for U.S. representative in Illinois' sixth congressional district. That decision was fraught with enormous consequence. In the wake of the Mormon vote for the Democrat Hoge, the area's Whig Party turned against the religious group, a momentous shift in local attitudes that spawned conflict and eventual expulsion of the Mormons out of western Illinois.

Brent M. Rodgers examines another dimension of Mormon politics in Illinois in his "'Armed men are coming from the state of Missouri': Federalism, Interstate Affairs, and Joseph Smith's Final Attempt to Secure Federal Intervention in Nauvoo." Rogers examines the constitutional and political theory behind Joseph Smith's letter to President John Tyler, written just seven days before his murder, pleading for federal intervention in behalf of the beleaguered religionists at Nauvoo. 

In the issue's final article, "A Copperhead in Quincy Goes to Washington: Senator William A. Richardson," Shawn Hale adds to our knowledge and understanding of the Copperhead opposition that dogged Lincoln throughout the Civil War. Focusing on Richardson's many published speeches, Hale produces a refurbished and updated analysis of the Illinois Democrat's political thought. Richardson, argues Hale, is best seen as a "romantic conservative" whose commitment to the Constitution 'as it was' left him ill equipped in the face of revolutionary changes to federal authority and black freedom wrought by the Civil War.

Articles

Extradition, the Mormons, and the Election of 1843
Andrew H. Hedges

"Armed men are coming from the state of Missouri": Federalism, Interstate Affairs, and Joseph Smith's Final Attempt to Secure Federal Intervention in Nauvoo.
Brent M. Rogers

"A Copperhead in Quincy Goes to Washington: Senator William A. Richardson"
Shawn Hale

Book Reviews

Roadside History of Illinois. By Stan Banash.
Reviewed by John Weck

The Settlers' Empire: Colonialism and State Formation in America's Old Northwest. By Bethel Saler.
Reviewed by Amy Godfrey Powers

Lincoln's Political Thought. By George Kateb.
Reviewed by Brian Dirck

The Civil War Guerrilla: Unfolding the Black Flag in History, Memory, and Myth. Edited by Joseph M. Beilein, Jr., and Matthew C. Hulbert.
Reviewed by Robert I. Girardi

Lorado Taft: The Chicago Years. By Allen Stuart Weller.
Reviewed by Jennifer Rose Hasso

Regina Anderson Andrews: Harlem Renaissance Librarian. By Ethelene Whitmore.
Reviewed by Steve Rosswurm

Jane Addams in the Classroom. Edited by David Schaafsma.
Reviewed by Louise Edwards-Simpson

The Civilian Conservation Corps in Southern Illinois, 1933-1942. By Ray Ripplemeyer.
Reviewed by Andrew S. Barbero

Sounds of the New Deal: The Federal Music Project. By Peter Gough.
Reviewed by Bucky Halker

The Big Leagues Go to Washington: Congress and Sports Antitrust, 1951-1989. By David George Surdam.
Reviewed by Christopher W. Schmidt

Cover

Portrait of Joseph Smith by David Rogers, 1842. Courtesy Community of Christ Archives, Independence, Missouri.