Item Detail
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18414
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1
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12
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English
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The Defense of Deseret : An Examination of LDS Church Trade Politics and Development Efforts in the American West
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Utah Historical Quarterly
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Fall 2005
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73
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no.4
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365-386
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The massive Mormon migration to the western United States proves interesting because the LDS Church, a religious organization, was essentially in charge of the entire local economy. Some believe that the centralized and isolated LDS economic system actually held the community together, while others argue that this system hindered development. Garrett analyzes both of these views. He also draws several economic parallels between the nineteenth-century Mormon community and present-day third world countries. There are many explanations which attempt to explain why Mormons chose this system, with reasons such as the imminent Second Coming and the need to remain self suficient, fear of fraud, providing jobs to church members, and the related political independence. Garrett also explains the effects of this economic system, which included chronic deficits and loss of currency. The LDS economic policies were very much "inward looking." This gave the Mormons a time to unite, focus their attention, and enhance civic pride. Garrett believes that although Mormons were poor economists in the nineteenth century, they were great sociologists. Although the policies set by LDS leaders hurt the Church financially, they helped the Church unite its members into a strong, socially-cohesive group.
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A Dependent Commonwealth : Utah's Economy from Statehood to the Great Depression
Cooperation Among the Mormons
Gentile Impressions of Salt Lake City, Utah, 1849-1870
Great Basin Kingdom : An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900
Household Wealth in a Settlement Economy : Utah, 1850-1870
Life of a Pioneer : Being the Autobiography of James S. Brown
Mormon Economics 1830 to 1900 : The Interaction of Ideas and Environment
Religion and Planning in the Far West : The First Generation of Mormons in Utah
The History of Mormon Mercantile Cooperation in Utah
The Lady in the Ore Bucket : a History of Settlement and Industry in the Tri-Canyon Area of the Wasatch Mountains
The Rocky Mountain Saints : A Full and Complete History of the Mormons
The Women's Cooperative Movement in Utah, 1869-1915