Item Detail
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8750
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3
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0
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English
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J. C. Burrows and the Fight against Mormonism, 1903-1907
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Michigan History
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Fall 1968
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52
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181-95
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Traces the abortive four-year effort of Michigan Senator Julius Caesar Burrows to expel from Congress his fellow Republican Reed Smoot of Utah. Smoot was an apostle of the Mormon Church and one of the denomination's most conspicuous officials. Burrows had been a persistent critic of Mormonism in Congress for over two decades and the 'Smoot Case' provided him with ammunition for a major assault against Mormon hierarchy and doctrine. Directing the fight from his position as chairman of the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections, Burrows conducted lengthy hearings designed to enrage passions against polygamy--even though Smoot neither believed in nor practiced plural marriage. In 1904 as the issue reached a climax, the Michigan Legislature affirmed its support of Burrow's crusade by reelecting him unanimously. He did not fare as well in the Senate, however, when his motion to bar Smoot was finally defeated in 1907. Three years later, in Michigan's first direct senatorial election, he was retired from office, having served nearly 40 years in Congress. Based on manuscript sources, newspapers, the Congressional Record, and other public documents.