13 - Apocalypticism and the Civil War

Ben Finch

I found the contrast between the primary and secondary sources to be interesting. It seems like the secondary source puts Utah in a more isolationist position whereas the primary source simply details their celebrations of July 4th. I thought it was interesting that a big focus of The Seer was on this Apocalyptic idea that the 2nd coming was imminent. I found it peculiar, though understandable, that the Church remained neutral in the civil war (it certainly saved us some bloodshed). The section about how fighting for the union would be ignoring the persecution the saints faced was pretty neat.