16 - Godbeites, Anti-polygamy Legislative Efforts, and Women's Rights

Ben Finch

I find it interesting that through our modern lens, we tend to see polygamy as a bad thing for the women who were affected by it. Yet, through these readings, we see that at least some of the women were interested in preserving their right to practice polygamy. I thought that the secondary source did a great job showing the nuance in this belief though; some women found polygamy to be difficult to practice. I thought it was interesting how the primary source portrayed polygamy as a deeply religious practice, not just a unique alternative to the standard practice of monogamy, as is sometimes the rhetoric today.