FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Joseph Smith's Approach to Contracting Additional Marriages
Polygamy > Joseph Smith's Introduction and Practice of Plural Marriage > Joseph Smith's Approach to Contracting Additional Marriages
Joseph Smith's Approach to Contracting Additional Marriages
Some have questions regarding Joseph Smith's approach to contracting additional marriages and what it may say about his motives for introducing plural marriage.
- Did those that entered plural marriage only do so because Joseph Smith told them to?
- Were plural wives forced into the marriage?
- How many Mormon women refused offers of plural marriage?
- Did any women suffer consequences for turning down Joseph Smith’s proposals?
- Were women put under “tremendous pressure” to accept a proposal of plural marriage?
- Did Joseph Smith give a woman only one day to decide about entering a plural marriage, and would refusal mean terrible consequences? * Did Joseph Smith claim that an angel threatened him with a drawn sword or flaming sword if a woman refused to marry him?
- Were women “locked in a room” to get them to accept a proposal of plural marriage?