Did Mark Hofmann kill New Mormon History?

I was in the midst of looking for some articles written by Michael Quinn when I noticed he had written an article on one of the Hofmann forgeries.  Because of this it got me to wondering, while writing my essay which has nothing to do with any of these topics.

Was the embarassment caused to the church through these forgeries what finished the downward spiral New Mormon History was in before this?  I say this having no proof but wondering if those who know more about the subject would contribute. 

Terror and Faith: Part III

  In the face of these anti-Catholic expressions the Irish Catholics tried to clear up the issue by printing off their own versions of why they came to the United States and how they were determined to live.  In one tract a man calling himself Hibernicus says, “But I would ask any unbiased American, who has offered libations sixty-eight years to the genius of liberty… how he should like any Church, established by law, in the centre of the United States, before whose altar he would be compelled to worship”.[1]The arguments of the Irish on the whole was simple, if America is a place of religious liberty should it not be that it is a freedom which all denominations should have access.  At a time when the religious reason was simply an excuse to cover what appeared to be a largely economic prejudice.  The Protestants were not upset that the Irish were Catholic as much as they were stealing jobs.  The painting of the problem as religious made it more justifiable in the eyes of some.

Terror and Faith: Part II

 Another causal problem which created the severe conditions of 1845 was the development of the Irish poor law of 1834.  The law was based on the English Poor law which set up work houses for the poor working in isolation from their families and ignored the recommendations of the commissioners who were actually on the ground looking at the problems from a first hand experience.  This helped create malnutrition and malaise amongst the populous and made the area susceptible for disease.[1]

Terror and Faith: Part I

“The feeling of Mobocracy is rife in the “States” the constant cry is kill the Mormons. Let them try it.”

Brigham Young July 24, 1857[1]

In the period between the American Revolution and the Civil War there was a great excitement and religious revivalism in the United States.  Immigrants were shifting from Europe, mostly from the United Kingdom, seeking freedom from religious persecution and economic prosperity which they thought they would find in the United States.  From the upheaval of the revolution came two groups who would have influence on the greater society of America and test the ideals of the Revolution which saw form in the Bill of Rights.  The two groups were the Catholics and Mormons. A contrast and study of the effects of the migration and foreign nature of these groups in Antebellum America is the focus of this essay.  Also it will look at the historiography of the two groups and compare their experience in the face of violence and other forms of persecution.

Terror and Faith – An Introduction

Well, after some consideration I have decided to post another of my essays.  It is a forty page essay I wrote as an independent study in 2005.  The focus of this essay is a comparison of early Mormonism and American settlement of Irish Catholics.  The Antebellum era is one I really enjoy studying, however this essay currently in its last saved version is unfinished. 

So until I find the final version this is what you are getting.

Thanks for reading I hope it is informational.  Oh and I am publishing it in five or six parts so I will spread it out a bit rather than throwing it up all at once.