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==History==
The mainstream LDS church began prohibiting polygamy within the U.S. in [[1890]] after a decree ([[1890 Manifesto|the first manifesto]]) by the then president of the church, [[Wilford Woodruff]], but allowed the practice to continue underground in the U.S. and openly in Mormon colonies set up in [[Alberta]] and in northern Mexico. Likewise, many Utah families who were polygamous before the 1890 decree continued to practice polygamy, with the tacit approval of Wilford Woodruff, [[Lorenzo Snow]], and [[Joseph F. Smith]]. TherePolygamous marriages were also new polygamous marriages performed with the sanction of church leaders after 1890 as well. [http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=10335&REC=20] [http://www.mormonfundamentalism.com/NEWFILES/PluralMarriage1835to1904.htm]. Some fundamentalists have suggested that the 1890 Manifesto was not a real revelation in the spirit or kind given by the Lord to Joseph Smith, but was rather a politically expedient document that was intended to beas a temporary measure--, in place until Utah gained statehood,. afterAfter whichjoining itthe Union Utah would have the authority to enact its own laws with respect to marriage, rather than be bound by U.S. territorial laws whichthat prohibited polygamy. However, beforeBefore statehood could be granted in 1896, however, the federal government would requirerequired Utah to include a provision in its [[state constitution]] stating that "polygamous or plural marriages are forever prohibited"[http://le.utah.gov/~code/const/CO_04.htm].
With the election of Latter-day Saint [[Reed Smoot (U. S. Senator)|Reed Smoot]] to the U.S. Senate in 1903, national attention was again focused on the continuation of polygamy practices in Utah, which culminated in the [[Reed Smoot hearings]]. In 1904, Joseph F. Smith issued a "second manifesto," after which time it became LDS policy to excommunicate those church members entering into new polygamous marriages. [http://www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/chft/chft-36-40.htm]
Today, the LDS Church will [[excommunication|excommunicate]] any of its members who advocate orplural marriage, practice plural marriage, or that actively support fundamentalist groups. Although there continues to be a very small minority of LDS Church members who ''believe'' in the doctrine without ''practicing'' it, the LDS Church prevents any of its members who sympathize with Mormon fundamentalists from attending its [[temple (Mormonism)|temple]]s.
Changes in official church policy did not prevent some church members from continuing the practice of polygamy. In particular, inDuring the 1920s, a dissenter named [[Lorin C. Woolley]] claimed a separate line of authority from the mainstream LDS hierarchy, effectively setting in motion the development of the range of Mormon fundamentalist splinter groups extant today. [http://www.mormonfundamentalism.com/NEWFILES/LorinCWoolleyBio.htm]. Most of the Mormon polygamous groups can trace their roots to Woolley's legacy. [http://www.mormonfundamentalism.com/]
For the most part, in Utah, the government has left the Fundamentalists to themselves unless their practices interfere with state or federal law in some major way (aside, of course from the prohibition of bigamy). There have recently been court cases brought against men who belong to Fundamentalist groups for marrying underage girls, and in one recent, highly publicized, case a man and one of his polygamist wives lost custody of all but one of their children (through this particular wife) until the wife separated herself from her husband. The largest government effort to crack down on the practices of Fundamentalist Mormons was carried out in [[1953]], which became known as the [[Short Creek Raid]] (now known as [[Colorado City, Arizona]]). It is considered a disaster, both for the way it was carried out and for the damage that it caused among the Mormon Fundamentalists whom it targeted.
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