History of the Latter Day Saint movement

The history of the religious movement Joseph Smith founded in the United States in the 19th century, including its migrations, divisions, and diverse denominations.

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Joseph Smith: The American religious leader who founded the Latter Day Saint movement and produced its foundational scriptures. His revelations and leadership launched the movement in western New York.
Kirtland, Ohio: An Ohio settlement that served as an early center of the Latter Day Saint movement in the 1830s. The movement built its first temple and major institutions there.
Brigham Young: The Latter Day Saint leader who guided most of Smith’s followers west and became the first president of the Utah-based church. His leadership organized the migration and established the Utah community.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: The largest Latter Day Saint denomination, headquartered in Salt Lake City and led by a president regarded as a prophet. It follows Brigham Young’s succession and became the movement’s largest institutional branch.
Utah Territory: A United States territory established in 1850, with boundaries shaped by the settlement of Latter Day Saints in the Great Basin. Latter Day Saint settlement made the territory a center of religious and political negotiation.
Book of Mormon: A scripture published by Joseph Smith in 1830, presented as a record of ancient peoples in the Americas. Its publication in 1830 marked the movement’s public emergence.
Missouri Mormon War: The 1838 armed conflict between Latter Day Saints and other Missourians, ending with the Saints’ expulsion from the state. Violence and expulsion pushed the movement toward a new center in Illinois.
Emma Smith: Joseph Smith’s wife and a founding figure in the Latter Day Saint movement who remained in Illinois after his death. Her choices and family ties shaped the movement’s non-Utah succession history.
Community of Christ: A Christian denomination that began as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and is headquartered in Independence, Missouri. It developed from the succession claimed by Joseph Smith III and followed a different institutional path.
Utah War: The 1857–1858 confrontation between the United States government and the Utah territorial government led by Brigham Young. It exposed tensions between federal authority and the church-led territorial society.