Here are a couple of reasons why Joseph Smith was killed. One, the people that lived in the area of Western Illinois didn't like the Christian beliefs that Joseph believed and was teaching. Two, the citizens of Western Illinois thought if they killed Joseph Smith, the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), all the people following him would pack up and leave. This actually happened, but it was a couple of years later when they did move to Salt Lake City. It wasn't that the mobs were hoping that the Mormons would pack up and leave, they hoped that the religion would fall apart and that Mormonism would be no more.
Other reasons the mob killed Joseph smith include:
On June 27, 1844, Joseph and his brother Hyrum were killed in an attack by an armed mob. Ultimately, five defendants were tried for the murder of the Smiths.
Joseph Smith was the founder and early leader of the Mormon Church. He was lynched by a mob in June 1844. One of the early doctrines of Mormonism was polygamy. A leading member, William Law, was excommunicated in 1844 for opposing polygamy. Together with Sidney Rigdon, he published the Nauvoo Expositor in 1844 and set up a separate church. The group was opposed by Smith and other Mormons, and its press destroyed by a mob. This apparent attack on the 'free press' led other opponents of the Church to engage in serious criticism and further attack. Smith and other were imprisoned for causing a riot. The prison was mobbed by a 'rabble of freemasons', resulting in Smith's death. *With acknowledgements to Douglas J. Davies (Professor in the Study of Religion, University of Durham), An Introduction to Mormonism.
Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered while in custody at the Carthage Jail in Carthage, Illinois. Joseph and Hyrum had been charged with treason for having declared martial law and destroyed a printing press in Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph was mayor of Nauvoo. He declared martial law and destroyed the press in an attempt to avoid a riot.
The cell in which he was held was on the second floor of the jail. When the mob came up the stairs and attempted to force open the door, they shot and killed Hyrum. Joseph went to the window, looking for an escape. Another mob in the street shot up into the cell and killed him. His body fell out the window to the ground where the mob continued to shoot, stab and kick his dead body.
When someone yelled: "the Mormons are coming!" The mob dispersed, and the other two inmates were spared. The bodies were conducted back to Nauvoo for burial.
Joseph Smith was murdered by a group of people who oppose the Church, several of which were once members of the Church but had fallen away. They felt that if they could get rid of Joseph and his brother Hyrum, that the Church would fall apart and cease to exist.
However, must to their dismay, after the murder of Joseph and Hyrum the Church became even stronger, and has now grown to nearly 14 million members.
. It was not a Mormon mob that murdered Joseph Smith. It was a mob that was against all Mormonism. One of the Mormons did betray Joseph Smith(the one who helped restore the gospel on the earth) though. Very sad.
The early Mormon Church splintered several times. In 1844, William Law and Robert Foster, disagreed with Smith about how to manage the economy of Nauvoo in Illinois, as well as saying that Smith had proposed marriage to both their wives. They formed a competing church and procured indictments against Smith for perjury and polygamy. On June 7, they published the Nauvoo Expositor, in which they called for reform within the church and appealed to the county's broader community.
Fearing dissent, the Nauvoo city council ordered the press used by Law and Foster to be destroyed by the Nauvoo Legion, an autonomous militia led by Joseph Smith, with the rank of Lieutenant General. Wikipedia explains that destruction of the newspaper provoked a strident call to arms from Thomas C. Sharp, editor of the Warsaw Signal and longtime critic of Smith. Fearing an uprising, Smith mobilised the Nauvoo Legion and declared martial law. A small detachment of the state militia was mobilised and Governor Thomas Ford threatening to raise a larger militia unless Smith and the Nauvoo city council surrendered themselves. Smith and his brother were jailed on a charge of inciting a riot.
A mob stormed the jail and shot both Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum.
an anti-Mormom mob
He was up to no good and was coercing women to commit to polygamy under the threat that god had commanded him to carry out these acts
Joseph Smith, Jr. was shot and killed by an anti-Mormon mob on June 27, 1844 in Carthage, Illinois.
They did not have an official name, as they presumeably had only formed for this single event. The mob is usually called an "Anti-Mormon Mob" or an "Armed Mob", but they were not any official organization, just a group of people who were angry with Joseph Smith or Mormons in general.
Joseph Smith was shot and killed by a mob of about 150 men as he jumped from the window of Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844 at about 5 p.m.
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith was killed by a mob while awaiting trial in Carthage, Illinois. The trial was based on his ordering the destruction of a printing press that was causing civil disorder in Nauvoo, where he was mayor.
You are thinking of Joseph Smith, Jr. He and his brother Hyrum were shot and killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois on June 27, 1844.
Thomas Ford, governor of Illinois from 1842 to 1846. Obviously, the promise was meaningless, since his militia allowed a mob to assassinate Joseph Smith on his watch.
Joseph Smith Jr and his brother Hyrum, were murdered by a mob of about 150 men who stormed the Carthage Jail in Carthage, Illinois on June 24, 1844.
Joseph Smith, Jr. founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called the "Mormon" church) in April, 1830 and was the leader of the church until he was murdered in Carthage, Illinois in June, 1844.
The official account given by John Taylor, who was a witness to Joseph Smith's murder, says "Joseph Smith the Prophet [was] shot in Carthage jail, on the 27th of June, 1844, about five o'clock p.m., by an armed mob - painted black - of from 150 to 200 persons
At Carthage Jail in Carthage Illinois. He was murdered by a mob of about 200 armed men, their faces painted black with wet gunpowder stormed the jail in the late afternoon of June 27, 1844.The mob fired shots through the door and attempted to push the door open to fire into the room. Hyrum Smith, Joseph's brother, was shot in the face, just to the left of his nose and killed. His body received five additional gunshot wounds. Joseph was shot in the chest from a bullet from outside the jail and fell out the window where he was shot many times and killed. Five men went on trial for the murder, however, they were all found not guilty.
They weren't. None of the known members of the mob that killed Joseph Smith were in the Donner Party. The Donner Party did have two families which had connections to Mormonism. There has been some disagreement as to whether they were practicing Mormons or if they had left the religion at an earlier time, but none of them were party to the murder of Joseph Smith.