Why did the Mormons move from Illinois where did they move to?

Answer 1

The people of Illinois were not happy with the huge influx of people into their state. They went to Illinois to live on the 'frontier', and now huge numbers of easterners and Europeans were coming and taking over their land and culture. The Mormon headquarters, Nauvoo, was one of the biggest cities in the state at the time and the huge number of Mormons in the state was influencing the state politics enough that people got angry at that as well.

Answer 2

The Mormons settled in Illinois after being driven from their homes by the government and mobs in Missouri. Illinois was a place they could find temporary refuge from the persecutions they were facing throughout the country. They settled along the Mississippi River in Commerce, Illinois, later changing the name to Nauvoo, a Hebrew word meaning "beautiful place." A few years after their prophet, Joseph Smith, was shot and killed in Carthage, Illinois, the persecutions from the people in Illinois were too great, and they left their homes and travelled west to Utah.

Answer 3

Brother Brigham Young moved the Saints west to Utah because they wanted freedom to practice their Christianity. The reason that Brigham Young was the leader is because Joseph Smith and Hyrum had both been killed by the mob. The Mormons in general were in the middle of a series of being harassed, raped, murdered, their property destroyed, stolen, etc. Whenever they appealed to the government for assistance, they were ignored. Trying to blame it on Joseph Smith or any single belief, including polygamy, is false. It was more about politics and people wanting to have their way than it was about anything else. Religion was just used as an excuse. Mormons threatened other settlers because they agreed on things and they often voted together about things, and they were independent, setting up their own newspapers and stores. They also made some poor choices when "integrating" with their neighbors, whether or not those choices were justified by past fears or not. They needed their own place so that people wouldn't keep thinking they were "taking over" whatever spot they were trying to settle in peacefully. When they got to Utah, the place God led them to was a swamp. Nobody wanted it. So, they drained it and started over. Even then it wasn't easy for them, but they finally had a place where they could exist without being harassed and killed.

Answer 4

Many in Illinois (and other places that had large Mormon populations - notably Missouri and Ohio) disagreed with Mormonism and felt threatened having large groups of Mormons living nearby. The Mormon population was so large in many places that it affected the local politics. Many Mormons also tended to be quite insular and did not want to do business with outsiders. This caused tension and some violence. Eventually the violence and tension escalated to the point that the Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith, was shot and killed and the Illinois government asked the Mormons to leave the state in order to preserve the peace.

Answer 5

Brigham Young was 43 years old when he became the leader of the Mormons. Certain events unfolded that placed Young in a leadership position among the Mormons. Soon after the founder of the Mormons, Joseph Smith, declared that God condoned polygamy, riots broke out in Illinois and Joseph Smith and his brother were thrown into jail and soon after a mob killed them. Young believed that for Mormonism to survive, they had to distance themselves from Illinois and most of the USA states. Young concluded that the Saints, meaning Mormons, and the Gentiles, meaning all non-Mormons had to separate themselves and build their own Zion faraway into the Utah territory.