Battling Worldliness in the New Zion: Mercantilism versus Homespun in Nineteenth-Century Utah

Abstract

Mormon pioneers fled to Utah with a prophetic vision of a self-contained cooperative and communal society. This vision had a place for agriculture and manufacturing but held merchandising to be at least vaguely immoral. In the ensuing battle between the original vision and mercantilism, the utopian view ultimately lost. This article examines the nature of the battle and factors that led to this outcome.