The Odyssey as a Link to the Past

            The Greek Dark Age was a tumultuous time in ancient Greek history. Civilizations collapsed and many people migrated around the Aegean Sea.[1] The transition from the Bronze Age to modern Greece is one that could not have been made without the Dark Age. The Odyssey is able to give the reader a link between the two worlds while also offering clues about the Dark Age as well. Transitions in politics, the economy, social and cultural life all present themselves in Homer’s epic tale of Odysseus and his journey home from the Trojan War.[2] The Odyssey offers a glimpse into the past by connecting the Mycenaean civilization to Ionian and Dorian cultures, and eventually modern Greece, through the Dark Age.

The politics of both the Bronze Age and the Dark Age can be seen in The Odyssey. In ancient Bronze Age Greece kings ruled in vast palaces over large groups of people. Through the Dark Age people migrated in smaller groups and had more individual liberties. Individual accountability resulted in assemblies where members of a polis or community voted when the Dark Age ended. Homer seems to mix the two in The Odyssey knowing that in ancient Greece civilizations were run by a monarch but not fully understanding how that would work.[3] In book two of The Odyssey Homer writes, “He [Telemachus] at once gave orders to the clear-voiced criers to call the long-haired Achaeans to Assembly.”[4] Homer is recounting a tale that took place in the Bronze Age where a kingship would have been in place however the son of Odysseus is calling an assembly which did not start forming until after the Bronze Age. This political idea offers a link to the time period that Homer is writing instead of the period in which the history is about.

Odysseus comes to the land of the Cyclops in book nine of The Odyssey.[5] In telling his story he explains that “The Cyclops have no assemblies for the making of laws, nor any established legal codes, but live in hollow caverns in the mountain heights, where each man is lawgiver to his own children and women, and nobody has the slightest interest in what his neighbors decide.”[6] This is another example of Homer writing about the political system of his day rather than that of the Bronze Age. The interesting piece is that Odysseus is the king of his palace in Ithaca but here he is astonished at the idea of no legal system for laws or no assemblies. In The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece, Robert Morkot states, “The 8^th and 7^th centuries were a period of changing political structures in which kingships gave way to elected officials.”[7] Homer seems to be stuck within his own world relating an oral history with a political system that he does not fully understand.

An Economy is captured in the background of The Odyssey. There are a few places that allow the reader to see beyond the story and see the Greek economy coming through. In the first book Athene, her appearance changed, goes to Telemachus to encourage him to get rid of the suitors who are waiting for his mother’s hand in marriage.[8] At this meeting “lavish portions” of meat are offered and Athene is instructed to sit in a “beautiful carved chair” as Telemachus sits in an “ornate easy-chair.”[9] These items show wealth in the palace as well as trade from other countries. Homer also states, “Presently a maid came with water in a fine golden jug and poured it out over a silver basin for them to rinse their hands.”[10] This action allows the reader to see a couple instances of the Greek economy. Within the palace there were maids that served the wealthy class. Also there was a golden jug and a silver basin that could have come from a trade partner. Morkot explains, “Metals, particularly copper and gold were an important item of exchange.”[11] Luxury trade items as well as social stratification were distinguishing features of the Bronze Age.[12] During the Dark Age luxury items ceased to be made. Pots and jugs were made for a specific purpose and not as art or trade. In this way Homer’s writing serves as a link between the Bronze age and the present because it shows the reader a piece of history that was not there during the Dark Age.

The palace is another link to the Bronze Age economy. Morkot states, “It is certain that the centralized economies based on the palaces were disrupted and that there was extensive destruction at many important settlements.”[13] The Mycenaean world came to an end around 1200 BCE.[14] Homer’s epic tale offers a look into the palace at Ithaca before the destruction that Morkot suggests. In this glimpse the reader is able to get an idea of what a Bronze Age palace was like before that collapse.

Homer provides a Social link for readers of The Odyssey by showing “a gross perversion of the convention of xenia (the obligation to entertain outsiders).”[15] This exchange is seen throughout The Odyssey and in different variations. Suitors of Penelope show up to the palace of Odysseus in the first book of The Odyssey. They sit at the door of the palace waiting for Penelope to make her decision on who she will marry.[16] These suitors are welcomed in and fed even though they are a hindrance to the palace. The practice of xenia comes from the Greek idea that the gods mingled with common people. This idea facilitated the idea of xenia because a person would not want to offend the gods by not welcoming them into his or her home. Morkot explains that these types of classical myths influenced ancient art and literature.[17] This social norm is a link that progressed from the Bronze Age through the Dark Age.

Homer provides a look into the very soul of Greeks that had lived through the Dark Age of migrating from land to land. The Odyssey is the tale of Odysseus journey back to his homeland after many years of being away. The journey itself is a link to the people of the Dark Age who yearn to go back to their homeland after years of being away. Peter Jones states in his introduction to The Odyssey, “it may well be that the Greeks who had come over to settle there [Ionia] since 1000 felt some special sympathy for epics about Greek triumphs in Ionia and successful returns back home to Greece.”[18] Sympathy for epics such as The Odyssey makes sense since people were pushed from their homes and across the sea. A tale such as this would unite similar people together and offer a glimpse of a life only professed in the oral tradition of storytelling.

            The Mycenaean culture collapsed sometime after 1200 BCE however remnants of that culture made their way through the Dark Age.[19] Homer is able to capture pieces of the old world through the oral tradition while embedding subtle nuisances of the new. It is clear that he didn’t fully understand some ideas such as political kingships because he had not lived with them in his time. However ideas such as xenia were second nature to Homer and something that he fully understood. The oral tradition of passing on these stories kept some instances of Bronze Age Greece intact while others were lost to interpretation. The Odyssey offers a transition from the Bronze Age through the Dark Age to the present by linking some ideas that made it, and some that didn’t, through the tumultuous time of mass migration through the Dark Age.

Bibliography

Homer. The Odyssey. New York: The Penguin Group, 2003.

Jones, Peter. "Introduction." In The Odyssey, by Homer, xi-xlv. New York: The Penguin Group, 2003.

Morkot, Robert. The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece. New York: The Penguin Group, 1996.

Price, Simon and Thonemann, Peter. The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine. New York: The Penguin Group, 2011.

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[1] Simon Price and Peter Thonemann, The Birth of Classical Europe: A History of Troy to Augustine (New York: The Penguin Group, 2011), 45.

[2] Homer, The Odyssey (New York: The Penguin Group, 2003), back cover.

[3] Peter Jones, “Introduction,” in Homer, The Odyssey (New York: The Penguin Group, 2003), xxxiv.

[4] Homer, The Odyssey, 15.

[5] Homer, The Odyssey, 113.

[6] Homer, The Odyssey, 113.

[7] Robert Morkot, The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece (New York: The Penguin Group, 1996), 48.

[8] Homer, The Odyssey, 5-7.

[9] Homer, The Odyssey, 6.

[10] Homer, The Odyssey, 6.

[11] Morkot, The Penguin Historical Atlas, 28.

[12] Dr. Stephanie Christelow (Professor of History, I.S.U.), in lecture and notes, January 2012.

[13] Morkot, The Penguin Historical Atlas, 38.

[14] Morkot, The Penguin Historical Atlas, 38.

[15] Jones, “Introduction”, xxiv.

[16] Homer, The Odyssey, 6.

[17] Morkot, The Penguin Historical Atlas, 60.

[18] Jones, “Introduction”, xxxiii.

[19] Morkot, The Penguin Historical Atlas, 20.

Plato's Criticism of Democracy

            Ancient Greece, specifically Athens, is the birthplace of democracy. Athenians pride themselves on establishing a true, direct democracy. Citizens (defined as land holding males born of Athenian mothers) were able to vote in an assembly where they represented their polis or communities.[1] These male individuals were the elite of Athens, the aristocracy who were not toiling away day after day to survive. The elite citizenship of Athens was motivated by power, greed, and prestige. Plato was a member of the Athenian elite, born “of ancient and noble lineage.”[2] However, Plato decided to become a philosopher instead of following his lineage into politics.

Plato believed that the pursuit of knowledge was a more noble cause than chasing political glory and power. His belief that money and power dictated public policy is the reason why he was so critical of democracy. He believed that democracy enabled the elite citizenship to do things that were not virtuous and unjust. Through this belief, and his pursuit for higher knowledge, Plato laid out his philosopher king hierarchy as an ideal city. Plato’s ideal city is a utopian idea that would eliminate greed and the pursuit of power among the ruling class. Plato’s philosopher king hierarchy is an ideal way to run a society, not only in ancient Greece but today as well, as it encourages the pursuit of knowledge and education as a governing body.

Plato’s writings give readers an idea of why he felt that democracy was not a viable option from a philosophical stand point. Plato believed that a person’s soul contained three parts or three desires. The first part was the desire for personal gain and self interest. People in this state were interested in self desire or self interested gain. In Political Questions Larry Arnhart states, “We all begin at the preconventional level where our only concern is our own selfish pleasures and pain. If we help others, it is only because they have promised to help us in return.”[3] Plato’s idea was to place people in this phase into the producing class because their main desire was monetary gain and would therefore be able to run a business that would be successful so they could gain what they wanted therefore pursuing the “good life.”

The second stage is the public honor desire. People who were in this phase were concerned about enacting laws and rules that would govern the society. Arnhart says, “at this point we see ourselves not just as isolated individuals, but as members of society. We want to be approved by others and we obey authority because it preserves social order.”[4] Their needs were placed below the needs of the city and therefore were more admirable then those of the desire phase. This group, known as auxiliaries, would be in control of enforcing laws and regulations because their desire was honor rather than monetary gain.

The third stage was a life of reason and this stage is where Plato classified philosophers in his hierarchy. Arnhart states, “…they took to universal moral principles that go beyond the authority of a particular group or society.”[5] Due to the pursuit of knowledge, philosophers would be disinterested in monetary gain or power therefore philosophers would make great rulers because they were looking for absolute truth and metaphysical knowledge. Plato believed that this pursuit placed philosophers above anyone who valued common sense or scientific knowledge.

Addressing these three phases makes Plato an elitist thinker. Arnhart states, “Many would also regard this Platonic teaching as unduly elitist and antidemocratic and therefore contrary to modern liberal democracy.”[6] Arnhart believes that Plato’s antidemocratic teachings are difficult for some to grasp, however they do offer a great suggestion in appointing knowledgeable and educated citizens in leadership positions. Ogochukwu Okpala describes it as “a system designed to optimize the happiness of its citizens.”[7] The philosophers would rule while the auxiliaries would assist and police the producing class.[8]

            Plato’s view of democracy is critical because he saw the government as corruptible and greedy. In S. Sara Monoson’s book, Plato’s Democratic Entanglements, she says, “Plato’s writings unquestionably urge readers to adopt a highly skeptical attitude toward democracy.”[9] Plato was urging readers to understand that democracy has its problems just as other forms of government do. Monoson continues “They [Plato’s writings] counsel us to look beyond the powerful allure of democracy, that is, to be constantly on guard lest we become attached to democracy.”[10] Plato knew that democracy was a great form of government but by having people who were not knowledgeable about the issues would cause problems for the state and its citizens by not offering the most qualified candidate to make and enforce laws.

Plato suggests that democracy is not best for the state because it does not bring knowledge to the forefront, but rather, the most popular politician or best speaker. In this ideology the state is not being governed by the most qualified but by the person with the best image. Plato has a right to be disappointed with Athenian democracy because Socrates was put to death by a function of that governing body.[11] In Plato’s eyes democracy is not a healthy government because the leadership is not seeking knowledge. The rulers of the city-state are seeking wealth and prestige and not placing the needs of the community above their own. Ogochukwu Okpala offers the perfect synopsis of Plato’s ideology in his writing titled “Plato’s Republic vs. Democracy” when he says, “When authorities are left unchallenged, their characters appear to be altered, inverting their true selves with alter egos incapable of putting the welfare of others before their own.”[12]

Plato believed that philosophers would make the best rulers for a society because they would be able to put aside worldly desires since their main goal was to obtain knowledge. Okpala states in his article on Plato and Democracy that “Plato believed that the philosopher king was incorruptible since his only desire was knowledge.”[13] Plato understood that Athenian politicians were looking for power and money, not what was best for the city state. For this reason Plato thought it would be best to have an “incorruptible” philosopher ruler that would be trying to obtain metaphysical knowledge. Monoson suggest this same argument when she states, “Plato submits that the philosopher is the most vigilant and effective subduer of menacing tyrants (in the soul and the city), a liberator from civic ills and founder of a just regime, a model civic benefactor, and one whose erotic attachments (to philosophy and truth) prove the salvation of the city.”[14]

Gerald Mara states, “Democratic governance cannot be guaranteed through an artificially closed political sociology.”[15] Mara thinks that Plato’s ideology of setting up a new political system cannot work when it is set up artificially like Plato was suggesting. However, Plato’s idea of a governing body of philosopher rulers seems like it could be the best idea in this day in age when so much emphasis is placed on a politician’s image and rhetoric rather than his leadership or stance on the issues. Larry Arnhart agrees with Mara when he states, “It seems that the possibility for a few people to live like Socrates depends on the stable political order secured by the very opinions that he questions.”[16] The idea that democracy gave Socrates the very freedom to become a philosopher is absolutely true however Plato’s utopian society would still give citizens the opportunity to seek the “good life” and the possibility that a few would still become philosopher kings with education and knowledge.

Plato also thought that the average citizen was not knowledgeable about the issues or a particular political cause to make a judgment on it. A citizen would use his subjective experience and common sense to form an opinion and then vote using that opinion. In discussing Plato’s vision of democracy and the average citizen, Okpala says, “The average individual may not have the wisdom to be involved in the appointment of a leader. Those individuals that Plato described as ‘guardians’ are the only ones with the knowledge, wisdom and virtue to run a just city.”[17] Plato is right in his criticism of democracy and the average individual. The average citizen uses emotion and heresy instead of objective moral knowledge when making a judgment in the best case. In the worst case the individual is not active, nor cares about the politics of his community. Monoson tells his readers, “Plato suggested that to be a true political player is to care for the well-being of the Athenians.”[18] Therefore democracy is then governed by the masses but the masses do not have the education or the selfless pursuit to direct the affairs of that community.

Plato offers a valid criticism of democracy by suggesting that political figures as well as citizens are not working for the betterment of their communities, city-states, or countries. Okpala states that Plato’s vision requires a high moral standard for citizens and politicians alike and it may be asking too much of human beings.[19] This view seems to give citizens a way out of their moral and political obligations which is how Plato envisioned it as well. To be involved in the city-state was an obligation and if a citizen was not going to be involved it was better for that person to chase the idea of the “good life” and leave the politics to those that had a higher moral standard and more education. Plato’s ideology is sound in suggesting that too often those seeking power and gain are not the right people to lead. In this way Plato’s criticism is still valid and compelling today.

Bibliography

Arnhart, Larry. Political Questions: Political Philosophy from Plato to Rawls. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc., 2003.

Field, G. C. Plato and his Contemporaries: A Study in Fourth-Century Life and Thought. London: Butler & Tanner Ltd, 1967.

Mara, Gerald M. The Civic Conversations of Thucydides and Plato: Classical Political Philosophy and the Limits of Democracy. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2008.

Mara, Gerald M. "Thucydides and Plato on Democracy and Trust." The Journal of Politics, 2001: 820-845.

Michels, Steven. "Democracy in Plato's Laws." Journal of Social Philosophy, 2004: 517-528.

Monoson, S. Sara. Plato's Democratic Entanglements: Athenian Ploitics and the Practice of Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.

Okpala, Ogochukwu. "Plato's Republic vs. Democracy." Neuman Business Review 4, vol 1 (2009): 49-59. Accessed February 19, 2012. http://www.neumann.edu/academics/divisions/business/journal/review09/okpala.pdf.

Saunders, Trevor J. "Plato's Later Political Thought." In The Cambridge Companion to Plato, by Richard Kraut, 464-492. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

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[1] [1] G. C. Field, Plato and his Contemporaries: A Study in Fourth-Century Life and Thought. (London: Butler & Tanner Ltd., 1967), 5.

[2] Field, Plato and his Contemporaries, 5.

[3] Larry Arnhart, Political Questions: Political Philosophy from Plato to Rawls. (Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc. 2003), 33.

[4] Arnhart, Political Questions, 33.

[5] Arnhart, Political Questions, 33.

[6] Arnhart, Political Questions, 32-33.

[7] Ogochukwu Okpala, “Plato’s Republic vs. Democracy” Neumann Business Review 4, vol. 1 (2009): 55 accessed February 19, 2012, http://www.neumann.edu/academics/divisions/business/journal/review09/okpala.pdf.

[8] Okpala, “Plato’s Republic vs. Democracy,” 55.

[9] S. Sara Monoson, Plato’s Democratic Entanglements: Athenian Politics and the Practice of Philosophy. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000), 113.

[10] Monoson, Plato’s Democratic Entanglements, 113.

[11] Fields, Plato and his Contemporaries, 10.

[12] Okpala, “Plato’s Republic vs. Democracy,” 50.

[13] Okpala, “Plato’s Republic vs. Democracy,” 50.

[14] Monoson, Plato’s Democratic Entanglements, 113.

[15] Gerald M. Mara, The Civic Conversation of Thucydides and Plato: Classical Political Philosophy and the Limits of Democracy. (Albany: State University Press of New York, 2008), 236.

[16] Arnhart, Political Questions, 29-30.

[17] Okpala, “Plato’s Republic vs. Democracy,”54.

[18] Monoson, Plato’s Democratic Entanglements, 118.

[19] Okpala, “Plato’s Republic vs. Democracy,” 55.

Abstract

Justin L. Vipperman

Idaho State University

Undergraduate

Colored Servants: The Meaning of Cyrus Dallin’s Brigham Young Monument

Fifty years after an initial party of Mormon pioneers made it to the Great Basin Cyrus E. Dallin constructed a monument honoring the man who led the group and the pioneers who had made the
trek. Included on this plaque were the names of three African Americans distinguished by the phrase “colored servants.” Scholars have looked at this memorial as well as other evidence of slaves in the Salt Lake Valley as proof of racism and discrimination by a religion itself fleeing from discrimination. My paper, however, argues that the Brigham Young monument should be reinterpreted as a sign of surprisingly progressive Mormon attitudes towards African Americans. This research draws primarily on primary sources such as correspondence, journals, meeting documentation, and the Brigham Young Monument. This research looks specifically at the Pioneer Jubilee in 1897, when the Brigham Young Monument was created, to find out why and who added the phrase to the plaque. The research focuses on correspondence between Green Flake (one of the African American Slaves) and the Brigham Young Memorial Association as well as records from meetings held by the association. Finding answers to whom and why the phrase was added to the plaque could yield information about the pro-slavery past of America and the struggle for civil rights.

Disparity of Race: A Closer Look at the Brigham Young Monument

Mormon pioneers began traveling west in 1846. They were looking for a place where they could worship without the conflicts that they were enduring in Illinois, Missouri and previously Ohio and New York. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had been persecuted for their beliefs since Joseph Smith had started the religion April 6, 1830. After the death of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young led a group of pioneers to Winter Quarters Nebraska, and eventually to the Utah Territory. The thousand-mile trek from the Midwest to Utah was a hard journey for the group and there were many hardships along the way. The party reached the Great Basin July 24, 1847 consisting of: one hundred and forty three men, three women, two children, seventy wagons, one boat, one cannon, ninety three horses, fifty two mules, sixty six oxen, and nineteen cows.[1] However, on July 22, just two days earlier, an advance party entered Utah carrying Brigham Young and three African American Slaves that had been given to Brigham Young in Winter Quarters Nebraska. These three slaves were Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby who are referred as “Colored Servants” on the Brigham Young Monument in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Brigham Young Monument was commissioned in 1891 by the Brigham Young Memorial Association which had been created by the president of the church Wilford Woodruff.[2] Cyrus Edwin Dallin was a Utah born sculptor who had studied in Paris and was asked to design the bronze sculpture of Brigham Young. Dallin was asked to include a trapper, Indian, and a pioneer family in addition to the statue of Brigham Young to represent those who preceded the pioneers in the Great Basin.[3] He was also commissioned to sculpt the angel Moroni that sits atop the Salt Lake Temple. Dallin finished the sculpture in 1893, just in time for it to be displayed at the World’s Fair in Chicago that same year. The LDS church had a problem coming up with the $25,000 that was agreed upon to pay for the sculpture. So on July 20, 1897 the monument was finally unveiled during a celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the pioneers’ arrival in the Salt Lake Valley.[4]

The Brigham Young Monument in Salt Lake City Utah was commissioned twenty eight years after the Emancipation Proclamation and twenty six years after the thirteenth amendment. It had been on display at the World’s Fair in Chicago for all to see. It had been designed by a sculptor that had spent time in Boston and Paris. Why then does the plaque on the north side of the monument distinguish between white pioneers and “colored servants”? Was the phrase “colored servants” specifically referred to by the Brigham Young Memorial Association when they gave the plans of the monument to C. E. Dallin? Did this distinguishing feature reflect the views of the sculptor or the person who the monument was created to celebrate?

Brigham Young was born in Vermont and spent all of his life in the northern United States before making the journey to the Salt Lake Valley.[5] His family owned a very small farm which did not employ slave labor. Young was a carpenter and painter, and also did not own any slaves.[6] If Brigham Young did not own slaves why did his views reflect a pro-slavery sentiment? Why was it important to use the phrase “colored servants” on a memorial commemorating his passage to the Great Basin? Does this phrase reflect the general ideology of the time or does it reflect a religious view that coincides with the Southern slave owner?

Brigham Young preached that slavery was ordained of God even though Utah was not suited for slavery.[7] Slavery was legal in the Utah territory because of the Compromise of 1850 which allowed “Popular Sovereignty” (consent of the people).[8] The Mormon Church did not have an official stance on owning slaves. In 1836 Joseph Smith addressed the humane treatment of slaves by their masters, and that slaves should be obedient to the slave owner.[9] An address given by an apostle of the Mormon Church Orson Hyde in 1851 stated that the church would not get involved in relations between a master and his slave.[10] In 1852 Brigham Young urged the first Utah Territorial Legislature to pass the “Act in Relation to Service” which formally sanctioned slavery and indentured servitude.[11] Slavery and the sale of slaves would persist in the Great Basin until the Emancipation Proclamation.

African American slavery was not a new concept in the United States. The American South had been built on the backs of African American slaves. Nat Turner’s Rebellion was happening during the same time that Joseph Smith was establishing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Southerners feared a slave rebellion as well as the abolitionist movement because it meant freedom for their slaves which the southerners regarded as property. Slaveholders would have to work their own fields, or pay someone to work them, if African American slaves were freed. The Abolitionist movement threatened to divide the North and South from the nation.

Southern plantation owners believed that slavery was the natural state of mankind. The Greeks, Romans, and until recently the English had owned slaves. Slaveholders believed that freeing slaves would cause economic ruin for the southern states. Abolition meant the killing of the tobacco, cotton, and rice industries in the South. Flooding the economy with freed slaves would also cause chaos in the southern states with widespread unemployment which would lead to uprising and revolution. Plantation owners defended slavery stating that slaves were better cared for than the working class of the north.[12]

Southern slaveholders also believed that slavery was divinely sanctioned. They assumed that slavery introduced Christianity to “the heathens from across the ocean.”[13] Many Southerners argued that slavery was accepted by God because Abraham had owned slaves and because of the wording in the Ten Commandments which states, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, ... nor his manservant, nor his maidservant."[14] Slave owners agreed with Paul’s action in the New Testament when he returned a runaway slave to his master. Slaveholders pointed to Paul’s act as an act of pro-slavery.

Northerners were not all anti-slavery, although the Abolitionist movement was predominantly concentrated in the north. Northern citizens wanted slaves to be free but to stay in the south. Northern states outlawed slavery but some proceeded gradually, first outlawing the sale of slaves and then later outlawing the ownership.[15] Northerners feared that outlawing slavery would cause an increase in African Americans migrating to the northern states.

The phrase on the Brigham Young memorial is important to historians because it shows a pro-slavery bias in the territories after the Emancipation Proclamation. It could mean that a pro-slavery bias continued long after the conclusion of the Civil War. It also could mean that Brigham Young felt strongly enough about whites being superior to African Americans that the Brigham Young Memorial Association had to add the distinguishing phrase. This question is significant because of the disparity between Brigham Young’s lack of experience with slavery and his pro-slavery position.

Why does the Brigham Young Monument distinguish between white pioneers and “colored servants”? I intend to answer this question through the research methods that I have designed. I plan to work directly with the library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City Utah to gain the necessary primary sources to do a project like the seminar paper including Brigham Young’s journals and discourses. I will have to travel to the LDS Church library to complete my research. I am planning on spending two different days there which should give me time to research the journals of Brigham Young and the letters of Wilford Woodruff as well as papers from the Brigham Young Memorial Association. After seeing how long my research takes on day one I will be able to accurately calculate subsequent visits. Next I plan on using the America: History and Life database to get more in depth information and more primary sources that I may not be able to get through the LDS Church library. An example is the journal of Cyrus E. Dallin that was written during the making of the statues for the Brigham Young Monument. After checking for primary sources I plan to read through secondary sources that will present context of the time period and the issue of slavery.

Using the methods that I have outlined I anticipate to discover the reason for adding the heading of “colored servants” and the motive for making the distinction between whites and African Americans. I hope to discover who decided to add the phrase to the memorial and why it was important. The monument was erected in 1893 and because of that I assume that I will find that the Brigham Young Memorial Association used the same wording that Brigham Young used when documenting who arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. If that is the case I hope to find out why Brigham Young had views of superiority over blacks. If the association chose to distinguish between the two races on its own I would like to find out why it did so in a free nation.

The primary sources that I have found all relate to the time period of the 1840’s to the 1900’s. These sources will give me a basis of research from the time period. Sources such as The Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants will allow me to see the doctrine that Mormons are supposed to adhere to and the differences between Mormon doctrine and slaveholder views. These sources will also give me historical context to be able to evaluate my questions.

In the LDS Church Library there is a collection of papers from Brigham Young’s desk. This collection includes correspondence, government documents, and rough drafts of letters. I intended to gain a better comprehension of Brigham Young and his stance on African Americans through this collection of documents. This collection could hold the reason for adding the phrase and its importance.

The collection of newspapers from the time period will give me the information that was being reported at the time. An open letter from Wilford Woodruff to the citizens of Utah will allow me to see what he thought of the building of the memorial and why it was important. The Messenger and Advocate articles give insight into Brigham Young’s views on slavery as there are multiple columns that he wrote regarding the subject. In the Times and Seasons article Brigham Young relays a message that states that blacks do not have the wisdom or the capability to be leaders.

An exciting primary source is the Brigham Young Memorial Association papers that are located in the LDS Church Library. This source should yield evidence of the importance of building the monument as well as reasoning behind inserting “colored servants” on the plaque. Through this collection of papers I expect to find other primary sources that I may be able to research to broaden my knowledge of the theme and build my thesis.

My collection of secondary works has been a great resource already as I have read through the bibliography in most of the secondary sources to find my primary sources. Sources like the dissertations have been great resources because I have been able to find their sources easily by using the Internet. A couple of the other works have pointed me in the right direction as I have been looking for more primary sources.

Works such as “Negro Slavery in the Utah Territory” and “Mormons and Slavery - A Closer Look” have given me direction. I expect to get some information that can be disputed since they are older than fifteen years old. I hope to find arguments for and against slavery in Utah within these two works that will help build my thesis and support my argument. Other works that I anticipate using are Conflict and Compromise and Saints, Slaves, and Blacks that will give me an idea of the historical arguments that arise from the issue of slavery and answer why Brigham Young held a pro-slavery position.

Books such as Captives and Cousins and Slavery in the American West will provide context in the broader historical sense. I expect to find the views of pioneers regarding slavery in these books. These views will help to place Brigham Young’s views in the broader context and see if his views were different from the time period or coincided with it. In these books I hope to find what the general view of slavery was and what western settlers thought about African Americans. Having this knowledge will further my research in the broader sense.

Brigham Young is regarded as a great spiritual leader by the Latter Day Saints which is why the church built a memorial honoring his arrival in the Great Basin. If this memorial is to honor his arrival, and the arrival of many pioneers, what is the importance of having “colored servants” as a distinction on the plaque? Is this a view of the artist, the memorial association, or of the leader himself? Through my research I expect to find the answer and uncover the reasoning behind placing the phrase on the plate after slavery was eradicated. Through my research I expect to gain knowledge of the general view of slavery in antebellum and post antebellum Utah and use that to compare and contrast Brigham Young’s views with other Mormons, western settlers, and pro-slavery northerners. I expect the research to yield the reason for the peculiarity of “colored servants” inscribed on the Brigham Young Monument.

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[1] Brigham Young Statue in Salt Lake City Utah.

[2] Greg Hill, “Brigham Young Statue is Relocated: for 96 years, monument was in Main intersection,” Church News. November 20, 1993, accessed December 9, 2011, http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/23623/Brigham-Young-statue-is-relocated-for-96-years-monument-was-in-Main-intersection.html

[3] Hill, “Brigham Young Statue is Relocated.”

[4] Hill, “Brigham Young Statue is Relocated.”

[5] “Young Brigham” Brigham Young University, Accessed December 9, 2011, http://unicomm.byu.edu/about/brigham.aspx.

[6] “Young Brigham”

[7] Jeffery D. Nichols, “Slavery in Utah.” History Blazer. April 1995, Accessed December 9, 2011, http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/pioneers_and_cowboys/slaveryinutah.html

[8] Nichols, “Slavery in Utah.”

[9] Nichols, “Slavery in Utah.”

[10] Nichols, “Slavery in Utah.”

[11] Nichols, “Slavery in Utah.”

[12] “The Southern Argument for Slavery.” U.S. History Online Textbook (2011). Accessed December 9, 2011. http://www.ushistory.org/us/27f.asp.

[13] “The Southern Argument for Slavery”

[14] “The Southern Argument for Slavery”

[15] Ira Berlin, Generations of Captivity: A History of African American Slaves. (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003), 104.