The World’s Parliament was a contradictory event. Asian delegates, or “Orientals” defined as “followers of Brahma and Buddha and Mohammed” (62), at the Parliament were given a warm welcome and were even referred to as “The most gorgeous group [of] delegates” (64) at the fair. However, just seven years prior, The Chinese Exclusion Act was enacted, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States, making it one of the most significant restrictions of free immigration in US history. One reason for this overjoyed reaction at the fair towards a population that was being treated with such animosity in the country elsewhere, would be because the “Oriental” delegates at the fair were set to return to their Native Countries while
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While other new religious movements of that time died out around them, Mormons were able to stay afloat because they were good capitalists, were expansionary, and they had land. It was because Mormons continued to expand and populate the west that they were viewed as a threat. Frederick Jackson Turner discusses this idea in his “Frontier Thesis” at the World’s Fair, stating his concern about who would be populating the West as they would, in conjunction with that, be gaining political power and legislation. This same fear is as well reflected in Josiah Strong’s “Our Country” in 1891, in which he eludes to Mormons as the “perils [...that] threaten the West.” This argument was only further incited when Utah, a densely Mormon populated area, became a recognized state in 1896, causing many to believe that Mormons were attempting to gain political power and take over society. Another reason Mormons incited more hostility than other new religious movements of the time was because of their stance on polygamy. The opposition to Mormons polygamist views can be seen in cases such as Reynolds v. United States, a Supreme Court Case where George Reynolds, secretary to Mormon Church leader Brigham Young, was convicted of bigamy. Polygamy’s opposition is as well shown by A.R. Webb, a muslim who stated at the World Parliament, that he believed a man could be a good honest Christian, and be a polygamist. Due to the sensitivity of not only polygamy at the time but also the presumed proximity between Mormonism and Islam, Webb’s statement shot down any chance of a Mormon delegate being able to speak at the World’s Parliament of
While other new religious movements of that time died out around them, Mormons were able to stay afloat because they were good capitalists, were expansionary, and they had land. It was because Mormons continued to expand and populate the west that they were viewed as a threat. Frederick Jackson Turner discusses this idea in his “Frontier Thesis” at the World’s Fair, stating his concern about who would be populating the West as they would, in conjunction with that, be gaining political power and legislation. This same fear is as well reflected in Josiah Strong’s “Our Country” in 1891, in which he eludes to Mormons as the “perils [...that] threaten the West.” This argument was only further incited when Utah, a densely Mormon populated area, became a recognized state in 1896, causing many to believe that Mormons were attempting to gain political power and take over society. Another reason Mormons incited more hostility than other new religious movements of the time was because of their stance on polygamy. The opposition to Mormons polygamist views can be seen in cases such as Reynolds v. United States, a Supreme Court Case where George Reynolds, secretary to Mormon Church leader Brigham Young, was convicted of bigamy. Polygamy’s opposition is as well shown by A.R. Webb, a muslim who stated at the World Parliament, that he believed a man could be a good honest Christian, and be a polygamist. Due to the sensitivity of not only polygamy at the time but also the presumed proximity between Mormonism and Islam, Webb’s statement shot down any chance of a Mormon delegate being able to speak at the World’s Parliament of