Don’t oversimplify Mormon history | Response to Johnny Harris

I got excited when Johnny Harris made a couple episodes about Mormon history. He is a former Latter Day Saint (LDS for short), so I kinda expected a unique perspective that’s useful for prospective learners. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed a downward trend on his channel and these were exemplary of that, making for something that will hurt viewers’ understanding of this history. So this is a response video. I want to show what went wrong here, not to berate Harris, but to illustrate the disservice this narrative does for people who seek education on this topic, along with perhaps showing a means to improve.

16:40 Should be the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, not Land Ordinance of 1785 (thx @Yannis1a)
―――――――――
Bibliography
Alex Beam, American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church (New York: Public Affairs, 2017). https://amzn.to/4ceNcOD

Michael S. Durham, Desert Between the Mountains: Mormons, Miners, Padres, Mountain Men, and the Opening of the Great Basin, 1772-1869 (New York: Henry Holt, 1997). https://amzn.to/3VIV06d

Essays on American Indian and Mormon History, eds. P. Jane Hafen and Brenden W. Rensink (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2019). https://amzn.to/4bOFsmJ

Benjamin E. Park, American Zion: A New History of Mormonism (New York: Liveright Publishing, 2024). https://amzn.to/4bQWDnJ

Brent M. Rogers, Unpopular Sovereignty: Mormons and the Federal Management of Early Utah Territory (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2017). https://amzn.to/3z4YQOi

The Missouri Mormon Experience, ed. Thomas M. Spencer (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2010). https://amzn.to/3xb4ihI

John G. Turner, Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University, 2012). https://amzn.to/3Xeqzpi

Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History, 2nd ed. (1986; Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 1989). https://amzn.to/3VvxsRU
―――――――――
Connected videos
Wild West myth:    • Understanding the Wild West Myth : Am...  
Historian annoyances:    • 12 Annoyances for Historians | The Di...  
Second Great Awakening:    • Religion Revived : The Second Great A...  
Common knowledge:    • What is Common Knowledge? | The Diatribe  
―――――――――
SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE VIDEOS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c...
Support the channel through PATREON:   / cynicalhistorian  
or by purchasing MERCH: https://cynical-historian-shop.fourth...
LET'S CONNECT
Twitch:   / cynicalhistorian  
Facebook:   / cynicalcypher88  
Discord:   / discord  
Twitter:   / cynical_history  
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/cynicalhisto...
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@cynicalhisto...