# Why is bigamy illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 28, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bigamy-illegal/654222 "2013-03-28T23:05:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bigamy-illegal/654222/81 "2013-04-04T10:38:08Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Part of the problem, in the U.S., is that the Mormon experiment went badly. Women were treated very badly under that system, and thus it served as a “bad example” when the country came to deciding whether or not to tolerate it. > > If the Mormons had been able to provide a good example, where it worked well and didn’t have obvious drawbacks, the country might have shrugged and let it be. Not to be contrary, but I’m genuinely curious. How were the Mormon polygamous wives of the past (not the so-called Mormon Fundamentalist groups of today) treated? I know there were a number of reasons that Mormons pre-Removal to Utah (Deseret) were treated badly by non-Mormons, but that’s a different kettle of fish. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bigamy-illegal/654222/82 "2013-04-04T13:23:52Z")
> [@Sandwich](#): > > I’m still confused what a polygamist marriage would actually mean in a Western liberal society. It doesn’t sound like any sort of analogue to normal marriages, so the (implied) comparisons to that aren’t making any sense. > > Anyway, the key question is, say I marry some guy who is married to some chick who is married to George Clooney - how much of George’s stuff do I get if the guy and chick get divorced? > > Or maybe we are just thinking about exclusive polygamist marriages? Isn’t that a bit bigoted of us? None. Georege is smart enough to have a pre-Nup. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bigamy-illegal/654222/83 "2013-04-04T14:11:35Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Not to be contrary, but I’m genuinely curious. How were the Mormon polygamous wives of the past (not the so-called Mormon Fundamentalist groups of today) treated? I know there were a number of reasons that Mormons pre-Removal to Utah (Deseret) were treated badly by non-Mormons, but that’s a different kettle of fish. I don’t know any details, but I doubt you would find any practices by Mormons in the mid 19th century that you couldn’t easily find in non-Mormon culture with monogamous marriages. Women were just not treated that well in general, and it wouldn’t have been all that unusual for young girls to be married off to someone by their family. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bigamy-illegal/654222/84 "2013-04-04T16:54:37Z")
The community needs to protect people against their self-destructive impulses, particularly while they are in love and their judgment may be somewhat impaired. Two mothers-in-law is more than any many or woman can deal with. ---
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bigamy-illegal/654222/85 "2013-04-04T18:01:39Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Not to be contrary, but I’m genuinely curious. How were the Mormon polygamous wives of the past (not the so-called Mormon Fundamentalist groups of today) treated? I know there were a number of reasons that Mormons pre-Removal to Utah (Deseret) were treated badly by non-Mormons, but that’s a different kettle of fish. Have you read _Wife No. 19_, by one of Brigham Young’s ex-wives? The book is not particularly accurate, but it makes a LOT of accusations. Ann Eliza Webb Young and other disgruntled Mormon apostates contributed to the U.S. attitude that polygamy was “barbaric”. From [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Eliza_Young#Advocacy_for_Women.27s_Rights): > [@](#): > > Ann Eliza Young subsequently traveled the United States and spoke out against polygamy, Mormonism, and Brigham Young himself. She testified before the U.S. Congress in 1875; these remarks were credited, by some, to have contributed to a passage of the Poland Act (1874) that reorganized the judicial system of Utah Territory and made it easier for the Federal Government to prosecute polygamists. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bigamy-illegal/654222/86 "2013-04-05T02:56:13Z")
If the book’s not accurate, why would I consider it an accurate source? ---
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bigamy-illegal/654222/87 "2013-04-05T16:02:10Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > If the book’s not accurate, why would I consider it an accurate source? You wouldn’t. But an angry ex-Mormon chattel wife went on a speaking tour, testified to Congress, and wrote a sensationalized book that got a bunch of dates wrong and engaged in a lot of hyperbole. This contributed to the perception that “the Mormon experiment went badly. Women were treated very badly under that system, and thus it served as a ‘bad example’ when the country came to deciding whether or not to tolerate it,” as **Trinopus** puts it. ETA: If you’re genuinely curious about how early Mormon brides were treated, I’ve heard a lot of recommendations for _In Sacred Loneliness_ by LDS author Todd Compton. The book is long and expensive, so I haven’t read it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bigamy-illegal/654222/88 "2013-04-05T17:31:19Z")
Hey, that actually sounds like a good read to me, Rhodes. I’ll see if my Dad can dig it up–he has a few friends that are into book collecting. About the bit about “the Mormon experiment”: Up above a poster seemed to be saying that the Mormon wives were subject to the same treatment as wives in non-Mormon marriages and that, sadly, that wasn’t all that hot. Well, if the LDS women were treated the same as non-LDS husbands treated their wives, then treatment of women is simply a non-issue. The law against it must’ve been used as a cover. By the way, have you ever read \*Deseret or _The Principal_ (I think that’s the name of it)? I thought they were both great reads and they did discuss a number of issues involved with “polygs” as they were called in both books. But, being fiction, I wouldn’t rely on those as accurate portrayals. I’d be interested in seeing something historical–and not based on the inaccurate book mentioned–that accurately portrayed how LDS women of the time were treated in both polygamous and non-polygamous marriages. Mind you, I’m not a fan of polygamy (and not just because of the “two mothers-in-law” bit mentioned earlier). ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bigamy-illegal/654222/89 "2013-04-05T18:08:13Z")
Drat. I spelled _Principle_ wrong in the post above. The coding error is just sloppy coding. ---
**Author:** ![shadowbishop2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@shadowbishop2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shadowbishop2)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bigamy-illegal/654222/90 "2016-05-19T00:36:01Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Sorry, but that’s Nice Guy logic. Nobody is owed a mate - if every woman in the world would rather be a part of George Clooney’s harem than touch any other man, every other man has to either step up their game or deal with it. 🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒 if we legalize it, DONALD TRUMP will have less chances to mate ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bigamy-illegal/654222/91 "2016-05-19T03:44:05Z")
Reviving a thread as a zombie from years ago just to post a dumb attempt at humor indicates that this thread has outlived its usefulness. Closed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bigamy-illegal/654222.md?page=4)