Brigham tells Horace Greeley that slavery is "of divine institution" and will persist until the curse of Ham is removed.

Date
Dec 31, 1860
Type
Interview
Source
Horace Greeley
Non-LDS
Hearsay
Scribed Verbatim
Journalism
Reference

Horace Greeley, An Overland Journey from New York to San Francisco (New York: C.M. Saxton, Barker, and Co., 1860): 11-12

Scribe/Publisher
C. M., Saxton, Barker, and Co.
People
Horace Greeley
Audience
Latter-day Saints
Transcription

H.G.— What is the position of your church with respect to slavery? B.Y.— We consider it of divine institution, and not to be abolished until the curse pronounced on Ham shall have been removed from his descendants. H.G.—Are any slaves now held in this territory? B.Y.—There are. H.G.—Do your territorial laws uphold slavery? B.Y.—Those laws are printed—you can read for yourself. If slaves are brought here by those who owned them in the states, we do not favor their escape from the service of those owners. H.G.—Am I to infer that Utah, if admitted as a member of the Federal Union, will be a slave state? B.Y.—No; she will be a free state. Slavery here would be useless and unprofitable. I regard it generally as a curse to the masters. I myself hire many laborers, and pay them fair wages; I could not afford to own them. I can do better than to subject myself to an obligation to feed and clothe their families, to provide and care for them in sickness and in health. Utah is not adapted to slave-labor.

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