Joseph Smith was the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, known by those outside the church during his life and today as the Mormons. But Joseph Smith was many things besides: the child of a struggling family gradually moving westward in search of opportunity, a day laborer, visionary, seer; treasure hunter; translator; revelator; prophet; elder, banker, prisoner, wrestler, real estate speculator, polygamist, Lieutenant General, Master Mason, Mayor, and martyr.

“America,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1844, “is the country of the future…[a] country of beginnings, of projects, of vast designs and expectations.” My guest John Turner observes that Joseph Smith might not have been what Emerson had in mind when he spoke of new beginnings and bold projects. But those were part of his life, in addition to vast designs and great expectations. Indeed, it is not too much to say that few nineteenth century Americans have an enduring legacy that can compare to Joseph Smith’s.

Yet John Turner’s new book Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet also describes how this very untypical man was yet absolutely typical of his times. From his religious awakening among the religious revivalism of western New York, to his founding of utopian communities in the midwest, to his dietary concerns, and even to his experience of brutal mob violence that amounted to religious pogroms against his church, Smith’s experiences–and those of his followers–were far from atypical. 

John G. Turner is professor of religious studies and history at George Mason University. His previous book was They Knew They Were Pilgrims: Plymouth Colony and the Contest for American Liberty, which we talked about in Episode 157.

For Further Investigation

• In Episode 181, Sara Patterson and I discussed the practice of Mormon pilgrimage.
• For a conversation about a very different but equally charismatic and controversial 19th century American, see my conversation in Episode 198 with Bob Elder about John C. Calhoun, whom Elder describes as the "American heretic"; a nice pairing with an American prophet.
• The Joseph Smith Papers

“How we think about revolution,” writes my guest Dan Edelstein, “is ultimately conditioned by how we think about history.” Classical philosophers viewed history as chaotic and directionless, and sought to keep historical change—especially revolutions—at bay. “Revolutions,” so far as Greeks and Romans were concerned, “were more likely to bring about death and destruction than universal harmony.” 

This conception prevailed until the eighteenth century. It was then–and only then, Edelstein argues–that Enlightenment thinkers conceived of history as a form of progress and of revolution as its catalyst, completely inverting the ancient model of revolution. These ideas were put to the test during the French Revolution and came to define revolutions well into the twentieth century. And when revolutions and progress failed to bring about consensus, the only logical explanation was that one’s enemies were wrong–certainly in error, and possibly evil, needing reeducation and even elimination from the body politic.

In this episode of Historically Thinking, host Al Zambone speaks with Dan Edelstein about his latest book, The Revolution to Come: A History of an Idea from Thucydides to Lenin. Together, they explore how the concept of revolution evolved from ancient Greek and Roman skepticism to Enlightenment optimism, and how this shift influenced modern political movements and ideologies. This wide-ranging conversation touches on the French Revolution, the philosophy of history, progressive political theory, and the intellectual roots of revolutionary violence. Listeners interested in history, political science, and the Enlightenment will find this episode especially valuable.

Dan Edelstein is the William H. Bonsall Professor of French and (by courtesy) professor of political science and of history at Stanford University. The Revolution to Come is published by Princeton University Press.