Using the concept of "classical republicanism" in his analysis,
Kenneth Winn argues against the common view that the Mormon
religion was an exceptional phenomenon representing a
countercultural ideology fundamentally subversive to American
society. Rather, he maintains, both the Saints and their enemies
affirmed republican principles, but in radically different
ways.
Winn identifies the 1830 founding of the Mormon church as a
religious protest against the pervasive disorder plaguing
antebellum America, attracting people who saw the libertarianism,
religious pluralism, and market capitalism of Jacksonian America as
threats to the Republic. While non-Mormons shared the perception
that the Union was in danger, many saw the Mormons as one of the
chief threats. General fear of Joseph Smith and his followers led
to verbal and physical attacks on the Saints, which reinforced the
Mormons' conviction that America had descended into anarchy. By
1846, violent opposition had driven Mormons to the uninhabited
Great Salt Lake Basin.