The Mormons

As a young boy, Joseph Smith started having visions and revelations. In 1827, he claimed he had been directed to golden tablets on which the story of the ancient israelite tribe of America was inscribed. He translated these revelations into English and the Book of Mormon became the fundamental text of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. All this took place in up-state New York in a context of intense religious revival and amidst a treasure hunting craze.

Ever since the 1830s, when John Smith started preaching this new religion, he encountered scepticism and downright hostility. The hostility was and still is based on the originality of the Mormon faith and on the peculiarity of their brand of Christianity.

The prophet and his followers were gradually chassed west : from up-state New York to Ohio, and then to Missouri (God had revealed to Smith that the city of Independence was to be the New Jerusalem) from which they were violently expelled. They fled and settled in Illinois, where their community established a boyant city that was renamed Nauvoo. It was in that city that Smith received the revelation encouraging plural marriages and integrating the practice into the Mormon faith. However, once more, as they were starting to build a temple and as the number of converts they made increased, opposition built up against them. A newspaper harshly criticized the Mormons' hold over the city and Joseph Smith, their spiritual leader and prophet who held the office of city mayor. On the orders of Smith, the newspaper's presses were destroyed, this led to charges being pressed against him. Joseph Smith was held in jail and on June 27, 1844, a mob stormed the jail and Joseph and his brother were shot dead. This marked a second stage in the development of the Mormon faith (Brigham Young became the second prophet and religious leader of the Church) and latter led to the great migration of 1846-47 to Salt Lake City in the barren territory of Utah.
In Hugh Brogan's book (p. 232-45) you will find an excellent survey of the creation and early years of the Mormon Church.

The PBS documentary frontline offers an interesting overview of the life of Joseph Smith and the history of the Mormon Church. I would recommend parts 2, 3 and 4, which explain the origins of this new "American" denomination. The rest of the episodes retrace the troubled early years of the newly founded community. PBS offers a sequel to this historical overview exploring the evolution of the Mormon community in the social and political fabric of the USA. They were the ultimate outsiders for more than a century but today Mormons are part of the mainstream American society, they hold values (family, faith, community) that are shared by a majority of Americans. Today one of the front-runners in the Republican primary race is a Mormon. Mitt Romney has been presenting himself as a social conservative (despite a reported flip-flop on abortion) and is trying to seduce the evangelical base of the party and debunk commonly held misconceptions about his Church. You can hear what Mitt Romney has to say about this issue here.

Commentators have been eagerly reflecting on whether his faith will hinder him from getting the nomination.
NYT commentary.
NPR page on Mitt Romney.