Rigdon's July 4th oration
Rigdon's July 4th oration was a speech delivered by Mormon leader Sidney Rigdon during a 4th of July celebration in Far West, Missouri in 1838. Rigdon was first counselor to, and often spokesman for, Joseph Smith Jr..
The oration was meant as a Mormon "declaration of independence" against "mobocrats" and Anti-Mormon persecution. In his speech, Rigdon declared:
The speech alarmed local non-Mormons attending the celebration. Later, the church presidency published the July 4th Oration, causing considerable agitation and further stoking anti-Mormon sentiment throughout northwestern Missouri. Many contemporaries and later historians cite the July 4th Oration as a contributing factor to the 1838 Mormon War.
The July 4th Oration is often confused with the Salt Sermon.
