An American Hero: Joseph Smith

Did you know Joseph Smith is responsible for creating one of the dominant worldwide religions? Joseph Smith is well known as the first prophet for the religion commonly known as Mormonism. He lived a life of only 38 years, and during that time he accomplished many things. From this essay, you’ll learn why he should be considered an American hero - something that I truly believe.

Joseph Smith was born on December 23, 1805. He was born into the Smith family, which consisted of his father Joseph Smith Sr., his mother Lucy Mack Smith, and three other children named Alvin, Hyrum, and Sophronia. He was the fifth of what would be eleven children in the Smith family. They lived in Sharon, Vermont, and moved to West Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Early in Joseph Smith’s life, when he was around seven years old, he began to display his “extraordinary character.” (lds.org, Life and Ministry of Joseph Smith) He was infected with typhoid fever during an epidemic, along with the rest of his family. Although most of the other recovered, Joseph Smith developed an infection in his left leg. He had to go through surgery in order to recover, and he bravely faced the surgery. He recovered, although he had to use crutches for quite a few years, and showed a limp for the rest of his life.

The family moved to Palmyra, New York, after repeated crop failures. The Smith family was of the Christian religion. However, the family noticed that the Christian churches were missing key principles of the religion. At the time, there were “several different Christian denominations trying to win converts.” (lds.org, Life and Ministry of Joseph Smith) Joseph Smith did not know what to do, or more specifically, which church denomination was correct for him.

Because of this,...

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...f many today. For those reasons, I consider Joseph Smith to be an American hero.

Works Cited

"Joseph's Three Biggest Accomplishments." Dave's Mormon Inquiry. Typepad, 30 12 2005. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. .

I used this as it summarizes information from sources that are hard to find and/or paid, see "Dave's Mormon Inquiry" http://mormoninquiry.typepad.com/mormon_inquiry/2005/12/josephs_three_b.html

"Topics." LDS: Joseph Smith. LDS Church, 21 2 2012. Web. 12 Nov 2013. .

LDS, . "Teachings of Joseph Smith: The Life and Ministry of Joseph Smith." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, n.d. Web. 5 Nov 2013. .