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Edmunds-tucker Act




The act prohibited the practice of polygamy and punished it with a fine of from $500 to $800 and imprisonment of up to five years. It dissolved the corporation of the church and directed the confiscation by the federal government of all church properties valued over a limit of $50,000.

The act also dealt with the separation of church and state and with courts, militia, education, elections, immigration, and woman suffrage. Utah women had been granted the franchise in 1870 , but now lost it. The act was enforced by the U. S. Marshal and a host of deputies. Other matters dealt with by the act included:

  • Required civil marriage licenses

  • Required voters, jurors, and public officials to deny polygamy

  • Replaced local judges with federally appointed judges

  • Removed local control in school textbook choice


In 1890 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the seizure of Church property under the Edmunds-Tucker Act in The Late Corporation Of The Mormon Church V. United States .