Polygamy in its most common form--one man, many woman, is more accurately referred to as polygyny, however polygamy is the colloquial term and we'll use it to avoid confusion.

Polygamous arrangements are as old as mankind, although far less common than monogamous relationships, largely due to the economic constraints providing for numerous wives and children imposes on a prospective polygamous man. Historically, wealthier members of the community engaged in polygamy, as did the nobility in many societies to insure dynastic succession.

U.S. polygamy differs from the practice elsewhere in that it is largely practiced out of religious conviction rather than for the more prosaic reasons. Almost all polygamous groups today trace their lineage back to the 19th century Mormon church and its settlement of the intermountain west.

The doctrinal underpinnings of the practice of plural marriage or the principle as it is often referred to, require a discussion beyond the scope of this overview. For our purposes, we'll just have to accept a superficial explanation that the Mormon practice of plural marriage was a matter of religious faith rather than sexual license. Regardless of the reasons for it, the social impact was substantial and I want to explain some of it because it bears on the social structure of current polygamous groups to some degree.

The Mormon church introduced polygamy more or less discreetly (not discreetly enough by most accounts) while the church was still centered in Nauvoo, Illinois. The practice was acknowledged publicly after the Saints (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints refer to themselves as saints, or LDS. The term Mormon was originally a pejorative which LDS accept as an outsider reference to the church and its members). In LDS soteriology (philosophy of salvation), marriage is required to attain the highest degree of celestial glory, and faithful LDS women naturally preferred to improve their chances at heaven by marrying demonstrably faithful men.

Demonstrably usually meant men who held positions of responsibility in the priesthood hierarchy (all male church members are entitled to receive the priesthood if they are worthy, i.e. faithful). Thus Brigham Young and the apostles of the church were also the most eligible prospective spouses, with men holding important but lesser offices right behind.

Consequently, a young man was at a significant disadvantage when competing with a middle-aged Bishop of the church for the attentions of the girls in his peer group. The bishop represented a path to heaven AND economic and social security, compared to which young men had little to offer except good looks and promises.

Furthermore, a second or third wife merited a dowry of 150 acres, which meant that the established settlements were dominated economically by polygamous patriarchs. Young men sought to obtain social bona fides by serving proselyting missions and settling new sites in the intermountain west where they had a chance to be a founder. Their spouses came from the continuous stream of female immigrant converts from Europe, often met at the train station by hordes of eager young men. The social pressures created an enormous incentive to settle new areas in the west and the saints prolifically created 500 such new settlements, some with now-familiar names like San Bernadino and Las Vegas.

The church progressed relatively unmolested for about 10 years in their new local until James Buchanan order Johnson's army to put down an alleged Mormon rebellion. The army came and went and the church reaped a financial windfall in the final analysis as it bought army supplies for pennies on the dollar, but in spite of the civil war, Congress still managed to pass the Morrill act in 1862 that made bigamy a crime punishable by 5 years in prison. The Edmunds-Tucker act of 1887 was far more punitive, disincorporating the church and resulting in much greater efforts at enforcement. 1,300 cohabs--the term used to describe polygamist men, were imprisoned in this period. Mormons were disenfranchised in Idaho and church leaders had to go into hiding to avoid arrest.

The pressure became so great that the church president issued a manifesto in 1990 that pledged the church to perform no new solemnizations of plural marriages. Utah's statehood was considerably delayed due to suspicions about the church and Utah's state constitution has some interesting (and probably unconstitutional) provisions in it that deal specifically with polygamy.

The upshot of all this is that while the federal government achieved a victory of sorts, it did not achieve a defeat. Many saints resented the capitulation of the church very deeply, particularly after having sacrificed so much to remain faithful to divine precept. The solemnization of plural marriages continued unofficially into the early 20th century, particular in Canada and Mexico. Some groups like the FLDS, considered the main body of the church to have apostatized and made a claim to prophetic authority based on accounts that John Taylor, the successor to Brigham Young, and precedessor of Wilford Woodruff who signed the manifesto abandoning the practice of plural marriage, had conferred the authority to solemnize plural marriages on the founders of many of today's polygamist groups. The main body of the church found itself in the odd position of rooting out "subversives" still practicing the principle while attempting to maintain their membership in good standing. Church leaders cooperated with state and federal authorities to suppress so-called fundamentalist groups as well.

The continuous pressure of polygamist groups produced a practiced furtiveness. To this day, polygamists live throughout Utah, often without the knowledge of their neighbors.

Enforcement (or persecution as the polygamists would refer to it...) reached a cresendo in 1953 in what was called the Shortcreek raid. Shortcreek is the former name of Colorado City, AZ/Hilldale, UT (the town straddles the state line) where the FLDS is headquartered. The Arizona governor authorized a raid on the town. All the children were declared wards of the state and the entire population bused to nearby Kingman, AZ. At this point the media became involved and the polygamists received a sympathetic portrayal. The expense of the prosecution of polygamist became a sore point and governor Howard Pyle of Arizona failed to be reelected because of the unpopularity of the actions regarding Shortcreek.

The change of social morays begun in the 1960s, made prosecution of polygamists more problematic as many of the statutes were no longer practically enforceable (seen any prosecutions of adulterers lately?). However recent years have seen an increase in prosecutions on the basis of child protection and welfare fraud. Independent polygamist Tom Green was bold enough to go on the Oprah show to talk about his lifestyle, but is currently residing at the Point-of-the-Mountain state prison. He is due for release next year.

In 1999 David Ortell Kingston was convicted and sentenced to 10 years for having sex with his 16 year old niece. The Kingston clan is distinguished by the fact that control a 150 million dollar diversified financial empire that includes coal mines and commercial ice-making among other things.

The apprehension of Warren Jeffs is the latest battle in the ongoing war, but its unclear whether this is the end or simply an episode of martyrdom that will only reinforce the underlying dynamics of polygamy in the U.S.

We are perhaps, by reason of the war on Islamofascism, in a better position to understand the power of faith and the ability it confers on believers to endure almost any sacrifice. Polygamy isn't going away because Warren Jeffs is in a cell.