Many different groups of people persecuted the early Mormons, all for different reasons. Some were local residents upset at the influx of new neighbors. Others were apostates who felt wronged by the church. Some were politicians who were seeking popularity for elections.
In modern times, Mormons are still persecuted, but less severely and for different reasons. Apostates still persecute the church, either because they feel wronged by the church or because they want to be accepted by others. Those with differing moral and doctrinal opinions sometimes persecute Mormons for believing differently. Occassionally Mormon churches will be vandalized or burned, or Mormon missionaries will be subject to violence. This is often done by people who have a problem with religion in general, and feel that this is a way to make their opinions known.
Historically, Mormons were persecuted by being kicked out of their homes and chased out of their settlements, some were even killed. Today, persecution against Mormons is much less brutal. Typically they are only persecuted by harsh words and negative attitudes, although occassionally their homes or churches are vandalized. You can check out some examples of how Mormons have been persecuted historically and in modern times at the "Related Links" below.
They were getting persecuted so they went somewhere where nobody else had settled.
in Navuoo the Mormons were persecuted just like every else Even though they knew they were leaving Brigham Young had them finish the temple. In 1848 non members burned the temple.
This could be due to several reasons.First, the Shakers were more insular and kept to themselves, while Mormons have a very extensive evangelism effort and proliferate into their communities. Since Mormons were out and about, people had a higher chance of being annoyed by them.Second, the Shakers were, for the most part, a smaller group. The Mormons are ever-expanding. People felt more threatened by the Mormons and in some cases were worried that Mormons would take over their cities and towns. There were more Mormons, so there were more to persecute.Third, the Shakers have died out, but Mormonism lives on. Nobody persecutes Shakers anymore because they don't exist, but Mormons are still persecuted by many to this day.
The headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the "Mormon" church) moved from New York to Ohio to Missouri to Illinois and then to Utah in 1847. At that time, most Mormons lived near Church headquarters. Now, only about 10% of Mormons live near Church headquarters.
Brigham Young settled Utah, because he (and all the other Mormons) wanted to live somewhere where they wouldn't be persecuted for their religion.
The Mormons were severely persecuted and kicked out of several cities, so they traveled west to what is now Utah, a land that some explorers said was uninhabitable, in order to practice their religion in peace.
The Mormons were being persecuted in the Eastern United States, and they decided to move West to form their own settlement, where they would be free to live as they pleased and according to their own religious rules, free from persecution.
In a country that has one of it's rights as 'Freedom of Religion'. In 1847 the Mormons were not provided that right. The federal government under President Polk refused to protect the Mormons and Mobs & terrorist's burned their homes and forced them to flee for their lives from the state of Illinois. Just because the Mormons had some different religious beliefs than their Christian neighbors.
After New York they ended up in Missouri and were persecuted. The governor, Lilburn Boggs wrote an Extermination order that said, "the Mormons must be treated as enemies and exterminated or driven forcefully out of the state." They were driven from there and ended up in Utah.
They were being persecuted first by drunken mobs and eventually by the Missouri government. Their houses were burned and their families were killed, and eventually they had to flee beyond the country's borders.
The Mormons had been severely persecuted and kicked out of several settlements throughout the US. Local authorities could not help them, and the national government refused, so the Mormons left to Mexico in hopes of finding freedom and peace. Very shortly after arriving in Mexico, the territory they settled became part of the United States and is now Utah.