countries: United States
Utah became the forty-fifth state on this day in 1896. They had been petitioning for statehood since 1849, which had been continually denied largely due to opposition to the polygamy practiced by Mormons.
The first antipolygamy law was passed in 1862, followed by a period of persecution in which property of the Mormon church was confiscated temporarily and "cohabiters" were heavily fined or imprisoned.

Although the Constitution says nothing of how many wives one husband can have, the Supreme Court declared these laws to be constitutional in 1890. After this, the Mormon Church banned polygamy under threat of excommunication, which cleared the way for the statehood of Utah

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