This volume of the Joseph Smith Papers Project presents the minutes of a Church organization called the Council of Fifty. The minutes, which have never before been publicly available, will form the only volume of the Administrative Records series. On 11 March 1844 in Nauvoo, Illinois, Joseph Smith organized a council that he and his closest associates saw as the beginning of the government of the literal kingdom of God on earth. The council, known both as the Council of the Kingdom of God and the Council of Fifty (it had roughly fifty members), operated under Smith's leadership until his murder less than four months later. Following Smith't death, the council met in Nauvoo under Brigham Young's leadership from February 1845 to January 1846. The minutes of the council's meetings, kept primarily by William Clayton, have never been publicly available. This volume of The Joseph Smith Papers publishes them for the first time. Participants saw the council as distinct from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and anticipated that the council would "govern men in civil matters." According to Joseph Smith, the council "was designed to be got up for the safety and salvation of the saints by protecting them in their religious rights and worship." Nevertheless, because Smith and Young were leaders of both the church and the council, ecclesiastical concerns were frequently reflected in the council's discussions. The minutes reveal much about early Mormon thought on earthly and heavenly governments as council members wrestled with what it meant to establish the kingdom of God on earth and to existing civil governments. Though council members generally used the term "theocracy" to describe the ideal form of government for the kingdom of God, their model also incorporated democratic elements. They believed that a "theodemocratic" government would protect the rights of all citizens, promote free discussion, involve Latter-day Saints and others, and increase righteousness in preparation for the second coming of Jesus Christ. At the practical level, the Council of Fifty was a significant decision-making body. For instance, the council helped manage Joseph Smith's 1844 presidential campaign. The council also provided a forum for making decisions about matters in Nauvoo, including construction of the Nauvoo temple and how to protect and govern the city after the state of Illinois repealed the Nauvoo municipal charter in January 1845. In addition, the council played a major role in exploring possible settlement sites—which included sending a delegate to the Republic of Texas and sending emissaries to various American Indian tribes—and in planning the migration of the Latter-day Saints to the American West. The minutes capture the principles, protocols, and activities of the Council of Fifty as it was formed and operated in Nauvoo. While many of the actions taken by the council have been known through other documents, the minutes chronicle the deliberations that led to these decisions, providing an unparalleled view of decision making at the center of what participants viewed as the nascent kingdom of God on earth. The minutes of the Council of Fifty thus shed new light on the development of Latter-day Saint beliefs and on the history of Nauvoo and the church during this critical era, while also providing new perspectives on American religious history, political culture, and western migration in the nineteenth century. REVIEWS"Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844-January 1846, the latest addition to the monumental Joseph Smith Papers Project, opens a wide window onto a previously shrouded, but extraordinarily revealing, part of Mormon leadership and life during what were arguably the most turbulent and treacherous months of the church's history. Students of these pivotal events will be forever grateful for the insights and understanding they will find in these pages." —Elliott West, University of Arkansas "The publication of the Council of Fifty minutes as the first volume of the Administrative Records series in the Joseph Smith Papers can only be described as a triumph. The new volume is sure to be celebrated for its annotation and editing, another excellent addition to the papers project. But the minutes are also a triumph of the new transparency policy of the Church History Department. Over the years, the council minutes attained almost legendary status, as a trove of dark secrets sequestered in the recesses of the First Presidency's vault. Now the minutes are to be published for all to examine." — Richard L. Bushman, Gouverneur Morris Professor Emeritus of History, Columbia University "The Council of Fifty minutes are a treasure trove to anyone wanting to understand the last days of Joseph Smith, the martyrdom [of Joseph Smith], the last twenty months in Nauvoo, the revocation of the Nauvoo charter, the plans for exodus, and the apostates and renegades who inflicted so much damage upon the Saints. . . . They add a fabulous richness to our understanding. . . . The work of the editors places every matter of importance into excellent Mormon, American, and international historical context. . . . This is a splendid work. The importance of these Council of Fifty minutes is reflected and enshrined in the fine work of editing this band of scholars has put into them." —Richard E. Bennett, Professor of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University "What I found in the Council of Fifty minutes was in fact engaging and even sometimes riveting. It was as if I had a front row seat as I watched the tragic unraveling of the Mormon community at Nauvoo. I felt the depth of council members' despair over a continued inability to find judicial, executive, or legislative justice for the wrongs they had endured, including the murder of their leaders Hyrum and Joseph Smith. I was reminded of Alexis de Tocqueville's assessment of one of the inherent weaknesses he found in American democracy, something he called the tyranny of the majority. The Council of Fifty minutes made that real to me in a way that academic histories of Mormonism have not been able to do." -- W. Paul Reeve, Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness