This chapter explains the culture war being waged by the federal government against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It describes how Mormons were typically characterized as representatives of systems and practices that were quintessentially un-American or even anti-American. It also recounts the admission of Utah as the forty-fifth state of the Union in 1896, which was a momentous occasion for both the Mormon church and the United States. The chapter focuses on polygamy as one of the reasons for the unprecedented delay of Utah's admission as a state. It analyzes the religious doctrine of plural marriage that was openly practiced by Mormons from 1852 to 1890, which was unanimously disapproved by members of Congress and American citizens in general.