After Jesus Christ was crucified, and His Apostles all died, the true gospel was taken from the earth. There was a lot of Apostasy.
In Early Spring of 1820, The Prophet Joseph Smith who was 14 years old when he first prayed to God asking which church to join after reading James 1:5-6 in The Bible, He was visited by Heavenly Father (God) and Jesus Christ in the sacred grove near his home in Palmyra, New York.
In September 1823, Joseph was visited by Angel Moroni. The Angel Moroni showed Joseph an Ancient record written on plates of gold, buried in a Hill. It was Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Every year for 4 years he met with Moroni at The Hill Cumorah to receive instruction.
In 1827 Joseph received the plates from Moroni. He was given the authority to translate The writings of the ancient Prophets of The Book Of Mormon into English. This lead to a lot of discrimination for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Because the union had pushed them out of their land and hurt them so much, they wanted to seek revenge on the union. They had also hoped that the confederates wouldn't push them out any more.
