Joseph Smith Prophesies the Civil War by Name in 1832 — Fulfilled 29 Years Later (December 25, 1832)

On December 25, 1832, Joseph Smith received and recorded a revelation (now Doctrine & Covenants Section 87) specifically predicting the American Civil War — its beginning point, its spread, and its catastrophic consequences. The revelation stated:

"Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls; and the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place."

"The Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations."

He named South Carolina as the starting point of a great war, further predicted it would involve "slaves," that the Southern States would call on Great Britain, and that the war would eventually "be poured out upon all nations."

The Civil War began April 12, 1861 — 29 years after the prophecy — when Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The Confederacy did appeal to Britain for support, and the conflict resulted in catastrophic loss of life. The specificity of naming South Carolina in 1832 (before the nullification crisis escalated) is considered one of the most statistically improbable prophetic fulfillments in American religious history.

This revelation was published and widely circulated before the Civil War began. Non-LDS newspaper editors who had previously mocked the prophecy acknowledged its fulfillment when the war broke out. Josiah Quincy, a Boston politician who visited Joseph Smith in 1844, later wrote that Joseph's power of prediction was among the most remarkable things he had ever witnessed.