Secret Combinations
- stephenstrent7
- 2 hours ago
- 8 min read
A fight between the Dead Rabbits and the Bowery Boys during the 1857 Dead Rabbits Riot. Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, v. 4, (1857 July 18), p. 108; Wikimedia
Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants, for the Come Follow Me lesson April 28 – May 4; Doctrine and Covenants 41-44
Doctrine and Covenants 42:64 states, “And even now, let him that goeth to the east teach them that shall be converted to flee to the west, and this in consequence of that which is coming on the earth, and of secret combinations.” This revelation was given in February 1831.
Here is the “Google AI” response to the phrase I typed in: “earliest street gangs in the U.S.”: “The first documented street gang in the U.S. was the Forty Thieves, a group of Irish immigrants who formed in New York City’s Five Points district in the late 1820s [1825-1826]. Other early gangs in the Northeast, mainly in New York City, included the Smith’s Vly gang, the Bowery Boys, and the Broadway Boys, also predominantly Irish immigrant groups. These gangs emerged in the aftermath of the American Revolution and were initially engaged in various activities, including common labor, but later focused on criminal activity, according to a study on gangs in the United States.”1
According to Wikipedia, “Originally based in New York’s Lower East Side, the Forty Thieves were formed in 1825 by Edward Coleman. Initially it was formed to rebel against their low social status but the members soon turned to crime to relieve their frustration. This gang emerged due to prejudice and class distinction. Such social conditions were evident in the Five Points area of New York in the 1820s. Canal Street, the Bowery, Broadway, and Mulberry Street bordered this area, which was a slum infested with mosquitoes and disease.”2
“The Forty Thieves met at a Centre Street grocery store owned by Rosanna Peers, a notorious fence of stolen goods who also sold illegal alcohol in an underground speakeasy. At Peers’ grocery, gang members would be given assignments and issued strict quotas on the gang’s share of illegal activities… From the violence to the high crime rates, Five Points desperately lacked the aid of government support. The Forty Thieves saw this as an economic opportunity, as they established relations with Tammany Hall. This corrupt bureaucracy provided community services in exchange for money and support from its residents to fund their corrupt agendas.”3
It may have been the Forty Thieves and other New York street gangs to which the “secret combinations” in Doctrine and Covenants 42: referred, but it is more likely that the term was describing Tammany Hall, itself, which sponsored and oversaw the activities of the gangs and other illegal, underground activities in New York City.
Tammany Hall, also known as the Sons of St. Tammany or the Society of St. Tammany, was a corrupt American political organization, started in New York in 1786, but formally organized May 12, 1789, and having its greatest influence beginning in the 1820s. The society helped mostly Irish immigrants, rise in New York City and the US from its beginning, and into the 1960s. According to Gustavus Myers, in his 1901 book, The History of Tammany Hall, Tammany Hall was “…a secret society, whose transactions are known only to its own officers and members, except so far as might be the pleasure of the Council to make the proceedings public…The wording of the [society’s constitution]…had its public and its secret aspects…two parts — public and private — the public relates to all external or public matters; and the private, to the arcana and all transactions which do not meet the public eye, and on which its code of laws are founded.”4
Myers also stated, “By the aristocracy and through secret caucuses, candidates were chosen, proceedings were cut and dried, and committees were packed…Tammany Society — the secret body, responsible to no one and enforcing its demands through the Tammany Hall political organization — was to blame for the political corruption…” Early on, “They exerted themselves to influence Congress by means of a defeat for the anti-bank forces in New York City in the Fall election of 1833. Tammany Hall during the campaign sent out runners ordering every office-holder to his electioneering post. Vigorous meetings were held, and all the secret influences of the general committee were employed.”5
The greatest example of the total corruption of Tammany Hall was William Magear “Boss” Tweed (1823 – 1878). Tweed was elected in 1852 as a New York Representative to the US House. In 1858, he became the head of the Tammany Hall political machine. In 1877, Tweed was convicted of stealing between $25 million and $45 million from New York City taxpayers by means of political corruption. Later estimates put the actual amount stolen as high as $200 million (equivalent to $5 billion today). He was sentenced to jail, where he died the following year.6
Moroni warned us in Ether 8:23-26, “Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be. Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up. For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning. Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved.”
Of course, the Irish immigrants who comprised the Gangs of New York and headed Tammany Hall in 1831, were not “illegal immigrants” because such a designation did not exist until the enactment of US immigration laws in the 1880s. Before then, immigration was largely open to everyone.
Today, the Justice Department lists fifteen major street gangs active in the United States. Most of these gangs started in the 1960s and 1970s in Los Angeles or Chicago. These gang’s primary revenue comes from the sale of illegal drugs. Gang members also commit assault, auto theft, carjacking, drive-by shooting, extortion, homicide, identity theft/fraud, and robbery. One of those gangs, the 18th Street Gang of Los Angeles, with 30,000 to 50,000 members, is described by the Justice Department as being made up of approximately 80 percent illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America. The rest of the gangs, for which the Justice Department provided no information on immigration status, appear to be largely home-grown.7
As with the Jaredites and Nephites (c.f. Alma 37 and Ether 8:21), other societies may have collapsed, at least in part, from internal strife and secret intrigue. According to a National Geographic article from May 2025, by Andrew Curry, although “…a lone explanation seems unlikely to be found,” around 1250 BC, Hittite “…tablets begin to show the strains of the empire’s final century. Palace infighting and royal assassination attempts grew rampant, making it hard for Hattusa’s [the Hittite capital] leaders to maintain control over their subjects.”8
The Olmec civilization also likely collapsed as the result of a combination of factors, including environmental disaster, resource depletion, trade disruption, and internal potential conflicts/intrigue.9
By the 12th century BC, during the reign of Ramses IX, economic conditions in Egypt were so desperate, and respect for the pharaoh’s authority so low, that thieves brazenly raided the tombs of the dead pharaohs. With the end of Egypt’s New Kingdom, around 1070 BC, Egypt was so weakened by political turmoil and internal strife/intrigue, that it became open to a succession of foreign powers. First, the nomadic Libyans, from the western fringes of Egypt, gradually took over the weakened seats of Egyptian power. Then, in the 8th century BC, Nubians (Kushites), from the south, just walked in and took over the throne during an epic of internal Egyptian political turmoil. Once the Nubians took over, the Egyptian Empire was no longer an independent power. Egypt was then open for the taking: the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, and then Islam.10
Among the eight causes of the Roman Empire’s collapse, listed by Evan Andrews, was #5: “Government corruption and political instability. If Rome’s sheer size made it difficult to govern, ineffective and inconsistent leadership only served to magnify the problem…The Praetorian Guard—the emperor’s personal bodyguards—assassinated and installed new sovereigns at will, and once even auctioned the spot off to the highest bidder. The political rot also extended to the Roman Senate, which failed to temper the excesses of the emperors due to its own widespread corruption and incompetence. As the situation worsened, civic pride waned and many Roman citizens lost trust in their leadership.”11 Although, on the surface, the Praetorian Guard was a visible military unit under the direct command of the emperor, they were also a secret police and intelligence-gathering force, often with their own private/secret agenda. They engaged in intimidation, espionage, and even assassination to protect the emperor's and/or their own interests.
Will the United States fall to the same internal intrigue and “secret combinations” that has plagued other great civilizations? The US needs to do everything it can to purge the “secret combinations”, of which the Book of Mormon warns us. However, as Megan Hadley has reported, “While President Donald Trump continues to condemn illegal immigrants who come into the US as ‘gang members’ and ‘criminals,’ federal data shows that only 0.09 percent of illegal immigrant detainees come from Central American gangs, reports the Associated Press. Instead, it’s often people fleeing gangs who are trying to get into the United States.”12 I wonder if ignoring the rule of law in our society will be more contributory to the decline of the United States than illegal immigrant gangs.
Trent Dee Stephens, PhD
References
1. Howell, James C., and Moore, John P., History of Street Gangs in the United States, National Gang Center Bulletin No. 4, May 2010
2. Wikipedia, no reference provided
3. Ibid
4. Myers, Gustavus, The History of Tammany Hall, second edition, New York Boni & Liveright, 1917
5. Ibid
6. Ibid; also see Wikipedia
8. Curry, Andrew, Rediscovering the Ancient Empire that History Forgot, National Geographic, 247:62-87, May 2025
9. Minster, Christopher , The Decline of the Olmec Civilization, The Fall of the First Mesoamerican Culture, ThoughtCo, 2018; thoughtco.com/the-decline-of-the-olmec-civilization-2136291
10. Roose, Dave, What Caused Ancient Egypt’s Decline? History.com, 2022, updated March 2025
11. Andrews, Evan, Eight Reasons Why Rome Fell, Hostory.com, 2014, updated April 2025; history.com/articles/8-reasons-why-rome-fell
12. Hadley, Megan, Few Gang Members are Undocumented Immigrants: Report, Streetgangs.com; streetgangs.com/news/070318-few-gang-members-are-undocumented, 2018
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