George W Bush in his second inaugural address claimed: "the best way to ensure America's security is to spread democracy throughout the world. The defense of freedom requires the advance of freedom."
This makes it seem that today's idea of democracy is the idea of spreading it, and that idea seems prominent in the Second Great Awakening. This was an era all about spreading religion, and in Hatch's excerpt we read, it talks about how the church was the first thing to motivate the people, even more so than politics. The American ideal of spreading democracy today seems to come from the same things that propelled the spread of religion.
Jessica, I think you are absolutely right on to see this parallel between Christian missionary impulse and the American commitment to spread democracy around the world. While these are not the same, there are points of contact. Remember that the former began long before the USA was in a position to spread its political vision. LDL
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