Throughout the time of the Manifest Destiny, a westward expansion began. Out of many different groups of people, they all had their own ideas of their Destinies. For example, Indians, immigrants, and slaves sought to change their lives. "Building a Democratic Nation," and "Manifest Destinies" both show the causes that led to this westward expansion and the impact that took place afterwards.
The Mormons were founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, which is stated in both sources. "Building a Democratic Nation" gives a lot more information on his character and gives a backstory of how he came to be the founder. Smith claimed to receive visions in which an angel commanded him to found a new church and directed him to buried golden tables that contained instructions for gathering believers for the coming Millennium. In 1830, he published Book of the Mormons which led him to attracted more attention from the public. In "Manifest Destinies" doesn't give so much information on Smith besides stating that he claimed to receive revelations from an angel and believed he was a prophet destined to restore the original pure church the Christians in the Book of Mormon had created.
Both sources tell of Smith later being murdered by these Mormons, who was replaced by Brigham Young who laid plans for relocation after their neighbor's hostile actions (such as burning their barns and fields) causing the desire to seek refuge in the West.
"Manifest Destinies" tells of how Mormons became successful because of their discipline and cooperative living, while Montgomery and Tijerina states that they chose harsh and unforgiving lands, but communalism carried they settlers through the hardest times. .
Montgomery and Tijerina do give a great amount of information about the relationships the Mormons had with the Indians, Woodworth fails to mention it.
A lot of my questions are about Joseph Smith since I found him to be most interesting.
