Addams and her Motivation

It seems to me that Addams was pretty motivated both by her Quaker and democratic roots. Her father was a Quaker minister, as well as a politician--so she believed in equality and love for all. To Addams, religion and democracy went hand-in-hand in a way that the two don't today. Since the Founding Fathers built the country on a belief in the Judeo-Christian God, the best way to interpret the Constitution, Addams might say, would be according to the Christian faith. Since Christ taught to "love thy neighbor", and the constitution calls all people equal, Addams made it her mission--as a Christian and an American--to live a life dedicated to loving others and raising them up.

So yes, I would say that she was indeed motivated by religious beliefs. Her beliefs that all people are equal and that one should love one's neighbor are inspired by a system of American and Christian symbols. These symbols have such an "aura of factuality" about them that she felt compelled to give her entire life to her composite Christian-American religion.