The Influence of Puritanism In the eighteenth century, a passionate interest in religion and salvation developed in the American colonies. This period became known as the Great Awakening.The Great Awakening was an evangelical and revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, especially the American colonies leaving a permanent impact on American Protestantism. Many emotions were let out during this awakening and many ethos, logos, and pathos were used to persuade the audience of the American Colonists. Preachers and missionaries focused on capturing the emotions rather than the intellect of an audience to get their message across. This meant they focused more on gathering up the emotion and sentential functions