So what was the impact of such Great Awakening sentiment in the colonies?

大觉醒运动在殖民地究竟有何影响呢
Well, in part,

在某种程度上
given the distinctive state of affairs in the colonies,

由于殖民地情况的特殊性
it suggested to people that they had the personal ability

人们都认为自己有能力
to change their lives through their own free will.

凭借自由意志去改变生活
It was personally empowering, and in that sense it was sort

这是个人赋权就此而言它也是
of a democratizing force.

一种民主化的力量
I almost hesitated when I was writing this to use the word "democratizing"

在备课时我对"民主"一词的使用感到犹豫
because I didn't want to be--

因为我不想
As I mentioned on that first day,

就像我第一天所说的
you put the "democracy" word out there and all kinds of lights go off,

一使用"民主"就遮蔽了其他可能性
but I just couldn't think of a better word,

但我想不到一个更好的词