"great and general Awakening" between 1740 and 1743 characterized by a greater interest in religious experience, widespread emotional preaching, and intense emotional reactions accompanying conversion, including fainting and weeping. There was a greater emphasis on prayer and devotional reading, and the Puritan ideal of a converted church membership was revived. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 new members were admitted to New England's Congregational churches even as expectations for members increased. By 1745, the Awakening had begun to wane. Revivals would continue to spread to the southern backcountry and slave communities in the 1750s and 1760s. Conflict The Great Awakening aggravated existing conflicts within the Protestant churches, often leading to schisms between supporters of revival, known as "New Lights", and opponents of revival, known as "Old Lights". Old Lights saw the religious enthusiasm and itinerant preaching unleashed by the Awakening as disruptive to church order, preferring formal worship and a settled, university-educated ministry. They mocked revivalists as being ignorant, heterodox or con artists. New Lights accused Old Lights of being more concerned with social status than with saving souls and even questioned whether some Old Light ministers were even converted. They also supported itinerant ministers who disregarded parish boundaries. Congregationalists in New England experienced 98 schisms, which in Connecticut also affected which group would be considered "official" for tax purposes. It is estimated in New England that in the churches there were about one-third each of New Lights, Old Lights, and those who saw both sides as valid. The Awakening aroused a wave of separatist feeling within the Congregational churches of New England. Around 100 Separatist congregations were organized throughout the region by Strict Congregationalists. Objecting to the Halfway Covenant, Strict Congregationalists required evidence of conversion for church membership and also objected to the semi–presbyterian Saybrook Platform, which they felt infringed on congregational autonomy. Because they threatened Congregationalist uniformity, the Separatists were persecuted and in Connecticut they were denied the same legal toleration enjoyed by Baptists, Quakers and Anglicans. The Baptists benefited the most from the Great Awakening. Numerically small before the outbreak of revival, Baptist churches experienced growth during the last half of the 18th century. By 1804, there were over 300 Baptist churches in New England. This growth was primarily due to an influx of former New Light Congregationalists who became convinced of Baptist doctrines, such as believer's baptism. In some cases, entire Separatist congregations accepted