You’ve heard it. Everyone has. Whether it’s at a funeral, a presidential inauguration, or a random bagpipe performance in a park, those first few notes are unmistakable. But here’s the thing: most people singing along to the song and story of Amazing Grace don’t actually know how dark the history behind it really is. It isn’t just a pretty church song. It’s a messy, guilt-ridden, and somewhat controversial piece of history written by a man who spent a good chunk of his life treating human beings like cargo.
John Newton was not a "good man" for a very long time. Honestly, he was kind of a nightmare. He was a foul-mouthed, rebellious sailor who eventually found himself captaining ships in the transatlantic slave trade. That’s the grit of the story. The grace he wrote about wasn't some abstract theological concept—it was a literal lifeline for someone who felt he was "wretched" in the most visceral sense of the word.
The Storm That Changed Everything
It happened in 1748. Newton was aboard the Greyhound. A massive storm hit the North Atlantic, and the ship was basically falling apart. Water was pouring in. Newton, who had spent years mocking God and making fun of believers, found himself steering the ship for eleven hours straight, terrified he was about to die. He shouted out, "Lord, have mercy upon us!"
He survived.
But don't get it twisted—he didn't become a saint overnight. This is where a lot of people get the song and story of Amazing Grace wrong. They think he saw the light, quit the slave trade, and wrote the hymn immediately.
That’s not what happened.
Newton actually continued to command slave ships for several years after his "conversion." It’s a hard truth to swallow. He made three more voyages as a commander of slave vessels. It took years of reflection, a stroke that forced him into a desk job, and the influence of abolitionists like William Wilberforce for Newton to finally realize the horror of what he’d done. He didn’t write the lyrics until 1772, decades after that storm.
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Writing for a Small Town Congregation
The hymn was originally titled "Faith’s Review and Expectation." It was written for a New Year’s Day service in Olney, England. Newton was a curate there, and he wanted something his congregation—mostly poor, uneducated lace-makers—could understand. He wasn't trying to write a global hit. He was basically just journaling his own relief that he hadn't ended up at the bottom of the ocean or in hell.
The words were deeply personal.
- "I once was lost, but now am found."
- "Was blind, but now I see."
He wasn't talking about physical blindness. He was talking about his moral blindness to the suffering of the people he had chained in the decks of his ships. By the time he published Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade in 1788, he was a changed man, but the weight of his past never really left him. He famously said, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior."
How the Music Caught Up to the Lyrics
Interestingly, the tune we all know today—"New Britain"—wasn't originally attached to Newton's words. For decades, the lyrics were sung to all sorts of different melodies. It wasn't until 1835 that an American composer named William Walker paired the poem with the traditional tune we recognize now.
This happened during the Second Great Awakening in the United States. The melody has roots in the "shape note" singing tradition of the American South. It’s got that pentatonic scale—five notes—which is probably why it feels so universal. It sounds like a folk song because, in many ways, it is. It’s simple. It’s haunting. It doesn't need a massive orchestra to work; it sounds just as good hummed by one person in a quiet room.
The Civil War and the Transformation of the Song
During the American Civil War, the song and story of Amazing Grace took on a new life. It was a favorite of soldiers on both sides of the conflict. But more importantly, it became a staple in African American spiritual traditions.
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There is a profound irony—and a powerful sense of reclamation—in the fact that a song written by a former slave trader became an anthem for the descendants of the enslaved. In the Black church, the song was infused with a different kind of soul. It wasn't just about individual sin; it was about collective survival. The "hazards" and "snares" Newton wrote about were very real, physical dangers for Black Americans.
Modern Impact and Why It Refuses to Fade
Why does it still work? We live in a world that is increasingly secular, yet this hymn survives. It’s been recorded thousands of times. Aretha Franklin’s version is legendary. Elvis did it. Judy Collins brought it to the charts in the 70s.
Maybe it's because the song doesn't demand that you're perfect. In fact, it starts with the premise that you’re a mess. In a culture of curated social media feeds and "living your best life," there’s something weirdly refreshing about a song that says, "Yeah, I’m a wretch, and I need help."
It’s also incredibly flexible. You can play it as a dirge or a celebration.
Common Misconceptions About the History
People love a clean "road to Damascus" story, but history is rarely that tidy. Here are some things people usually get twisted:
- The Melody is NOT a "Slave Chant": There is a persistent urban legend that the melody was based on a chant Newton heard on slave ships. There is zero historical evidence for this. The "New Britain" tune is firmly rooted in Anglo-Celtic folk traditions.
- It wasn't an instant hit: It took a long time for the song to become the "National Anthem of Protestantism." It was popular in some circles, but it didn't reach its current status until the 20th century.
- Newton didn't die a slave trader: While he stayed in the business longer than we’d like to think, he did eventually become a fierce ally of the abolitionist movement. He lived long enough to see the British slave trade abolished in 1807.
The Cultural Weight of the Lyrics
Think about President Obama singing it at the funeral for Reverend Clementa Pinckney in Charleston. That wasn't just a musical choice. It was a tactical, emotional, and spiritual move. In that moment, the song and story of Amazing Grace acted as a bridge. It acknowledged the pain of the shooting while pointing toward a hope that felt almost impossible to grasp.
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The song has been used to mark tragedies and triumphs alike. It’s the ultimate "reset" button for the human spirit. When we don’t have the words to describe how we feel after a disaster, we lean on Newton’s.
Nuance in the Narrative
Critics sometimes point out that focusing too much on Newton’s redemption can overshadow the victims of his earlier life. That’s a fair point. We shouldn't use the song to "whitewash" the horrors of the slave trade. Instead, the song serves as a piece of evidence. It’s a document of a man realizing—far too late, perhaps—the magnitude of his crimes.
It’s not a comfortable story. But then again, grace isn't supposed to be comfortable. It’s supposed to be transformative.
Moving Forward With the Music
If you’re interested in diving deeper into the song and story of Amazing Grace, don't just listen to the standard choir versions. Look for the outliers.
- Listen to Aretha Franklin’s 1972 recording at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church. It’s raw. It’s long. It shows you how the song can be stretched and pulled into something entirely new.
- Visit the Cowper & Newton Museum in Olney. If you ever find yourself in the UK, seeing the place where these words were penned gives you a sense of the scale—or lack thereof—that Newton was working with. He was just a man in a small village, wrestling with his ghosts.
- Read Newton’s actual journals. You can find his letters and his account of the slave trade online or in libraries. Seeing his own words about his "shameful" past puts the lyrics into a much sharper, more painful focus.
Understanding the history doesn't ruin the song. If anything, it makes it more powerful. It’s a reminder that no one is beyond the reach of change, even if that change takes a lifetime to fully manifest.
When you hear it next time, remember the storm. Remember the ships. Remember the man who finally "saw" the people he had spent years trying to ignore. That’s where the real power of the song lives. It’s in the struggle to be better than we were yesterday.
Next Steps for the Curious: To truly grasp the impact of this history, your next step should be researching the Clapham Sect. This was the group of social reformers, including Newton and Wilberforce, who worked tirelessly to end the slave trade in England. Understanding their political struggle provides the necessary context for why Newton's later life was just as important as the lyrics he wrote in 1772. You might also explore the Library of Congress's Amazing Grace collection, which archives over 3,000 versions of the song, illustrating its evolution from a simple hymn to a global phenomenon.