One of the world’s favorite hymns, “Amazing Grace,” was inspired, at least in part, by a raging storm at sea and the slave trade of the late 18^th Century. John Newton was raised by a devout Christian mother and a father who was a sailor. His mother died when he was six-years-old. His father took him to sea when he was 11.

Newton remained at sea until he was 30. He gained a reputation as a profane and rebellious man, even by the standards of sailors of the day. He eventually began a captain of slave ships, sailing to Africa to pick up human cargo and then taking them to British colonies in the Americas. In March of 1748 off the coast of Donegal, Ireland Newton’s ship encountered a severe storm and nearly sank.

After the storm Newton began to read the Bible and by the time he reached England he had become a Christian. He marked the date, March 10, 1748 and observed the anniversary for the rest of his life. He continued to captain slave ships until he had a stroke in 1754 and retired from sailing. He applied to be ordained by the Church of England in 1757. Newton was finally ordained in 1764.

He wrote “Thoughts Upon The Slave Trade” in 1788 in which he described the terrible conditions aboard slave ships. It was, “a confession, which, comes too late. It will always be a subject of humiliating reflection to me that I was once an active instrument in a business at which my heart now shudders.” Newton sent copies to every member of Parliament. He soon became an ally of William Wilberforce who was the leader of the campaign in Parliament to abolish the slave trade. In 1807 Parliament passed The Slave Trade Act which outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire.

Newton wrote the words to “Amazing Grace” in 1772 and it was published as a hymn in 1779. It was originally written to illustrate points from Newton’s sermon on New Year’s Day 1773 in the church at Olney. It was first published, along with other works from Newton and his collaborator William Cowper, in the hymn book “Olney Hymns.”  It was at that time titled “1 Chronicles 17:16-17, Faith’s Review and Expectations.”

While the hymnal overall was popular in England, “Amazing Grace” was not. But it found its way to America where the lyrics were instrumental in the Second Great Awakening spiritual renewal in America in the early 1800s. At that time most hymnbooks did not contain music, so the original tune of “Amazing Grace” is unknown. And during the first part of the 1800s it was sung to more than 20 different tunes. But in 1835 American composer William Walker set it to a traditional tune called “New Britain,” and this is the tune that we now know. It was first published with this tune in 1847 in “Southern Harmony.”

“Amazing Grace” has become one of the most popular hymns ever written and one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world. Filmmakers used the title of the song for the 2006 film “Amazing Grace” which chronicled the long campaign of William Wilberforce to have slavery outlawed across the British Empire. It features Wilberforce’s relationship with John Newton.

Here’s the Chris Tomlin version of the song, “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)” featured in the film along with footage from the movie.

The tradition of playing “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes at funerals dates back to at least the 1840s when Irish and Scottish immigrants to America often took jobs as policemen and firemen (largely because no one else was willing to hire them). Traditionally these groups used bagpipes at important ceremonies, like weddings and funerals. With the high mortality rate among first responders in the 1800s bagpipes were often employed at the funeral services and “Amazing Grace” quickly became the standard song for those occasions. Here’s the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards version.

Finally, here’s a short video about John Newton.

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