He was pressed into service with the Royal Navy, and after leaving the service, he became involved in the Atlantic slave trade.
Newton wrote the words from personal experience he grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life's path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by others' reactions to what they took as his recalcitrant insubordination.
It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both religious and secular purposes. ' Amazing Grace' is a Christian hymn published in 1779, written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807).
