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Politics : The Obama - Clinton Disaster -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: joseffy who wrote (60310)	11/16/2011 6:27:03 AM
From: GROUND ZERO™	Respond to of 103300

Yes, I would agree with you there... it would be interesting to trace the true origin of that melody, presuming we could trust the source... But, here's what I did find in the meantime: Amazing Grace is a song that we all know for it's beautiful lyrics and wonderful melody, but what about its origins? The writer of the beautiful song was a man named John Newton who was born in 1725. A slave buyer turned ship captain, he brought over an estimated six million slaves from Africa to the United States. About 20% of the slaves that he took aboard the ship died of small pox and other diseases. These slaves were picked through for the strongest of the bunch and traded for alcohol, weapons, and other meaningless objects. After a devastating storm at sea, Newton became a Christian due to the close call on his life that day. Newton ended his slave trading days in the 1750's but not once did he free a slave from their captivity aboard the ship. In 1764 he was ordained a priest in the church of England. There is no clear date as to when Newton created the song Amazing Grace, but it is believed to have been composed in 1772. The origin of the melody is unknown but is speculated to be a tune the slaves sang on the ship. Newton also wrote "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds" and "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken". It is said he wrote many songs, possibly for Sunday services. In 1780, Newton showed remorse for being a slave trader those thirty some years prior and he continued to speak against slave trading until he died in 1807. Even after Newton had quit slave trading, he did make trips to Africa to see over the selling of slaves and reportedly bought himself a wife there. Some facts remain unclear due to misinterpretation. Newton did however keep a journal about his voyages. These journal entries are used today to understand life at sea in the 1700's. Newton eventually became an activist against slavery and led a Christian lifestyle but it wasn't for many years after writing the song that we all know as Amazing Grace. The song went through many changes and titles before becoming the inspirational song that we all know. Regardless of the man's lifestyle in early years, the song has instilled hope in the hearts of many people and will continue to do so for years to come. helium.com Also, here's what snopes has to say about the melody: Amazing Grace was penned by a former slave trader, but only many decades after he'd left slave trading and seafaring behind and had become a minister of God. *True.* snopes.com GZ