Work / monument · song

Amazing Grace

written late 1772, probably first used 1 January 1773; first printed 1779 in Olney Hymns · 18th century

John Newton was born in Wapping, London, in 1725 and went to sea at eleven. Pressed into the Royal Navy, he deserted, was traded as crew to a slave ship and took up slave trading. For a time he was himself enslaved by the Sherbro people of present-day Sierra Leone and forced to work on a plantation.

Songs in history

Amazing Grace1773

See also

Cite this entry

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Amazing Grace. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/amazing-grace
MLA: “Amazing Grace.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/amazing-grace. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Amazing Grace.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/amazing-grace.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Amazing Grace’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/amazing-grace (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻