Amazing Grace

Do you know the song Amazing Grace? Probably you do. But, do you kow its History?
Around 1750, John Newton was a slave’s dealer. He used to pay the prisioners giving weapons, ammunition and liqueur to the tribe’s chief. Newton transported slaves in a ship so as others did. The slaves were tied to not to kill theirselves. Every ship trasported about 600 slaves. Every ship lost about 20% from its “human load”. When an outbreak of illness occurred, all the slaves were throwed into the sea. When they arrived in Europe, the slaves were negociated for suggar and molasses.One day, Newton was sailing through a storm when his sailor was throwed into the sea and he had to guide his vessel by himself. He said that, in this moment, he discovered how fragile was his life. Influenced by a religiuos book, he abandoned the slaves traffic, became a Christian and wrote Amazing Grace. John Newton died on December 21, 1807. He was blind at that time.
There is a movie called Amazing Grace, in Portuguese it is “Jornada pela Liberdade”, which is about Newton’s History. But not just about it. This movie is, in fact, about the fight for slave’s freedom. William Wilberforce was the main man in this fight to end the slavery. He faced the British Parliament and many British citizens who did not agree with the abolition of slavery. I am not going to tell you about this movie, but I recommend you to watch it, if you want. By Evelise