Page "Amazing Grace" Paragraph 11

" Amazing Grace " came to be an emblem of a religious movement and a symbol of the U. S. itself as the country was involved in a great political experiment, attempting to employ democracy as a means of government.

Shape note singing communities, with all the members sitting around an open center, each song employing a different director, illustrated this in practice.

Simultaneously, the U. S. began to expand westward into previously unexplored territory that was often wilderness.

The " dangers, toils, and snares " of Newton's lyrics had both literal and figurative meanings for Americans.

This became poignantly true during the most serious test of American cohesion in the U. S. Civil War ( 1861 – 1865 ).

" Amazing Grace " set to " New Britain " was included in two hymnals distributed to soldiers and with death so real and imminent, religious services in the military became commonplace.

The hymn was translated into other languages as well: while on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee sang Christian hymns as a way of coping with the ongoing tragedy, and a version of the song by Samuel Worcester that had been translated into the Cherokee language became very popular.