From Darkness to Light

The Romantic period was a time of unprecedented political, cultural, and artistic upheaval. It was also a time of staggering contradictions, wherein technological advancements promised prosperity to many, all the while children and slaves were crushed under the boot of ‘Enlightenment’ ideals. Just as the Industrial Revolution was ushering Europe into a new age, so too were the Romantic writers, such as Wordsworth and Blake, striving towards a future that more closely reflected Britain’s supposed profession of Christianity. Chief among the writers and activists of the day was John Newton, slave-trader turned Christian abolitionist and esteemed hymn-writer of “Amazing Grace”. By examining Newton’s A Slave Trader’s Journal, “Amazing Grace”, and other abolitionist texts, it will become clear that Britain’s orientation as a slave trading nation was not only incompatible with her Christian profession, but contradictory of the Bible itself. Indeed, Newton’s slow and incremental conversion to Christianity, and his subsequent rejection of the slave trade, is reflective of Britain’s own change of heart towards slavery in the midst of her self-professed Christianity. Only by first examining the roots of racism and colonialism in Britain will Newton’s own conversion to true Christianity shine all the brighter and frame the trajectory for Britain’s own slow, albeit mighty, conversion.

In order to understand Newton’s pro-slavery sentiments as a young man, one must first grasp Britain’s own colored past with racism, colonialism, and imperialism. As Britain was coming out of the Middle-Ages, she became imbued with a profound sense of cultural and religious superiority, largely predicated on her self-professed identity as a Christian nation (Callan 1). As a ‘Christian’ nation, Britain felt justified in all her imperialist pursuits, believing herself to be the righteous arm of God extending across the nations (15). Britain’s sense of superiority becomes blatantly clear in her invasion of Ireland; a nation that, seemingly, was indistinguishable from the white, Christian nation of Britain herself. Since there were no obvious racial justifications for the British invasion of Ireland, the Crown conjured up religious objections to Ireland’s practice of Christianity to justify their imperialist aims (2). According to Britain, Ireland had fallen from the faith and this alone justified invasion. By painting the Irish as “Christians in name, pagans in fact”, the British set the stage for what would become the impetus for all future colonial endeavors in Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas (3, 13). In Britain’s estimation, the Irish were “a savage and sacrilegious race, hostile to God and humanity” (3). This disposition towards other nations, one of religious and ethnic superiority, fueled British colonial efforts around the world, climaxing in the transatlantic slave trade.

This undercurrent of racism that, mingled with a form of Christianity, spurred the British invasion of Ireland in the 12th century was thriving in the lifetime of Newton. As a young man, Newton became well acquainted with both sailing and the slave trade, insomuch that by the time he was only twenty-eight he was commanding his own slave trading vessel (Black et al. 731). By this time in Britain, however, the ‘type’ of racism that predicated her invasion of Ireland had morphed into a version of ‘Christian colourism’, wherein light skin came to represent goodness and purity, contrasted with dark skin that symbolizes sin, darkness, and death (Callan 5-6). In this way, religion became weaponized against those who did not fit the ethnocentric mold of white, Christian Europeans - weaponized against the black population in particular. According to Callan, “racism partnered with religion”, creating an us and them mentality between Britain and the rest of the world that fueled both societal and colonial expansion, resulting in widespread oppression (10). When racism becomes partnered with religion in this way, it results in a type of colonialism that sees itself as both the savior and scourge of the nation or peoples being invaded, as was the case during the slave trade. 

Understandably, this twisted view results in people, particularly British slave traders of the time, to conclude that the individuals they are enslaving are less than human. In Newton’s A Slave Trader’s Journal, this disposition becomes devastatingly clear. Newton writes about the slaves on his ship as though they were mere cargo or beasts, often lending greater focus to their physical abilities or price than their identities as men and women made in the image of the God he claims to believe in (Newton 731). Indeed, when burying a slave that died, Newton cannot be bothered to refer to him by name, simply calling him “a man slave (No. 84)” (731). During their voyage, Newton expresses anxiety over the hygiene of the slaves not because he cares for their wellbeing, but because he is “much afraid of another ravage from the flux” which has already claimed several victims (731). As one might expect, these victims are not mourned as humans, but as lost profits and mere numbers. As Newton writes in his journal, “Buried a girl slave (No. 92)” (731).

Indeed, Newton’s nonchalant attitude towards the abuse of slaves, particularly female slaves, is extremely distressing. Newton recalls an episode where “Willaim Cooney seduced a woman slave down into the room and lay with her brutelike in the view of the whole quarter deck” (731). Newton is distressed at this event not because of the slave woman’s inherent value as a human being, but because of the economic loss he may suffer if  “anything happens to the woman… for she was big with child. Her number is 83…” (731). Once again, Newton cannot be troubled to remember this slave woman’s name, worrying only about his personal gain and reputation in the midst of such vile sin. What is more distressing is the fact that on “some ships, the common sailors are allowed to have intercourse” with such slaves as they choose, thus displaying utter contempt at the humanity of these women (Falconbridge 734). In this way, the state of Newton’s own soul, and that of other proponents of slavery, reflected his contempt not only for his fellow man, but for Christianity as well.

However, just as the tides began to turn in Britain away from slavery, so too were things changing in Newton’s own heart. Before setting out on his fourth slave trading voyage, Newton fell ill and was prevented from taking to the sea again (Bilbro 571). Providence would have it that, in the midst of his illness of both body and soul, Newton heard the revered George Whitfield preach - thus commencing his own conversion to true Christianity (571). In fact, Newton’s conversion, and his subsequent change of heart, paved the way for the road that Britain herself would soon follow. 

Newton’s conversion, like Britain’s, was slow and arduous. Though Newton left the slave trade in 1754 after hearing Whitfield preach, it would be years until he fully grasped the depths of his own depravity and the evils of the slave trade (571). In 1754, Newton regarded the slave trade merely as “disagreeable”, only to amend this statement in later years when he admitted that it was “unlawful and wrong”, ultimately being convicted that the slave trade was “so iniquitous, so cruel, so oppressive, so destructive” (572). Like many other evangelicals in Britain during the height of the slave trade, Newton came to his senses gradually. Indeed, many British Christians during this period were slow to embrace slavery reform despite the base hypocrisy that such an ideology had in light of holy scripture (566, 571). 

It was around this time that Newton penned “Amazing Grace”, a hymn that stands not only as one of the greatest ever written, but as a testament to Newton’s own conversion - one of darkness to light, from blindness to sight. In it, Newton captures his own blindness - and that of Britain’s - quite brilliantly:

“Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, / That saved a wretch like me! / I once was lost, but now am found / Was blind, but now I see” (575).

Indeed, the great darkness that had hung for so long over Britain was slowly beginning to wane, and the true light was now shining forth. Just as God commanded in the beginning that there should be light in the midst of outer darkness, to bind and cast out that very darkness, so too did the light of knowledge and truth begin to dawn on Britain:

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Newton’s conversion had rung so mightily in his soul that he became utterly convinced that no Christian, indeed no man of any creed, could remain ignorant of the slave trade’s stench and evil. Like anyone who goes from darkness into light, from blindness to sight, Newton began to have grave misgivings about his past life as a slave trader. Of his own ignorance, and that of his fellow slave traders, Newton admitted “that neither he nor any of his friends had had any notion” that slavery was indeed a great evil (Black et al. 730).

The conviction that the slave trade was evil and antithetical to Christianity may have begun with men like Whitfield and Newton, but soon this sentiment was general over all of Britain. Truly, "Then he touched their eyes... And their eyes were opened" (Matthew 9:29-30). William Wilberforce, a member of Parliament and militant opponent of slavery, vocalized over all of Britain that the slave trade was not only a great evil, but a plague to her citizens and the people of Africa as well (Wilberforce 735). Wilberforce’s influence on the British public cannot be dismissed, nor can Newton’s influence on his life, as he was instrumental in Wilberforce’s conversion to Christianity (Bilbro 560). In this way, Newton’s own conversion led to the conversion of Britain herself, wherein his own experience soon became that of Britain’s.

The Romantic period in Britain was not only a time of significant cultural and artistic change, but it was an era that ushered in lasting change. Indeed, the work and works of the Romantic writers, men like Newton himself, changed their society in such magnificent ways that the effects of their labor are still being echoed in our own time. The lasting impact of the Romantic writers during the abolition movement sought to remind Britain of her commitment to God and the truth, and in this way brought about her conversion to true Christianity as she shrugged off the vices of racism and slavery. The great light that dawned in Newton’s soul soon spread across the entirety of Britain. This light continues to shine in our own age as we wrestle with injustice, cruelty, and sin; as we strive to secure a voice for the voiceless, just as Newton had done. However, though the battle rages on, we must have hope. Hope that, like Newton once wrote, “Tis’ grace has brought me safe thus far, / And grace will lead me home”.

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Reference:

Bilbro, Jeffrey. “Who Are Lost and How They're Found: Redemption and Theodicy in Wheatley, Newton, and Cowper.” Early American Literature, vol. 47 no. 3, 2012, p. 561-589. Project MUSE, https://doi.org/10.1353/eal.2012.0054.

Callan, Maeve. “A Savage and Sacrilegious Race, Hostile to God and Humanity.” The Journal of Medieval Religious Cultures, vol. 49, no. 1, 2023, pp. 1-23.

Black, Joseph, et al., editors. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Age of Romanticism. Third Edition, Broadview Press, 2022.

Falconbridge, Alexander. “Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Age of Romanticism. Edited by Black et al., Third Edition, Broadview Press, 2022, 733-734.

Newton, John. “A Slave Trader’s Journal”. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Age of Romanticism. Edited by Black et al., Third Edition, Broadview Press, 2022, 731-732.

Wilberforce, William. “Speech to the House of Commons.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Age of Romanticism. Edited by Black et al., Third Edition, Broadview Press, 2022, 735-736.