John Stedman provided one of the most detailed and descriptive accounts ever recorded in history about a thriving slave society. The society which he wrote so much about was Surinam. Located on the northwest corner of Brazil, Stedman was sent to Surinam from the Netherlands to help put down a slave revolt that was threatening the existence of the colony. Throughout his stay Stedman wrote about all that he saw. One thing that became a focus of his writings was the issue of slavery. He wrote about specific slaves and Negros he came in contact with, the perception that others had of these people, the treatment of these slaves and the rising tensions and conflicts between the revolting slaves and the colonists. At times he would write in a tone that sensed he favored abolishing slavery but this was far from the case. Stedman never acknowledged that he wanted to end slavery but rather he expressed his concerns and feelings towards the ways that slavery could be improved in the colony but still present and a vital part to the land. The reasons for this are that he felt slavery was not wrong, he realized how crucial slavery was to the economic success of the colony and the consequences that would arise from freeing the slaves. One of Stedman’s main points throughout this entire book was that he was not against the idea of slavery. “From all this I must conclude that this trade, or buying of Negro slaves, is not so bad a thing as some try to support, while it is the effects that follow from it alone are the complicated evils” (Stedman, 91) This quote shows how Stedman was in favor of the selling and trading of slaves but once this transaction was made is where the problems he saw began. One of the main “evils” and problems Steadman noticed was the inhumane treatment of the slaves. A sympathetic man, Stedman had a hard time stomaching all of the beatings and torture he saw