John Stedman’s Narrative of his time in Suriname between 1773 and 1777 played a significant role in galvanising the Abolitionist movement in Britain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. He travelled to the country to serve with Dutch soldiers tasked with fighting and rounding up the Maroon population (people descended from self-liberated or formerly enslaved Africans) and controlling Africans and those of African descent still in captivity. Keeping a journal that recorded first hand his life in the country, Stedman described the brutality and dehumanising treatment experienced by those enslaved. He contrasted this with many descriptions of the biodiversity of Suriname and vibrant descriptions of the various groups living in the colony.
Returning to Europe in 1777, Stedman settled in Devon and arranged for his journal to be published. The manuscript was edited by the Radical publisher Joseph Johnson and was printed in 1796. It soon became a bestseller due to its graphic descriptions of the horrors of slavery, vividly illustrated by William Blake; imagery that remains powerful today. Abolitionists were appalled at the descriptions of enslavement in the Narrative and reprinted many passages from it for mass circulation to further their campaign. Stedman himself was not opposed to enslavement. Even though he wanted his memoir to highlight the brutality shown towards other human beings, he believed that some form of enslavement in the Caribbean was necessary to maintain the production of commodities such as tobacco and sugar that were in such high demand in Europe.
Stedman’s original journal is currently housed at the University of Minnesota Libraries and critical comparisons of that text with the printed Narrative have shown that both author and publisher made many changes that, despite the power of the printed text, had watered down or contradicted the true cruelty inflicted on enslaved and freed Africans in Suriname.
The manuscript also shows that parts of the text were amended to maintain Stedman’s gentlemanly reputation in Britain. While the Narrative describes his relationship with his enslaved servant, known as Joanna, as respectful, his journal gives explicit descriptions of his sexual encounters with her and with other enslaved women. It is difficult to ascertain whether these encounters were consensual. Stedman's relationship with Joanna led to the birth of a son, named Johnny. Both mother and child remained in Suriname after Stedman’s departure, but Johnny later travelled to Britain after his mother’s death in 1782. He lived with his father, who appears to have doted on him, before joining the Royal Navy where he died in service in Jamaica.