Don't be deceived by this fairly charming 1791 painting (by John Raphael Smith called  Slave Trade).  Seventy-five years later (page 289 of Alex Renton's book) 'the stories of the suffering of ordinary black people during martial law in St-Thomas-in-the-East excited less public outrage. But they are horrifying ... Reading the testimony, you are struck by the lack of shame among the perpetrators.' This was in fact in 1865, long after the formal 'abolition' of slavery.